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South China Morning Post
09-04-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong cricket coach blasts team and threatens changes after humbling loss to Kuwait
Simon Willis said Hong Kong delivered 'one of the worst bowling performances' of his two-year tenure, as the head coach tore into the city team following their chastening four-wicket loss to Kuwait on Wednesday. Advertisement The Englishman said he was 'frustrated at players and the team making the same mistakes and not learning quickly enough'. Willis also questioned whether it was 'maybe time to change some things'. 'We have shown faith in players for a long period of time … and they don't win enough matches for Hong Kong,' he added. The first chance for new faces could come as early as Thursday, when Hong Kong play Qatar – who lost to Nepal by eight wickets on Wednesday – in their second match of the quadrangular T20 series. Against Kuwait, a breezy 76 from opener Anshy Rath formed the cornerstone of Hong Kong's 175 for five, a total Willis said was '10 runs light, but enough to be in the game' at the compact Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground. Advertisement Seeking a morale-boosting victory after the disappointment of February's poor Challenge League campaign, Hong Kong struggled to contain Kuwaiti opener Ravija Sandaruwan, who struck three sixes and five boundaries in his 49.
South China Morning Post
09-04-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong cricket chief warns city needs facilities, funding to be competitive
Hong Kong cricket chief Burji Shroff has warned that only increased access to facilities, more grounds and greater government support will allow the city's men's and women's teams to improve. Advertisement Following one-sided losses to Uganda and Italy in February's Challenge League, which Shroff called 'disappointing to say the least', Hong Kong's men have minimal hope of attaining cherished one-day international status until 2030 at the earliest. Ahead of hosting Nepal, Kuwait and Qatar for a quadrangular series, from Wednesday to Sunday, Hong Kong are No 23 in the T20I world rankings, with women in 22nd. 'It's not a favourable position for us right now,' said Shroff, chairman of Cricket Hong Kong, China (CHK). The city has one venue, Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Kowloon, capable of regularly staging international cricket, while most of the players have work commitments. Uganda wicketkeeper Fred Achelam appeals for the wicket of Hong Kong's Yasim Murtaza. Photo: Dickson Lee Shroff said the 'government have been good with us', in granting increased access to Tin Kwong Road over the past 12 months. 'We're still desperately short, though … and we need more use of other grounds,' Shroff added.
The Guardian
18-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Afghan club disbands after alleging match-fixing in champions' 8-0 win
A club that missed out on winning Afghanistan's top division on goal difference has disbanded in protest at what it says is the national federation's failure to properly investigate allegations of match-fixing. Attack Energy were dissolved after Abu Muslim Farah were crowned champions for the first time in a competition set up in 2021 when the Taliban regained power. Attack Energy led the Afghanistan Champions League for most of the way and have raised questions about Abu Muslim's 8-0 victory against Adalat Farah in their sixth game of the 10-matchday season. Abu Muslim then drew with Attack Energy and won their remaining fixtures to take the title in January with a goal difference superior by three. It is understood Abu Muslim and Adalat are owned by the same person: Abdul Hamid Sharifi, a businessman based in the city of Farah, in the west of the country. Eight teams lodged complaints with the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) that the result had been fixed and demanded an investigation. Officials from Attack Energy, a club founded in 1947 and which competed in last season's Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge League after being crowned Afghan champions, also wrote to Fifa and the AFC to ask them to look into the claims. The AFF produced a report that concluded it was satisfied with the situation and allowed Abu Muslim's title to stand. The AFF's president, Mohammad Yousef Kargar, was accused of fixing two matches during an international men's tournament in 2008 in Malaysia. He denied those allegations. An Attack Energy statement said: 'We, at the management of Attack Energy Cultural Sports Club, have tried with all our might and hope to clarify these issues and have repeatedly called on the Afghanistan Football Federation to investigate and transparently pursue cases related to injustice and collusion. However, unfortunately, we did not receive any convincing response and no action was taken towards transparency and justice. 'This disregard for the legitimate demands saddened the hearts of all football and sports lovers. In such circumstances, it became impossible for our club to continue on its path, and the club's leadership, after extensive consultations and careful evaluation, was forced to make a painful decision: to dissolve the Attack Energy Cultural Sports Club.' It also said: 'What happened in the fourth season of the Afghan Football Champions League was bitter and unfortunate; facts that are clear and undeniable to everyone. We hope that these events will be a serious warning bell to reform and improve the country's football structure so that such sad days will not be repeated.' A Fifa spokesperson said they could not comment on 'allegations they may or may not have received, or whether investigations are under way into alleged cases'. It is understood that world football's governing body is unable to intervene when allegations of match-fixing are made in domestic competitions. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Kargar told the Guardian in a statement: 'If there is any complaint regarding this matter, the relevant committees, such as the judicial committee, referees committee, and match commissioner, will address it. Based on the investigations conducted, no match-fixing has taken place.' Sharifi did not respond to a request for comment.
South China Morning Post
16-02-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Coach takes blame as Hong Kong lose to Italy, vows to help city to ‘next level'
Simon Willis shouldered responsibility for Hong Kong's damaging seven-wicket loss to Italy on Sunday, but said he was 'fully up' for the fight of trying to elevate the city team to the 'next level'. After also going down heavily to Uganda on Thursday, Hong Kong have lost significant ground on the top two in Cricket World Cup Challenge League B to leave their hopes of recapturing ODI status all but over for another five years. The final Challenge League leg, where World Cup qualifying progress is also at stake, is in Tanzania next year. Englishman Willis said his team's display against Italy was symptomatic of 'the past six months, when we've not been good enough in big games'. In a repeat of their batting effort against Uganda, when they folded from 38 for 0 to 56 for five, Hong Kong wasted a promising start. From 55 for one, they slumped to 85 for five, with probably only Nizakat Khan able to attribute his downfall to misfortune, after he received a marginal LBW decision. 'We had a great start, but lost wickets when we didn't need to,' Willis said. 'That gave Italy momentum and hope, and we were always struggling with 146 on the board. Hong Kong try to run out Marcus Campopiano (right) in the match at Tin Kwong Road. Photo: Dickson Lee '[Batting collapses are] down to pressure. Sometimes, the guys take on too much and don't realise it's just another game.'
South China Morning Post
05-02-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Nizakat wants to be Hong Kong match-winner after shedding captaincy strain
Published: 5:15pm, 5 Feb 2025 A 'more relaxed' Nizakat Khan said shedding captaincy duties would release him to win more matches for Hong Kong, as they prepare to start their critical Challenge League B campaign against Singapore on Thursday. Khan made what he called the tough decision to end his three-year leadership reign following November's first Challenge League leg in Uganda. In his opening two matches under successor Yasim Murtaza, and batting in his favourite No 4 spot, Khan contributed 84 and an unbeaten 42 against Uganda and Bahrain respectively as Hong Kong won a warm-up tri-series last week. Khan said aspects of captaincy, including game planning, always thinking about where to fit players and 'making decisions that mean players are unhappy with you', were draining. Khan, seen here toasting a half-century as captain, said he had room to improve. Photo: Cricket Hong Kong, China 'The biggest challenge was keeping everyone together as a team, but they all respected me and listened to me,' Khan said.
