New Delhi, September 20
Indian wrestling is well and truly on an all-time high as the country, in what turned out to be a double delight, on Friday earned a maiden World Cup berth on the back of its best-ever sixth-place finish in men’s freestyle at the World Championships in Budapest.

India finished the tournament in the men’s freestyle category with 23 points, which has catapulted the country to sixth in rankings behind Iran, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and USA.

As per the FILA rules, the top eight teams in the World Championship automatically qualify for the World Cup and Amit Kumar Dahiya’s silver medal in the 55kg and Bajrang’s bronze in the 60kg freestyle category ensured India its maiden World Cup appearance next year.

The freestyle wrestlers produced India’s best-ever show at the World Championship in a span of two days.

The news couldn’t have come at an opportune time for the Indian wrestling community as the sport battled successfully to regain its place on the Olympic Games roster following its controversial axing in February by the IOC.

The news of India’s World Cup qualification is music to the ears for two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt.

“It’s raining good news for India as after wrestling’s re-inclusion in the Olympic movement, our wards performed extremely well in the World Championship. Their efforts paid rich dividends as now India’s sixth rank has led to our World Cup qualification for the first time in the history of the men’s senior wrestling,” chief coach Vinod Kumar said.

“World Championship acts as a qualifying event for the World Cup. In the next year’s World Cup, free-style wrestlers will be spearheading the country’s challenge while the fate of greco-roman and women’s wrestlers will be decided after the championship,” he said.

Prior to this, India’s best-ever finish in the World Championship in men’s category came in the year 2009 when it finished 10th, while year 2010 and 2011 saw them finish 13th and a lowly 31st respectively.

“Last year, World Championship in men’s category did not take place as it happened to be an Olympic year while the championship in the women’s category happened in September after the London Games,” he said.

Indian women wrestlers had qualified for the World Cup for the first time this year where they finished fifth in the eight-team event held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from March 1-3.

But the honour of representing the country in the World Cup always eluded the senior men’s wrestlers including the likes of Olympic medallists Sushil and Yogeshwar.

Vinod, who has been with the team since 2007 and played an important role in India reaching the pinnacle of the sport, also informed that India accumulated nine points from 55kg (Amit Kumar), eight points from 60kg (Bajrang) and six points from 74kg (Narsingh) to arrive at a grand total of 23 points from the World Championship and finish sixth ahead of much-higher ranked nations.

“Our wrestling is on the ascendancy and it has been proved by our wrestlers,” he said. 

Patiala, September 20
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has suspended a 17-year-old junior double trap shotgun after his alleged sexual harassment of an Italian housekeeping staff in the team hotel in Masari, Italy, last month. The shooters were training in Italy to prepare for the Shotgun World Championships – currently on in Lima, Peru – and the accused has been kept in isolation while more strict action is likely to be taken once he’s back in India.

The Bihar-born shooter was withdrawn from the championship after the team manager, Amarjang Singh, reported the matter to NRAI president Raninder Singh.

“The accused shooter had physically abused the female hotel staffer when she entered his room to deliver his laundry and had it not been for the fellow shooters who heard the staffer raise an alarm, things would have been more worse,” said a NRAI official who has seen the report.

A 25-member Indian shooting contingent was in Italy for a training camp and due to this incident, India fielded one shooter short in the present championship.

The alleged victim decided not to pursue the case with the local police after team captain Manavjit Singh Sandhu made the accused apologise to her in front of the entire team (including the female shooters). Sources in the team revealed that the case could have become a much more serious if the door of the room had been locked and help had not arrived for the victim.

Later, Amarjang made an apology to the victim on behalf of the entire nation. The shooter was also asked to apologise to the Indian team for the embarrassment.

When contacted NRAI, President Raninder Singh told The Tribune that the case has been referred to the Athletes Commission and a final decision will be taken in a fortnight after the shooter reaches India. “As per the initial reports available with us, the shooter is clearly on the wrong side and officials tell me that had the fellow campers not intervened at the earliest, the case could have been much more serious,” he stated, adding that the Sports Ministry has been informed.

Sources say that the same shooter was reprimand by the NRAI when a female shooter had lodged a complaint against him and a few others a few months ago. However, instead of appearing before the athletics commission then, the shooter decided to ignore all letters sent to him. A letter of reprimand was then sent to them. 

Jaipur, September 20
Desperate to exorcise the ghosts of the spot-fixing scandal once and for all, Rajasthan Royals will look to start afresh as they face the daunting prospect of running into IPL-6 winners Mumbai Indians in the inaugural group stage match of the Champions League T20 on Saturday.

The fact that the tournament will be the last one for veteran Sachin Tendulkar, who will be pitted against another great and contemporary Rahul Dravid at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, makes the contest even more special.

The spot-fixing scandal, which broke out during the IPL-6 earlier this year, saw the BCCI imposing life bans on Test pacer S Sreesanth and spinner Ankeet Chavan, and one-year suspension on Sidharth Trivedi, while another player Ajit Chandila`s fate is yet to be decided. The unsavoury episode has cast a dark shadow over the Indian Premier League, and has dented the Royals` image badly. It would now be a herculean task for both skipper Dravid and coach Paddy Upton to keep the morale of the team high. The hosts, however, can take confidence from the fact that they would be starting their campaign in their own den, where they had won all their eight matches during the sixth edition of the IPL.

Rajasthan were one of the only two teams this year in IPL to remain unbeaten at home and despite the lack of big names in their ranks, apart from Shane Watson and Dravid, players such as Brad Hodge, Stuart Binny, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper and Ajinkya Rahane enabled the team finish third.

Rahane, with his orthodox slogging, is the backbone of the Royals batting, while Australian all-rounder Watson and Dravid give them the solidity. — PTI

Vadodara, September 20
Jaywant Lele, the diminutive former BCCI secretary during whose tenure the match-fixing scandal broke out in 2000, passed away at his residence here following a massive heart attack.

Lele breathed his late on Thursday night. He was 75 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. The outspoken Lele, who served as BCCI’s assistant secretary and later took over the reins as the secretary when Jagmohan Dalmiya became the president of the International Cricket Council in 1996, had celebrated his 75th birthday on September 13.

“He had celebrated his 75th birthday with his friends. It is very unfortunate. He was like a father to me. I always used to consult him on various issues. He had guided me from the age of 12,” former India stumper Nayan Mongia, who was close to him, said. Lele, who had written an autobiography on his career as a cricket administrator, was not well on his birthday as he was suffering from a viral infection.

“He suffered a massive heart attack when he went to the bathroom before going to sleep. He was escorted to the bed but he passed away,” family sources said. A qualified umpire and a club level cricketer, Lele later graduated to BCCI ranks and then rose to become its secretary during one of the most turbulent period in Indian cricket. — PTI

Mohali, September 20
Here’s a piece of statistic that’s you won’t see often. Misbah-ul-Haq, the Faisalabad Wolves skipper, has scored more runs than rest of the batsmen put together in his team. Of the total 412 runs scored by this Pakistan outfit in the three qualifiers, Misbah contributed 195, the others chipped in with 190 and the remaining 27 came through extras.

While highlighting the tremendous touch the Wolves’ skipper has been in, the rare stat also shows how ordinary this team from Pakistan has been. And this team, despite literally being a one-man army, managed to pocket one win, against Kundarata Maroons who lost all three games, in an inconsequential game was again thanks to a brilliant unbeaten 93-run knock from their skipper.

No wonder then, Misbah sounded a little torn between contradictory emotions after the game. “Of course it feels good when you score that heavily but, at the same time, the overall result and the lack of performance from others leave you disappointed,” said the skipper.

Perhaps everyone who has seen or heard about the teams coming over from Pakistan in the past must have felt a little disappointed. The teams from across the border have always had some x-factor, some freakish raw talent that would unfailingly catch the eye of even the most casual viewer. Sadly, there was none in this side. And the fact that this side was Pakistan’s best paints quite a depressing picture of the game’s future in the country known for churning out world class talent just like that.

“We are struggling to produce world class batsmen, and that’s a matter of huge concern for everyone involved with the game back home. We need to address this issue at the earliest if we are to stay competitive in world cricket,” said Misbah.

Chandigarh, September 20
Rahil Gangjee notched his third victory on the domestic circuit at the Chandigarh Golf Course today, claiming the PGTI Players Championship with a total of 13-under-par 275 for a winner’s cheque of Rs 4,84,950.

Gangjee was not threatened at all today as he shot a two-under 70 in the final round for a six-stroke victory margin. The Kolkatan played consistently, converting birdie opportunities on the par-five second and 13th holes. He dropped a stroke on the 15th but holed an eight-footer for birdie on the last hole to seal his victory in style.

“I hit some solid shots throughout my round today and am happy to win after a gap of five years,” said Gangjee, who has also has a victory on the Asian Tour to his credit.

“The intensity was there till the end and I didn’t let go of any chances. But I knew I had it in the bag after Zamal bogeyed the 15th hole.” “I suffered a huge setback at the European Tour’s 2010 Avantha Masters where I was leading on the final day with five holes to go. I did not the grab my opportunities on that occasion and finished outside the top-10. But I have grown from that experience as it taught me how to handle pressure while leading. My stint on the Web.com Tour in the United States over the last two seasons has also given me a lot of experience and confidence and made me more competitive,” added Rahil. Local professional Sujjan Singh carded a brilliant four-under 68 in the final round to finish tied second at seven-under 281 alongside Bangladesh professional Md Zamal Hossain Mollah, who shot a 72 today.

“I was a bit rusty getting into this week but my play got better each day and I hit the ball well today. I shall be taking away a lot of positives from this week,” said Sujjan, who is currently first reserve for next week’s event on the Japan Tour.

Jyoti Randhawa flashed his brilliance with a five-under 67 today, which included a chip holed out on the last hole. “I am happy with my game today,” said Randhawa. He finished fourth alongside Akshay Sharma, Abhijit Singh Chadha and Angad Cheema at five-under 283.

Jyoti and Digvijay Singh are off to play in Japan next week, while the rest of the field will be back in action at the Panchkula Golf Course next week.

BRIEFLY

Shuttlers’ challenge ends at Japan Open
New Delhi: India’s challenge at the USD 200,000 Japan Open Super Series badminton event ended on Friday as all the men shuttlers - H.S. Prannoy, K. Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram - bowed out in quarterfinals. 21-year-old Prannoy was up first against China’s Huan Gao, ranked 32. The Chinese won the first game easily 21-11 but Prannoy took the second 22-20. In the decider, the Indian lost 13-21. K Srikanth went down to Kenichi Tago in straight games 18-21, 9-21. Ajay Jayaram lost to world no. 8 Tien Minh Nguyen. He gifted the first game to Vietnamese 21-18 and then lost the second 13-21.

Bolt may continue till 2017 World C’ship
London: Usain Bolt may continue competing until the 2017 world championships in London, the Jamaican said. The six-times Olympic champion had previously said he planned to quit after the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. “I wanted to retire after Rio but my fans are saying do it one more time and then my sponsors came on board. I might go one more year. My coach says it can be done,” he said. Bolt, 27, said it was still possible he could lower his world records from 9.58 seconds in the 100 meters and 19.19 in the 200, both times set four years ago. “There’s a possibility,” he said. — Agencies