New Delhi, September 8
American Serena Williams won her ninth grand slam title by beating tenacious Serbian Jelena Jankovic 6-4 7-5 in a high-quality US Open women's final.

The 26-year-old broke Jankovic three times to take the opening set before saving four set points in the second to seal victory in two hours four minutes and regain the world number one ranking yesterday.

Williams, who swept away Russian Dinara Safina 6-3 6-2 in the semi-finals, fended off spectacular retrieving by Jankovic with her power game to clinch a third U.S. Open crown but her first here since 2002.

On a warm night at Flushing Meadows, the fourth seed won a long opening service game but Jankovic, in her first grand slam final, held serve and broke to lead 2-1 when Williams netted a backhand.

The American then stepped up a gear, using her greater power to win four straight games to lead 5-2.

Jankovic held and broke back in the ninth game when her opponent netted a backhand but Williams broke for a third time to wrap up the opening set when the Serbian pushed a forehand long.

Williams held her opening serve in the second set but a scrambling Jankovic saved two break points in the next to stay on level terms.

The pair shared a series of exhausting rallies as they stayed on serve to 3-3, although Jankovic had to save another two break points to keep on terms.

Jankovic netted a forehand pass to hand Williams two break points in the sixth game but the Serbian saved both, before breaking to lead 4-3 when Williams netted a drop shot.

The Serbian held for 5-3 and when Williams trailed 0-40, she had three set points but the American saved them all before forging ahead 0-40 on the Jankovic serve.

In a marathon 10th game, Jankovic saved five break points and forced a fourth set point, only to double-fault and then lose her serve before Williams held to lead 6-5.

Jankovic saved one match point with a heavy forehand but Williams forced another and then clinched her third US Open title with a crunching backhand winner before leaping for joy.

Sixth-seeded Briton Andy Murray reached his first grand slam final in commanding style by upsetting world number one Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-6 4-6 6-4 at the US Open.

The shrewd Scot outplayed the Spanish left-hander in a semi-final contest that began on Saturday on the Louis Armstrong court and ended more than 24 hours later in the showpiece Arthur Ashe Stadium after being interrupted by the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna.

Leading by two sets but trailing 2-3 in the third overnight, Murray lost the third set before breaking the Spaniard in the 10th game of the fourth, wrapping up the biggest victory of his career with a backhand winner.

The 21-year-old Briton will play four-times defending champion Roger Federer in Monday's final.

''Very relieved,'' an emotional Murray said in a courtside interview on a sun-splashed, blustery afternoon after ripping 65 winners past Nadal, including 21 aces.

Murray, who will attempt to become the first British man to win a grand slam title since Fred Perry at the 1936 US Open, has a 2-1 winning record against world number two Federer.

Nadal, who broke Murray at the start of the third set before the match spilled over into a second day, survived one anxious moment in the 10th game but held serve to win the third set.

After hitting a forehand long, the Majorcan saved a break point with an ace before winning the next two points with crunching forehands to peg back Murray's lead.

Continually pressured by Murray's clever variations from the baseline, Nadal was forced to save seven break points in a marathon second game in the fourth set before holding serve.

Murray, understandably demoralised after losing a 15-minute game totalling 22 points, was then broken in the third after making four successive unforced errors. The last of them, a wild forehand that sailed wide, gave Nadal a 2-1 lead.

The Briton, however, broke back in the sixth, when the Spaniard hit a forehand wide, to level at 3-3 and constructed a sequence of near-perfect rallies in the 10th to again break and secure victory in three hours 30 minutes.

Nadal, the French Open and Wimbledon champion who was playing his first grand slam as world number one, had won 54 of his previous 56 matches along with eight ATP titles this year.

Win or lose Monday, Murray will rise to a career-high fourth when the world rankings are issued next week, a fitting move according to four-times US Open singles champion John McEnroe.

''He has an incredible return of serve and some of the best hands in the business,'' McEnroe said while commentating on the match for an American TV network.

''I have always believed he had the potential to go a very long way.

''At the start of the tournament, I said he was the fourth-best player in the world and now the rankings will back up the statement. Let's see if he can go higher - I think he can.'' — Reuters

Mumbai, September 8
The selectors today put a huge question mark over the future of former India skipper Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh by leaving the left-handed duo out of the Rest of India squad for the September 24-28 Irani Cup tie against Ranji Trophy champions Delhi at Vadodara.

Ganguly had a poor Test series in Sri Lanka along with the other three senior batsmen - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman - while Yuvraj has been in indifferent form in the ODIs.

Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman were, however, included in the 14-man team to be led by Anil Kumble.

The outgoing Dilip Vengsarkar-led five-member committee provided a fresh lease of life to the stuttering career of Mohammed Kaif by including him for the season-opening clash touted as a virtual selection trial for the upcoming Test series against the mighty Australian squad.

A surprise inclusion was Bengal medium pacer Ashok Dinda who was impressive in the May-June Indian Premier League while Mumbai opener Wasim Jaffer was also given another chance to resurrect his stop-start career which seemed to be going downhill from the tour of Australia.

The selectors also named the India 'A' squad, to be led by S Badrinath, for the triangular series against Australia 'A' and New Zealand 'A' from September 15-26 in Chennai and Hyderabad.

Ganguly mustered 96 runs in the three-Test rubber which India lost to Sri Lanka and his lack of runs in the middle order, along with the poor run with the bat of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman, cost India dear.

The 36-year-old Bengal stalwart seems to be in the same position that he found himself previously when Greg Chappell was the coach of the national squad and had to fight his way back into the team through domestic cricket.

This time around age factor too is against the country's most successful Test skipper and accumulator of 6888 runs in 109 Tests.

Besides, he has lost his place in the Indian one-day team along with Dravid who has also been put under the scanner after a shoddy display in Lanka along with Tendulkar and Laxman.

Yuvraj Singh's career has again been put in limbo by the decision of the outgoing selection panel which would be reconstituted at the Cricket Board's AGM on September 27 and 28.

Niranjan Shah, who announced the two teams, told PTI that "some members of the current committee" would witness the Irani tie in Vadodara, while the team for the opening Test against Australia commencing at Bengaluru on October 9 "would be chosen by the new selection committee". — PTI

New Delhi, September 8
Indian ODI and Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been nominated for two awards while Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Ishant Sharma figure in the short list for one award each in the fifth LG ICC Awards, to be presented in Dubai on Wednesday night.

This year's ICC Awards include eight individual prizes, the Test and ODI teams of the Year and an award to the team who had "adhered most to the Spirit of Cricket".

Based on performances in the 12 months between August 9, 2007 and August 12, 2008, the ICC Awards , given in associations with the Federation International Cricketers' Association (FICA), will take into account performances by players and officials.

The eight individual awards are: cricketer of the Year, Emerging Player of the Year, ODI Player of the Year, Test player of the Year, Umpire of the Year, Women's Cricketer of the Year, Associate Player of the Year and T20 International Performance of the Year.

Dhoni has been shortlisted for the ODI Player of the Year and the T20 International Performance of the Year awards.

He has been nominated for the T20 award for leading India to the title in the inaugural T20 World Championship in South Africa last September. This award has been introduced this year to recognise the newest form of cricket.

Dhoni will vie for the ODI Player of the Year award with Sachin Tendulkar, Nathan Bracken and Mohammed Yousuf. Fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been nominated for the Emerging Player of the Year award while Yuvraj Singh gets nomination for the T20 International Performance of the Year to mark his six sixes against England in Durban.

Dhoni and Yuvraj will be up against Chris Gayle of the West Indies and Brett Lee of Australia. Gayle's 117 from 57 balls in the opening match of the ICC World T20 Championship was the first hundred in the international form of the game while Brett Lee captured a hattrick against Bangladesh in Cape Town, which was another first in T20.

Lee is one of the three Australians nominated this year, along with Nathan Bracken in the ODI player category and Lisa Sthalekar for the Women's Cricketer of the Year award for the second year in a row.

Ishant faces tough competition in the Emerging Player category with Sri Lankan spin magician Ajantha Mendis, England all-rounder Stuart Broad and South African speed bowler Morne Morkel.

V Ramachandran, director of LG Electronics marketing in India and ICC CEO Harry Lorgat said at a media briefing here today that four players had been shortlisted for the

Cricketer of the Year award--Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies, Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, Dale Steyn and Graeme Smith of South Africa. The winner of the award will be given the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy. The first three players are also in line for a "bumper" as they figure in the list for the Test Player of the Year award, along with Jacques Kallis of South Africa.

Mumbai, September 8
The N K P Salve Trophy Challenger Series tournament featuring India Red, Blue and Green teams would be held at Cuttack from October 23-26.

The Duleep Trophy tournament, involving the five zonal teams along with a visiting team (not yet finalised), is scheduled for January 16 to February 10 after the conclusion of the national championship for the Ranji Trophy.

The Ranji Trophy Elite and Plate division league ties would commence simultaneously on November 3. Elite pool ties would conclude on December 18 while the Plate league would end on December 11, according to the BCCI's domestic calendar.

The Plate group's semifinals would be held from December 15-18 with the winners qualifying for the the knock out rounds of the Elite division, starting with the quarter finals, from December 23, 2008 to January 11, 2009.

The zonal one-day league would be run from February 15 followed by the inter-zonals for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Agartala from February 28 to March 9.

The Deodhar Trophy limited overs inter-zonal knock-out tournament would be held from March 14-18 at Cuttack.

The Twenty 20 zonal league is scheduled from March 22, the inter-zonal T20 two-group league from April 2 culminating in the All-India T20 final between the winners of the groups for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on April 8. — PTI

Bilbao, September 8
World Champion Viswanathan Anand will be under pressure to win when he comes out for the sixth round game against Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine after the rest day in the Bilbao Grand Slam here.

Anand hit a low against Vaselin Topalov of Bulgaria and lost in the fourth round, besides that the Indian ace has only managed four draws which puts him on 4 points in the soccer-like scoring system, that gives three points for a win and one for draw, being used first time ever in a high-category tournament. But, according to the experts, Anand is perhaps reserving his best for his forthcoming world championship match.

Veselin Topalov will have white pieces against Radjabov whose form is also in question. The Bulgarian starts as the favourite in this game but Radjabov has repeatedly shown his tenacity and counter-play skills especially while playing black. In the other game of sixth round Magnus Carlsen will have white against Aronian and the latter will be looking to avenge his defeat at the hands of teenage sensation earlier in the tournament.

The event is being played on a double round robin basis according to fide rules and the draw offers are forbidden. The prize pool is an unprecedented 400000 euros. Pairings round 6: Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 4) v/s V Anand (Ind, 4); Veselin Topalov (Bul, 9) v/s Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 4); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 8) v/s Levon Aronian (Arm, 6).— PTI

New Delhi, September 8
Sania Mirza's continued absence from the court took a heavy toll on her singles ranking as she slid to as low as 91 in the latest WTA charts issued today.

Sania, who skipped US Open, dropped 21 places in one week and runs the risk of moving out of top-100 for the first time since 2004. Sania has been forced to miss entire clay court season including the French Open and then left her singles Olympics campaign mid-way due to the niggling wrist injury. — PTI

Bathinda, September 8
Though the presence of spectators at the 55th Senior National Boxing Championship remained thin today, it still proved to be a good day for many pugilists on account of a number of walkovers awarded. Viraj Ramkale of Goa was declared winner in the light 60 kg bout as despite repeated calls by the referee, Sandeep Chaudhary of Himachal Pradesh did not appear.

Most matches today were one-sided. Govind Thapa of Assam delivered upper cuts and hook wallops to Alemyapangao of Nagaland and scored 17 points, leaving the Naga pugilist at zero. In the middle 75 kg bout, Sudhir Malik of All India Police beat Mohit Kumar of Rajasthan 20-0.

Results:

Light 60kg: Shananshar Ulhak (MP) bt Amar Singh (Tri) 14-5; Viraj Ramkale (Goa) got walkover from Sandeep Chaudhary (HP); Sanjay Tokas (Del) bt J. Bharath (TN) 17-9; Ranninfangruava (Miz) bt Vijmendrea (Raj) RSC; H. Birjit (Aru) bt B Devbnath (WB) 17-2; Amandeep Singh (Pun) bt Pradeep Kumar (BSF) 24-13; G.S. Suresh (CISF) bt Dhirendra P. Singh (Bih) RSCOC; Govind Thapa (Asm) bt Alemyapangao (Nag) 17-0; Somvir (Chd) bt Tarun Negi (Utk) 10-5; Ktt Singh (Jha) bt Sandeep Kumar (JK) RSCOS; Viksh Malik (RSPB) bt Sanjay Kumar (Har) 16-4; P.P. Singh bt G. Satish Kumar (AP) 17-11; Ravi Kumar (SPSB) bt S. Sukanta Kumar (Ori) 22-8; Mahesh Singh (UP) bt Naveen Cintury (Skm) 21-7; Rakesh Kalskar (SSCB) bt Vinod Kumar (Cht) 18-10; S. Narendra (Ker) bt Ranjeet Jeena (Aip) 31-5; S.B. Tamang (Ar) bt Vinit Kotian (Mah) 30-8; Anil Kumar (Nag) bt Sachin Kumar (CISF) 16-12

Middle 75kg: Mahindra Singh (Skm) bt Anmol Londhe (Mah) RSCOC; Kuldeep Singh (Pun) 33-9; Devraj Sultan Tabrez (WB) 20-0; G. Thyagrajan (RSPB) 42-41 (individual); Ajay Kumar (BSF) got walkover from Gurdev Singh (AP); Ramkumar Gautam (UP) bt Jasbir Singh (Ori) 23-11; D. Bhagyanrajan (SSCB) bt Sanjay Kumar (CHD) RSC; R. Raju (C’garh) bt V. Lavi (Kar) 16015; Parmindra Singh (Jha) bt Karan Singh (bih) retired; U.P. Supalli Naresh (AP) bt Gagendra Singh (MP) retired; Ganesh P. (Ker) bt S. Sajesh (TN) RSC; R. Pradesh Kumar (Pond) bt Mitu Singh (HP) retired; Sudhir Malik (Aip) bt Mohit Kumar (Raj) 20-0; John Lal (Miz) bt Gunjaman Singh (Meg) 12-5; Manjeet (Har) bt Rahul Kumar (Del) 23-11; Vikash Singh (Tri) bt Hari Singh (Raj); R.G. Manjunath (Kar) bt Harish Tokash (Nag) 26-6; Sunil Ola (MP) bt Subhash (del) 24-4; Mahindra Thapa (SSCB) bt Parvinder (Skm) RSCH.

Kochi, September 8
Olympian and National Champion Preeja Sreedharan got off to a flying start for her team Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), by winning the women’s gold medal in the 10,000m in the National Open Athletic Championship on the inaugural day at the Maharajas College Ground here today.

“I was confident of winning the medal. I have just returned from the Chennai Marathon. I was hoping to better my own meet record but could not as I was tired”, an elated Preeja told PTI. Preeja, who got off to a perfect start, maintained the lead from the beginning and did not face any challenge from the other seven contestants in the fray.

An Asian Championship silver medallist, Preeja clocked 34:13.4s to garner the gold while her teammate Preeti L. Rao with 36:18.7s took the bronze. The silver medal went in favour of Kavitha Raut of ONGC who clocked 36:15.3s.

In the men’s 10,000m final, which was fought evenly, national record holder Olympian Surender Singh of Services, kept his reputation, winning the gold medal clocking 29:52.06s. Ajay Kumar, who gave Surender a stiff fight till the end, settled for silver at 29:52.48s and Santosh Kumar of Railways with 29:55.68s had to be content with the bronze.

“I am very happy with my performance. I was confident of winning the medal. I did not aim for any record”, 29-year-old Surender, a Naik Subedar, said. Surender had been winning the 10,000m for the last two years. — PTI