The Clarence House Chase will be run at Cheltenham next Saturday "following the abandonment" of the fixture at Ascot. The Grade One contest was "due to be the main event on an attractive card, with Irish challenger Un De Sceaux set to bid for back-to-back victories." Ascot's clerk of the course Chris Stickels had been "pessimistic about the chances" of the fixture going ahead and after another night of freezing temperatures heading into Sunday "it did not take officials long to draw stumps" after staging an official check at 6:30am (Irish INDEPENDENT, 1/22).
FIBA announced the first FIBA Asia Cup will take place in Lebanon's capital of Beirut, while the FIBA Women's Asia Cup will be staged in Bengaluru, India. The FIBA Asia Cup 2017 will be played from Aug. 17-27, while the Women's Asia Cup 2017 will be held from July 23-29. India will also host the FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship 2017 which will feature eight teams in Division A (FIBA).
In order to "ensure foolproof security arrangements for the high-profile final of the Pakistan Super League" in Lahore on March 5, the Punjab government has advised the Pakistan Cricket Board & Sports Board Punjab "not to hold any other sporting event in the province during Feb 25-March 9." As a result, the Punjab Games, which were to be organized by the Punjab Olympic Association during the last week of February, "in the wake of Punjab government’s advice, have now been postponed till March 22." The security agencies in following the government advice "are not showing any relaxation whatsoever, as the officials concerned want to take every possible step to make sure the PSL final in Lahore takes place without any untoward incident" (DAWN, 1/22).
The first stage of the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally was canceled on Thursday "after an incident involving Hayden Paddon caused the death of a spectator, when the New Zealand driver rolled his Hyundai and blocked the icy road." Neither Paddon nor co-driver John Kennard were hurt but video images "appeared to show a spectator tumbling down the rocky bank after the impact" (FOX SPORTS, 1/19).
