An Indian woman who claims to be Pakistani cricket ace Shoaib Malik’s wife has demanded he divorce her before he weds India’s top tennis star Sania Mirza, reports said yesterday.
Mirza, 23, and Malik, 28, who are both Muslim, will marry next month and live in Dubai, family members told local media late last month.
But Ayesha Siddiqui, from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, said Malik married her by telephone in 2002 and that she has documents proving their union.
PHOTO: AFP
Siddiqui has threatened to sue Malik if he refuses to “formally divorce” her before marrying Mirza, the Times of India reported. TV stations carried similar reports.
She also circulated copies of her Muslim nuptial agreement to media outlets in India and Pakistan and has spoken about the alleged relationship with Malik, the newspaper reported.
“Malik can marry Sania Mirza only after divorcing me,” Siddiqui said.
“He dumped me because his teammates said I was fat. I need an official divorce now,” she said.
The cricketer has denied the marriage and says he will file a defamation suit.
The sporting marriage between Mirza and Malik, apparently unprecedented in the perennial rivalry between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals, comes two months after Mirza broke off her engagement to a childhood friend.
Shoaib Malik’s brother-in-law Imran Malik said that the pair would wed on April 11.
The wedding is expected to take place in Hyderabad followed by a reception in Pakistan later this month.
Meanwhile, the couple’s wedding plans have also run into objections from hard-line Hindu groups who say Mirza should not be allowed to represent India after her wedding to a Pakistani citizen.
“She will become a Pakistani citizen after marriage and there is no way she can play for India,” right-wing political party Shiv Sena’s chief Bal Thackeray said.
However, Mirza, who is recovering from a wrist injury that has seen her fall in the official rankings from 27 in 2007 to 92, has said she will continue playing for India after her wedding.
“India is my country and it will always remain so,” she said.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS