Wednesday, November 04, 2009 LAHORE: Pakistan downed hosts France in the World Cup qualifying round match at Lillie, France on Tuesday, Geo news reported on Tuesday.After having beaten Russia and Italy, it was being tipped as one of the toughest match for Pakistan and in this test the green shirts came out with a thumping 4-2 win. According to reports received here, Pakistan enjoyed upper hand right from the start and they went into 2-1 lead by the close of the first half. Though Pakistan was dominated most of the time, France displayed a bit of aggression after conceding the first goal. Sohail Abbas struck twice through penalty corner pushes while Akhtar Ali and Rehan Butt converted two field goals. FrTdTric Soyez and Arnaud Becuwe reduced the margin from France. Pakistan’s goals came in the 8th, 26th, 37th and 55th minutes of the match while France struck 23rd and 67th minutes. Earlier in the day, Japan beat Italy by three goals to nil. The led the match 1-0 at half time. Poland had to fight full throttle to beat Russia 2-1. Poland delivered all it has in store in the first session to go two-nil up but faced tough resistance in the second half in which Russia managed to convert one goal. Pakistan has now moved to the points table having nine points which are equal to Japan but its goal standing in much stronger than the latter. Pakistan will now face Japan today in an another tough match of the qualifying round and later tomorrow they will play Poland.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
Comments