New York, September 9
Croatia's Marin Cilic swept past Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3 6-3 to win the U.S. Open on Monday and reach the pinnacle of the sport one year after a doping ban kept him out of the year's final Grand Slam.

The big-serving Croatian overwhelmed a weary Nishikori in one hour, 54 minutes to clinch a ruthless victory and deny his 10th-seeded opponent's bid to become the first Asian man to win a Grand Slam.

New Delhi, September 9
India's football team's participation in the Asian Games has finally been confirmed after the Sports Ministry pruned the Indian contingent to 679 from 942 for the 17th edition of the multi-sport event, scheduled to be held in Incheon from September 19 to October 4.

The Ministry cleared the 679-member contingent, including 516 athletes and 163 coaches, to compete in 28 disciplines as against the 35 last time. Football, table tennis, handball, basketball and sepaktakraw, which had earlier risked facing the axe, have been included at all-cost-to-the-government basis. The delay on the part of the Sports Ministry had left the 20-member men's squad and the 18-member women's team stranded in Shanghai, who were training for the Asiad in the Chinese city. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) was completely in the dark about the team's participation, but after getting the go-ahead from the Ministry, it issued the final list of footballers who would be boarding the flight to South Korea. It has been learnt that the government cleared football and four other disciplines as a ‘special case’ for the Asian Games.

The IOA had sent a jumbo list of 942 participants, including 662 athletes and 280 officials, to the Sports Ministry. Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had sought Prime Minister's Office (PMO) intervention to resolve the standoff and advise him on the strength of the contingent.

The need to cut down on the strength of the Indian contingent arose after the Sports Authority of India (SAI) favoured a strict application of the criteria which said that an athlete should be ranked in the top six in individual events, while it should be a top eight position in team sports. It has also been decided that “No Cost to Government” shall not be a consideration for finalising the national contingent.

“The exercise was undertaken to ensure that the deserving athletes, coaches and supporting personnel only represent the country in the Games,” the ministry informed in a statement. Disciplines, which failed to make the cut because of their athletes' poor performance, included Baseball, Bowling, Fencing, Karate, Modern Pentathlon, Rugby, Softball, Soft tennis and Triathlon.

The Indian Olympic Association termed the government's decision not to allow officials of the IOA and the NSFs to travel to South Korea for the Asian Games at their own cost as interference to their autonomy.

Participating disciplines: Aquatics (swimming), Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing and Kayaking, Cycling, Equestrian, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Rowing, Sepaktakraw, Shooting, Squash, Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, Wrestling, Wushu, Weightlifting and Yachting.

Dubai, September 9
Pakistan's team suffered a massive blow on Tuesday when their spin spearhead Saeed Ajmal was banned from bowling for an illegal action less than six months before next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Currently the top ranked bowler in One-day Internationals (ODI), the off-spinner was reported for the second time in his career last month after the Galle Test against Sri Lanka.

Ajmal, who turns 37 next month, subsequently underwent biomechanical tests in Brisbane but could not escape the ban from the International Cricket Council (ICC) which seems to have taken a firm stand against bowlers with dodgy actions.

“...an independent analysis has found the bowling action of Saeed Ajmal to be illegal and, as such, the player has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect,” the ICC said in a statement. Ajmal was also reported for a suspect action in 2009 before being cleared by the ICC. While many suspected the off-spinner's 'doosra' — the delivery that spins the 'other' way — exceeded the permissible straightening of the elbow joint for bowlers, the ICC said all Ajmal deliveries breached the limit.

“The analysis revealed that all his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations,” the governing body said.

Ajmal, who has taken 178 wickets from 35 Tests to go with 183 from 111 ODIs, can now apply for a re-assessment after modifying his bowling action. — Reuters

Tashkent, September 9
Indian grapplers continued their weak showing in the ongoing World Wrestling Championships after Naresh Kumar lost his 86kg repechage match against Japan's Atsushi Matsumoto on the second day of the event, here today.

Naresh, who made his presence felt by winning a silver in the Commonwealth Championships in 2013, had lost to Reineris Salas of Cuba 1-3 in the first round of the men's 86kg freestyle yesterday.

In the 61kg freestyle, India's Rahul Mann lost to Yowlys Bonne of Cuba 0-4 in the first round match of the main draw.

Asian Championship gold medallist Amit Dhankhar also went down to Azamat Nurykau of Belarus in the opening round of the 65 kg main draw.

On the opening day, Indian grapplers failed to make a mark on the mat after Rajeev Tomar crashed out of 125 kg the qualifying round while Arun also met with the same fate as he had lost in the qualifying round against Cleopas Ncube of Canada 0-4 in 70kg freestyle.

Rahul Balasaheb Aware gave the country hope after beating Peker Ahmet of Turkey 4-0 in the qualifying round but lost his first round bout of the main event 1-3 to Bekhbayar Erdenebat of Mongolia in the 57kg freestyle yesterday evening itself.

India, however, were fielding a second-string team in view of the upcoming Asian Games. 2008 and 2012 Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar also decided to skip the World Championships in order to focus on the 2016 Rio Olympics. — PTI

Patiala, September 9
Jitu Rai, the 25-year-old Indian Army marksman, has become the first Indian shooter to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Rai achieved the Olympics qualifying standard when he won a silver medal in the men’s 50m Pistol event at the 51st ISSF World Championship, currently underway in Granada, Spain.

Currently ranked No. 5 in the ISSF world rankings, the Armyman narrowly lost out on the gold to South Korean double Olympic champion and world record holder Jin Jingoh in a closely contested final.

Jin shot a total of 192.3 over 20 shots in the final while Jitu finished with a score of 191.1. Pang Wei of China, also an Olympic champion, finished third to settle for the bronze, while Hoang Xuan Vinh came in fourth to bag the last Olympic quota on offer.

Jitu, who won a gold medal in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, is having a dream year — this is his fifth consecutive international medal of 2014. “I am happy as a shooter and as an Indian as representing the country is one thing that is always my priority,” said Rai. “And to win an Olympics medal is my next goal.”

Expressing immense satisfaction over Jitu’s performance, Raninder Singh, President of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), said: “It’s an extremely proud moment for us to see Jitu Rai become the first Indian athlete in all Olympic events to qualify for the Rio Olympics.”

Meanwhile, continuing the sensational show from India’s shooters, Ayonika Paul stormed into the final of the women’s 10m Air Rifle event. Ayonika, the Commonwealth Games Silver medallist, shot a score of 620.8 to qualify in first place for the final. However, she missed the Olympic quota by finishing eighth in the final.

Earlier in the day, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Gurpal Singh shot 550/600 to finish 33rd while Om Prakash shot 548/600 to finish 38th in the 50m pistol event.

Manavjit Sandhu, the 2006 world champion in Trap, continued his excellent start to the competition with two perfect rounds of 25 each. Manavjit has shot 100/100 in his four qualifying rounds.

Jalandhar, September 9
While sportspersons hailing from the neighbouring state of Haryana are going gaga over loads of incentives showered upon them by their state government, the players in Punjab have no choice but to shed tears on the offhand approach of the government.

The discontentment was put on show by the residential wing players of the Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Nehru Garden, here today. The school is known for producing many international players such as Rajbir Kaur, Ajinder Kaur and Nisha Sharma.

The 40 trainees said that they were not getting adequate diet. “The government announced diet of Rs 200 per head everyday but the the contract has been given at Rs 175 per head. The diet here is of very low quality,” said Jaspreet kaur, a student.

She also informed that the hostel had old and faulty wiring due to which the girls get electric shocks on rainy days. “We have informed the school authorities so many times, but they didn’t pay any heed to this,” she added.

Another athlete, Bharati Thakur, said the players had to clean the hostel themselves as there were only four sweepers for the entire school. “We are made to clean the hostel and when we refuse they pass sarcastic comments,” said Thakur.

Gurjinder Kaur, the principal of the school, while accepting that the players did get occasional electric shocks, said, “But we keep repairing faults as and when we come to know about these.”

Pawan Kumar Tinu, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Sports and Youth Affairs), visited the school today and directed the contractor to provide adequate diet. He also directed the school authorities to install new wiring from the Rs 2 lakh that he donated to the school on the National Sports Day last week.

Basel, September 9
Danny Welbeck scored twice to give England respite from criticism and a deserved 2-0 win at Switzerland in their European Championship qualifying opener on Monday.

Welbeck finished off Raheem Sterling’s pass on a fast counter-attack in the 58th minute and slotted in a right-footed shot deep into stoppage time. Also in Group E, Lithuania won 2-0 at San Marino, and Estonia beat Slovenia 1-0. — Agencies

BRIEFLY

Shastri praises Fletcher, calls him “solid character”
New Delhi: Ravi Shastri has lavished praise on India coach Duncan Fletcher, under the scanner after a mixed tour of England during which the Indians were thrashed in the Test series before bouncing back to win the ODIs. “He is tremendous. He would have done over a 100 Tests as coach, which is massive. He is technically very sound. He is a solid character. He is respected. 

He is a fatherly figure,” Shastri said. “I knew Fletcher from the 1983 World Cup. Then in 1984 I led an India Under-25 side to Zimbabwe, where he was my counterpart. So I was aware of his leadership qualities already. Also what made Fletcher's job easier was having the trio of Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and R Sridhar as his assistant coaches,” he added. “Fletcher is the coach. He looks after the handling of various things including little, little stuff. My experience comes into play from the outside — of having been there, done that. The fact that I watch so much is a massive help. And my personality is such if I feel like saying something I don't hold back. I don't care who it is.”

Injured Schumacher to continue recovery at home
Geneva: German Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, who suffered brain injuries in a ski accident last year, will continue his recovery at home, his manager said Tuesday. Schumacher, 45, left the French hospital where he had spent six months and continued rehabilitation at Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland in June, reports Xinhua.

Paes slides to lowest rank in 11 years
New Delhi: The failure to defend his US Open title cost Leander Paes dear as the veteran Indian tennis star suffered a 23-place loss to slip to 35, his worst doubles ranking in 11 years. In January 2003, Paes was ranked 38 but in the last few years, he has consistently remained in top-20.

Rohan Bopanna, who with Paes will play the Davis Cup doubles rubber against Serbia, gained two places to find himself at 27. Meanwhile in the singles, four in top five Indian players had their rankings hit. — Agencies