days to go  preview  wrestling Squad Men (freestyle): Amit Kumar (57kg), Bajrang (61kg), Yogeshwar Dutt (65kg), Parveen Rana (70kg), Narsingh Yadav (74kg), Pawan Kumar (86kg), Satyavart Kadian (97kg), Krishna Kumar (120kg); Greco-Roman: Ravindra Singh (59kg), Sandeep Yadav (66kg), Krishna Kant Yadav (71kg), Gurpreet Singh (75kg), Harpreet Singh (80kg), Manoj (85kg), Dharmendra Dalal (130kg); Women: Vinesh Phogat (48kg), Babita (55kg), Geetika Jakhar (63kg) and Jyoti (75kg). action time Sept 27 to Oct 1 (7 to 9pm) Venue: Dowon Gymnasium 3 bronze in 2010 asiad Mausam Khatri (96kg) won a bronze medal in freestyle. Ravinder Singh (60 kg) and Sunil Kumar Rana (66kg) bagged bronze in Greco- Roman event. 13 medals in Glasgow India won five gold, six silver and two bronze to run away with 13 medals, the most by any country in the Glasgow Games. The gold count could have been more had the four Indians not lost in their respective final bouts. Sushil and Yogeshwar Dutt were class apart as they won gold in their respective weight categories while Amit Kumar (57kg), Vinesh (women’s 48) and Babita Kumari (women’s 55kg) showed the quality of the young brigade in Indian wrestling talent reservoir.

This is going to be Olympics Part-II, warns India's freestyle coach Vinod Kumar. In terms of skills, competition and the magnitude of event, wrestling in Asian Games is next only to the Olympics.

China, Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, North and South Korea are the major powers here.

India does have a notable presence but are far from dominating. It has been more than a month since the Commonwealth Games got over and the euphoria subsided but the wrestlers are hard pressed to build speed and stamina once again. Peaking again within such a short span of time is a tough ask for any athlete taking part in Asian Games; in the case of the wrestlers, the situation becomes more acute. “We have kept it in mind and given adequate rest to the athletes. This is the reason why we sent the B team to the World Championships. I think peaking should not be a problem with us,” said the coach.

The tough competition in Incheon has the Indian grapplers sweating already. Consequently, they have prepared a bit extra for the event. Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt has been drilling this fact into the grapplers' mind by saying, “Commonwealth was just a beginning. The real challenge will come up in the Asian Games.” The grapplers have focussed more on speed and strength training.

One upshot of the Commonwealth Games has been that the wrestlers are already having good physical fitness and their entire focus is on skill enhancement. Plus, there is a renewed vigour in preparations as every grappler expects a series of far tougher bouts than they faced at Glasgow.

When asked whether there will be a change of tactics in the Asian Games from what we saw in the Commonwealth Games, coach Vinod Kumar said, “Not necessarily. We have seen bouts of potential threats and prepared our athletes to counter them. Tactics, more or less remain same.”

To go beyond the tally of Commonwealth Games would be highly ambitious of India as Asian wrestlers (freestyle) have bagged more medals than any other continent in the London Olympics. In the absence of Sushil Kumar, who pulled out due to a shoulder injury, London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Kumar, Amit Kumar and Bajrang Punia will be India’s best bets. India are expecting four-five medals, including two gold medals, in the freestyle category.

The Greco Roman bunch haven't done anything surprising off late, so no surprises are expected here too. Ravinder Singh won a bronze medal in the last edition. He is India's hope in this event. In the women's section, the Phogat sisters, Vinesh and Babita, will carry India's hope. Geetika Jakhar, who won silver at the 2006 Doha Games will once again try to replicate the success. Since the 2002 Busan Asian Games, when women wrestling was introduced for the first time, Japan have bagged the most number of gold medals (6) while China are second (3).

The Asian Games are significant for wrestlers, predominantly a new crop, to assess their performance for the Rio Olympics. The results will give a fair idea of who the real contenders are for next Olympics.

World Championships casts a dark shadow

* The recently-concluded World Wrestling Championships point to India's weak links in wrestling squads. First, India’s second string wrestlers are woefully short of foreign exposure. A medal once in a while and then a long lull has become a recurrent theme in World Championships. Indian wrestlers are known to win a medal and then fade away. India's top notch Greco-Roman wrestlers fared miserably in Tashkent. Three of them crashed out in the initial rounds in Tashkent. KK Yadav (71kg) and Hardeep Singh (98kg) managed to win their respective qualification bouts but stumbled at the first hurdle. Asian bronze medalist Ravinder Singh (59kg) also bowed out in the opening round. Sandeep Tulsi Yadav (66kg), who created history by winning India's first-ever medal last year, went down in the Round of 32. Dharmender Dalal (130kg) suffered a 0-5 defeat in the qualifying round. Meanwhile, Iran gave a preview of what is to come in Asian Games as they clinched the overall title of the 2014 Wrestling World Championships.

Its going to be tough

The Indian wrestlers are feeling hard done-by by the Central government's decision to scale down their contingent in the freestyle category for the Asian Games.

The Sports Ministry struck off the name of Anil Mann, a key member of the coaching staff, from the list of officials for the Games after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) pruned the Indian contingent to 679 from 942. Mann has travelled quite regularly with the freestyle team to major international competitions over the years.

The decision hasn't gone down well with the Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallist Yogeshwar Dutt. “His exclusion could result in India losing out on a couple of medals," warned Yogeshwar, who will compete in 66 weight category.

The coaching contingent now comprises Vinod Kumar and Anup Kumar, coaches for the freestyle category, and Kuldeep Singh and Vikram Kumar, the coaches for the Greco Roman category.

“Suppose three Indian grapplers have their bouts simultaneously. Vinod and Anup will attend to two wrestlers, but who will look after the third wrestler? In case of an injury or to lodge a complaint during the bout, you need the coach as only he is allowed to accompany the wrestler and sit during the bout. If the referee or the competition manager wants to convey some information, they will look for the coach. In an event like this, you always have two to three bouts taking place at the same time," explained Yogeshwar.

Yogeshwar said the mat chairman wouldn't allow the grappler to enter the competition area in the absence of a coach. Mann's name was there in the original list of coaches and officials submitted by the IOA. "The wrestling federation (WFI) has already written to the IOA and the Ministry on my request. I am hopeful that a solution would be worked out soon," he said.

Talking about his own preparation, Yogeshwar said he would look to end India's 28-year-long wait for gold in the multi-sport event. “The last gold came in 1986 at Seoul. I'll try my best to win gold in this edition. I have trained well and have improved my footwork," said the grappler from Nihari in Sonepat.

Yogeshwar, though, knows that Incheon will be different from Glasgow. Indian grapplers won 12 medals at the Glasgow CWG, but the same cannot be expected at the Asian Games.

"The level of competition will be tough there. We have to be at our best if we want to win medals. Asian Games are like the World Championships. I am expecting around four to five medals in freestyle," said the 2006 Doha Asiad bronze medallist.

Yogeshwar said India will face a stiff challenge from South Korea, Mongolia, Iraq, Japan and Kazakhstan. "Wrestlers from Iran and Mongolia won majority of the medals at the World Championships. They are our toughest rivals, but our young wrestlers are ready for the challenge," he said.

New Delhi, September 15
If the drastic pruning of the Indian contingent was not enough, the Sports Ministry has now reduced the daily allowances of the athletes for the Asian Games. The athletes will receive USD25 at the Asian Games, instead of USD50 which they were given at the Glasgow CWG.

Incidentally, the allowance for the CWG had been raised from USD 25 after the athletes complained that it wasn't adequate. The Sports Ministry had approached the Finance Ministry with a proposal to increase the daily allowances for the CWG, to which the latter had agreed.

However, for the Asian Games, the Finance Ministry has not responded to the Sports Ministry's proposal to continue paying USD 50 to the Indian athletes for the Asian Games. As per norms, the officials accompanying the team get 25 percent of the allowance given to the players and coaches.

Incidentally, the athletes are yet to receive the enhanced USD 25 per day for the CWG. It is learnt that the Ministry has sanctioned the amount and the IOA is in the process of transferring the balance amount to the back account of the athletes.

New Delhi, September 15
Triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary and shot putter Om Prakash Karhana were on Monday rendered doubtful for the upcoming Asian Games. The Athletics Federation of India, though, is yet to take the final call on the matter.

The fate of men's 4x400m relay team will also be decided by the AFI on Tuesday. Maheshwary finished last in the IAAF Inter-Continental Cup in Marrakech in Morocco with a disappointing effort of 15.91m, while Karhana suffered an ankle injury while warming up for the 'selection trials' in Patiala.

Maheshwary, Karhana, triple jumper Mayookha Johny, the women's 4x100m and 4x400m relay and men's 4x400m relay teams were included in the 56-member athletics team named by the AFI for the Asian Games, to be held in Incheon, subject to trials.

The trials were held at the NIS Patiala on Monday. The government has, however, cleared them for the Games by including them in the 679-strong Indian contingent.

Instead of the trials in Patiala, Maheshwary, a former national record holder with a personal best of 17.07m, was given the chance to compete in the prestigious IAAF event in Morocco after the Asian Games-bound and continental season leader Arpinder Singh decided to skip it.

Two season leaders from four regions — Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa and Americas — compete in the IAAF Continental Cup.

AFI selection committee chairman Gurbachan Singh Randhawa said that Maheshwary is more or less out of Asian Games team.

"From my side, I will say he should not be sent for the Asian Games, 100 per cent. His performance (in Morocco) is really really bad. We will sit tomorrow and assess the performance of these athletes after today's trials at the NIS Patiala. But as far as I am concerned, Maheshwary has no chance," he said.

"It will be difficult for Om Prakash too to make it to the team. He was struggling for some time and on top of that he suffered an injury today at the NIS. I think he is also likely to be out of the team," Randhawa added. — PTI

Incheon, September 15
The Indian men's football team suffered a humiliating 0-5 thrashing at the hands of United Arab Emirates in its Asian Games campaign opener and placed itself in a difficult position to advance to the next round.

The Indians were outclassed by a much superior side in all departments of the game by last edition's silver medallist. The series of mispasses, the ineffectiveness on the wings and the sluggish midfield losing almost every battle for the ball made matters tough for Wim Koevermans' boys as a ruthless UAE took control of the game from the beginning of the Group G match at Hwaseong Sports Complex Main Stadium. — PTI

Bangalore, September 15
India’s agonising wait to return to the World Group continued as the hosts lost 2-3 to Serbia in the rain-hit playoff tie after Yuki Bhambri surrendered tamely in the decisive fifth rubber against Filip Karjinovic here today.

Krajinovic turned out to be a hero for the Serbians with his 6-3 6-4 6-4 win as the 2010 champions reclaimed their place in the World Group.

The result means that India will now again fight it out in Asia/Oceania zone in the 2015 season. The last time India had made it to the World Group was in 2011, interestingly losing to Serbia in the first round.

Yesterday, till the rain forced suspension of play in the second reverse singles, Yuki was fighting tooth and nail after Somdev Devvarman’s inspiring win over Dusan Lajovic.

However, Yuki did not look the same player today as he failed to rein in his unforced errors and failed to grab his chances. Twice Yuki had the opportunity to break Krajinovic and turn it around but he failed to do so.

Coming to the courts this morning, trailing 4-6 4-4, dropping serve was the last thing Yuki needed but he did exactly that and when he had a chance for redemption in the next game, he could not do so.

He squandered two break points when Krajinovic was serving for the second set. Krajinovic played like a man possessed as he saved the breakpoint with a fiery ace. The Serbian was precise in his stroke-making and hit winners at will.

Playing a live fifth rubber for the first time, Yuki was far from convincing in his effort as he dropped serve in the first game of the third set at love as Krajonovic raced to a 3-1 lead. Yuki’s serve deserted him as he won only four points in three service games. He saved himself from falling further behind by saving two break chances in the fifth. The set went with serve and Krajinovic sealed the tie without any fuss.

In the 114-year-old history of Davis Cup, there have been only 51 instances when nations have come back from 0-2 to win the tie and India have done that only once when they beat Brazil in 2010 in Chennai. Somdev had won the fourth rubber then and Rohan Bopanna the fifth.

On Saturday, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna had brought India back with their stunning win in the doubles after the hosts lost both the singles on Friday. Somdev then pulled off a majestic win in the fourth rubber over Dusan Ljovic to lock the tie 2-2.

A disappointed Yuki conceded that he made quite a few mistakes. “Whatever I did, it did not work. I repeated mistakes. I have not committed more mistakes in my 10-year career that what I did this week,” Yuki said after the match.

“I had chances all week. Maybe I am not used to this kind of position. Twice I was up 0-30 on his serve, it was 15-40 at one stage but I could not take those,” he added.

The youngster said it was frustrating to lose the tie after a fine comeback. “It’s frustrating since everyone had fought hard. I was not hitting the ball cleanly and made a lot of unforced errors, I was not staying in the points. It’s disappointing that I could not deliver,” he said. — PTI

Bathinda, September 15
United Singhs, owned by Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha, today defeated Yo Yo Tigers, owned by rapper Honey Singh, 67-35 in a one-sided match in the World Kabaddi League at Bathinda.

United Singhs had the game under control all the time; they raced ahead in the first quarter itself, notching up a lead of 18-8 over their rivals. The lead went up to 32-19 in the second quarter. At the end of third quarter, United Singh were leading 50-28. The last quarter too followed the same script and the United Kings finished the match with an impressive 67-35 scoreline.

Shafiq Butt and Sandeep Singh Sandhu of United Singhs were declared man of the match jointly. Sandeep Singh Sandhu was also adjudged the best stopper with 10 stops. Shafiq Butt was declared the best raider with 20 raids.

Patiala, September 15
The exploits of the Indian shooters at the world stage has triggered the growth of shooting into a popular sport. Standing testimony to widening base of the sport is the whopping 2800 entries received for the first All India Kumar Surendra Singh Inter School Shooting Championship underway in Delhi.

“Till three years back the entries were less than 500 and many times we had to persuade schools to send their teams. But how the sport has grown in the last couple of years has left us amazed,” said a senior NRAI functionary. “Entries have come in from all over India, with maximum coming from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Haryana and Punjab.”

The Inter School Shooting Championship is conducted every year where shooters below 19 years of age participate. The growing popularity of shooting can also be gauged from the fact that as many as 4,000 shooters had sent entries to participate in the 57th National Shooting Championship last year.

The number has almost doubled since 2011, when the tournament attracted less than 2000 shooters. “Such numbers speak volumes about the future of the sport. This means shooters will face stiff competition right from the start,” said NRAI president Raninder Singh. “We will tap young, talented school going shooters and try to provide them with good coaching in our camps to turn them into world class shooters,” he stated.

Guwahati, September 15
The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) has asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Broadcast Content Complaints Council, International Cricket Council, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India, to immediately stop the broadcast of one of the advertisement promoting the Champions League T20 tournament.

The centre claims the said advert is promoting stereotypes and racial prejudices against Nepalese who are considered the same people as those from the Northeast India because of the common Tibeto-Mongoloid features.

In one of the advertisements, one of the Nepali-looking youth says, “Wo raatein bhi kya raatein thi, nach te the, gaate the, chilla te the, purre mohalla ko haami toh jagaate the” (what nights those were, used to dance, used to sing, used to shout, we were the ones who would wake up the entire locality)” — implying that Nepalese work as night guards and wake up the residents of a locality.

The same is being broadcast with a heavy Nepalese accent in various TV channels and FM radios. “These acts of stereotyping justify the need for a law against racism in India,” said Suhas Chakma, Director of ACHR. 

Bathinda, September 15
The synthetic turf at the newly-built hockey stadium here has been damaged even before hosting a hockey match. A part of the turf, which cost Rs 3 crore, at the Government Rajindra College was torn after a speaker box fell off a stage during a match of the ongoing World Kabaddi League (WKL).

District Sports Officer Amrik Singh said that the organisers will be fined after assessing the extent of the damage. Commissioner of WKL, Pargat Singh, was unavailable for a comment.

It is pertinent to mention that the hockey stadium is still incomplete and that the Sports Department took charge from the contractors just two days before the league was to be organised here.

In March this year, the Sports Department had refused to take charge of the stadium, pointing out 37 faults to the contractors. A parking lot and a mini-turf ground for warm-up, which are in the architectural plan, have still not been made. The Sports Department hasn’t hired a watchman.

The stadium, which was started in 2012, was to be completed by January 2013. After a delay of more than one and a half year, many things are still incomplete. Sources said that the government had fixed Rs 11 crore as the budget which has now proved insufficient and the completion will require Rs 3 crore more.

Chandigarh, September 15
Hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr. has claimed that Sports Authority of India has misplaced his priceless memoribilia, which inculdes his Olympic blazer, medals and rare pictures he had donated to SAI in 1985.

The triple Olympic gold-medallist said that he had donated his collection to AS Talwar, the then SAI secretary, but when he inquired about it before the 2012 London Olympics, SAI officials claimed ignorance. “I have donated everything I had except my Olympic medals to SAI. They told me at that time that it will be housed in the SAI sports museum to be built at JLN stadium in New Delhi but it never happened,” Balbir said. “The collection included my Melbourne Olympics blazer, 24 medals including Tokyo Asiad (1958) silver, some rare snaps,” the gold medal winner of London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956) Olympics claimed.

He said that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) wanted the Melbourne Games blazer to be a part of official London Olympic exhibition where he was the only Indian amongst 16 chosen Olympic legends.

“That is when my grandson contacted SAI to get that blazer as I had nothing with me apart from the Olympic medals. But SAI officials said that they didn’t know the whereabouts of my treasure so I sent only the medals to London which were showcased there,” he said. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Dismal show by Indian women shooters at Worlds
Granada: Indian shooters’ disappointing performance at the World Champiponship continued as some of the well-known names put up a sorry show on the eighth day of the competition. In the 50m Rifle prone, Kuheli Ganguly shot 619.4 to finish a poor 26th, while Lajja Goswami and Raj Chaudhary who shot identical scores of 615.4 to finish 47th and 48th respectively. In the junior men’s 10m Air Rifle event, Satyam Chauhan, Ekambir Singh Mandi and Prashant finished 22nd, 29th and 32nd with scores of 618.2, 616.8 and 616.2 respectively. In junior women’s 50m Rifle Prone, Indian team finished a poor ninth.

AIBA grants provisional recognition to Boxing India
New Delhi: Indian boxing today finally came out of an administrative exile after the AIBA gave provisional recognition to the newly-elected Boxing India, clearing the decks for the country’s pugilists’ hassle-free participation in the upcoming Asian Games. “The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has granted Boxing India provisional recognition, which means our boxers are now confirmed participants in the Asian Games,” Kishan Narsi, India’s official representative in the AIBA, said.

Five-wicket Roach sends Bangladesh reeling
Gros-Islet (Saint Lucia): Kemar Roach was at his devastating best as Bangladesh were reduced to 104 for seven at stumps after the West Indies were dismissed for 380 in their first innings on the second day of the second and final Test. In two sustained, controlled spells, the fast bowler tore through the top-order to finish with five for 33 — his sixth five-wicket haul. Jerome Taylor joined in the rout with two wickets to keep the pressure on the beleaguered Bangladeshis. Only Tamim Iqbal offered any sustained resistance on a pitch that continues to offer assistance to the fast bowlers. He got to 48 before edging a probing delivery from Roach to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.

Hockey India League from January 22
Mumbai: Hockey India League will begin on January 22 next year and conclude on February 22, said HI CEO Elena Norman here today. “We are just working on the schedule which will be declared over the next couple of weeks,” Norman said. — Agencies