Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova, the No. 5 seed, rolled to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer, advancing to the second round at the US Open in Flushing Meadows here.

On Tuesday, Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, had to overcome the intense heat and Wickmayer, a US Open semi-finalist in 2009, reports Efe news.

Up next for Kvitova will be the winner of the match between China’s Yafan Wang and Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

In other action on the women’s side, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the No. 10 seed, defeated German veteran Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, the No. 2 seed, beat Australia’s Samantha Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion, 6-3, 6-2.

Wozniacki’s next opponent will be Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, the world No. 42, who beat Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck 6-3, 6-2.

Wozniacki, the Australian Open champion, has a 1-0 career record against Tsurenko.

On the men’s side, Portugal’s Joao Sousa defeated Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, while Croatia’s Marin Cilic, the No. 7 seed, beat Romania’s Marius Copil 7-5, 6-1, 1-1 (retired).

Serbia’s Laslo Djere beat Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 2-1 (retired).

English striker Jamie Vardy has decided to retire from international football according to an interview published in The Guardian newspaper.

The Leicester City’s striker who will turn 32 in January, has played 26 times for England scoring seven times and has been part of every national squad since he first picked to represent his country in May 2015, reports Xinhua news agency.

Vardy has communicated his decision to English coach Gareth Southgate two weeks ago.

“To be honest with you, this has been on my mind for a while,” he commented on Tuesday, explaining he had told Southgate it was “best to bring youngsters in who he thinks have got the ability and start nurturing them into international football.”

He admitted that the fact he is always likely to be substitute to England captain, Harry Kane had also “had an impact” in his decision.

“When you get selected, you want to be playing. If you’re playing week in, week out for your club, you want to be going to England to play as well.

“And if it’s not happening, then for me personally now, at this age, it’s better to be at home, spending that time with my family and training with my club, preparing for the next game after the international break,” he said.

Vardy has played at every level of English football and commented that he had first thought about his international retirement after the World Cup, although he described Southgate as a brilliant coach and added that if England suffered a serious injury crisis, he would return if he was needed.

Defending champions India made a mockery of Sri Lankan challenge pumping in 20 goals to remain unbeaten in the pool stages, setting up a tricky semi-final clash against Malaysia in the men’s hockey competition at the Asian Games here today.

It has been a scintillating performance from the Indians in the pool stages as they scored as many as 76 goals and conceded just three.

It was always going to be a cakewalk for world No 5 India against Sri Lanka, ranked 38th and it turned out to be so as the title holders toyed with the rival defence to score goals at will.

Akashdeep Singh (9th, 11th, 17th, 22nd, 32nd, 42nd minutes) scored six goals while Rupinder Pal Singh (1st, 52, 53rd), playing his 200th international match, Harmanpreet Singh (5th, 21st, 33rd) and Mandeep Singh (35th, 43rd, 59th) struck thrice each as India completely dismantled the Sri Lankan defence from start to finish.

Besides the duo, Lalit Upadhyay (57th, 58th), Vivek Sagar Prasad (31st), Amit Rohidas (38th) and Dilpreet Singh (53rd) scored a goal each.

India, thus, toped Pool Pool A with an all-win record from five games and will take on second placed team in Pool B, Malaysia in the first semifinal on Thursday.

Having already secured their place in the semi-finals, the match against Sri Lanka was an inconsequential encounter for the Indians but they came out full steam to decimate the islanders.

Such was India’s domination was that the Lankans failed to register a single shot at the Indian goal, leave aside earning any penalty corners.

The Indians, on the other hand, had 46 shots at the Lankan goal and found the target on 20 occasions.

Malaysia defeated hosts Indonesia 2-1 to win the sepaktakraw Men’s Regu gold medal match at the 2018 Asian Games at the Ranau Hall of the Jakabaring Sports City here on Tuesday.

The Malaysian Regu team of Zulkifli Razak, Farhan Adam and Azlan Alias lost the first set 21-18, but took the second 22-20, despite trailing 11-17 at one point, and the third 21-11, reports Efe news.

The win ended Malaysia’s two decades-long wait for a sepaktakraw gold at the Asian games, and takes its gold medal haul to four of a total of 19 at the Jakarta games.

Malaysia had last won the sepaktakraw gold in 1994 at Hiroshima in Japan.

India’s Manjit Singh and Jinson Johnson claimed the gold and silver medals respectively in the 800 metres race at the 18th Asian Games here on Tuesday.

Manjit finished first with a timing of one minute and 46.15 seconds. Jinson was 0.20 seconds behind his compatriot.

Dr. G Parameshwar, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, presented Rs 15 Lakh cash prize to Usha Rani, Indian Team Kabaddi player, who won silver Medal in Asiad Games held in Jakarta of Indonesia.

Youth, Empowerment and Sports Department in collaboration with the Police Department felicitated Usha Rani on Tuesday, August 28, at the BDA quarters near Sadashivnagar.

Usha Rani, 29, is presently working as a constable at Doddaballapura Police Station.

Addressing a gathering, Dr. G Parameshwar congratulated Usha Rani on her achievement and also said that Usha Rani had made Indians proud and assured her that she would be given a B Grade job in the Police department.

Two other players of the state who secured medals in Asiad, Rohan Bopanna and Fuaad Mirza, will also be felicitated, he further added.

Additional Chief Secretary of Youth, Empowerment and Sports Department Rajneesh Goel, D G Neelamani Raju and Deputy Commissioner Suneel Kumar were also present during this event.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced a cash award of Rs 1.5 crore for sprinter Dutee Chand for winning the silver medal in the 100 meter event at 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.

Dutee from Odisha had on Sunday sealed the second spot in the women’s 100 meter event at the Asian Games by finishing the race in 11.32 seconds. She missed the gold medal by a mere 0.02 second.

The Chief Minister congratulated Dutee, a hundred-meter sprint national record holder.

“It is a matter of pride that an athlete from Odisha has brought laurels to the country in this event after 20 years. In 1998 Asian Games, Odia Athlete Rachita Panda Mistri had won bronze medal,” said a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office(CMO).

“In recognition of her grit, determination and hard work, the Chief Minister has announced a cash award of Rs 1.5 crore to Dutee Chand,” the statement said.

The state has a special focus on Athletics, considering the performance of its athletes in recent times and the huge potential among the talented youth, the statement said.

To encourage Athletics, the state had organised the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships in 2017 in partnership with International Association of Athletics Federation and Athletics Federation of India.

Odisha is all set to launch the much awaited high-performance Regional Athletics Academy at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar soon. It is a first of its kind at the state level.

(IANS)

Almost a week after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) registered its new constitution, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) said on Monday the board’s polls will be held in three months.

“We are looking at elections in about 90 days and that’s the deadline we have given ourselves. We have given the date as September 20. There is no cause for any ambiguity,” CoA chief Vinod Rai told reporters here.

“The COA will leave, the moment the new body takes over. There is a specific mandate that has been given to the CoA; rest assured that we will not overstep it by a day,” he added.

Defending each and every decision of the CoA, that also witnessed the ugly spat between skipper Virat Kohli and then coach Anil Kumble, resulting in the latter’s unceremonious exit and the subsequent appointment of Ravi Shastri as the coach, Rai said: “It wasn’t an unceremonious exit as his contract was only for a year. It had no renewal or extension clause.”

“When the CoA took over, we got to know a month later that his contract was expiring and we followed the protocol that was followed during his appointment.

“The idea was to select the head coach by the CAC — comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman. Transparency requires you follow a process and the due process throws up a result.”

“The CAC was the entrusted body and they did what they felt was best. We made no statements on Zaheer Khan or Rahul Dravid’s appointments. Our job was to select the head coach through the due process,” he clarified.

Dismissing talks of power being snatched from any office bearer in the board, Rai said: “The bank account of the BCCI shall be operated by two authorised signatories from out of a list of authorised signatories, designated by the Apex Council from among the professional management who are based out of the headquarters in Mumbai.”

“We have no choice. It says professional management based in Mumbai. Even today, there is an acting secretary, an acting president and an honourary treasurer. No powers have been taken away from anybody,” he added.

Rai also assured the state associations that all their problems of implementing the new constitution will be addressed once they adopted it.

“Let them first adopt the new Constitution and get the compliance. The practical problems that they have regarding qualification of selectors and all can then be addressed,” he said.

Rai also cleared the air on Uttarakhand and Pondicherry’s participation in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.

“In the interest of cricketers of Uttarakhand, a consensus committee has been constituted. We have ensured that Uttarakhand will get to play in Ranji in the current year. Pondicherry will also be taken on board as an associate member and they will also play,” he said.

(IANS)

Indian athletes enjoyed a successful day at the 2018 Asian Games with reigning continental champion Neeraj Chopra creating a new national record on his way to the men’s javelin gold while Dharun Ayyasamy, Sudha Singh and Neena Varakil clinched silvers in their respective events here on Monday.

Neeraj threw 88.06 metres in his third attempt to clinch the gold, India’s second medal in the event in Asiad history. Gurtej Singh had taken a bronze at the 1982 edition in New Delhi.

Liu Qizhen took silver for China with a personal best of 82.22m. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem was a surprise finisher at the bronze medal position.

Languishing at the fifth position till late in the competition, the Pakistani was initially struggling to get past the 75 metre mark. But he hit 80.75m with his fourth attempt which put him on the podium.

Shivpal Singh, the other Indian in the fray, registered 74.11m to finish eighth.

In his first attempt, Neeraj recorded 83.46 metres. He fouled his second attempt but the next three attempts saw him throwing 88.06m, 83.25m and 86.36m respectively.

Neeraj again fouled his final attempt but it did not matter as the other athletes in the field came nowhere close to his performance.

Such was the domination of the 20-year-old that even his lowest throw of 83.25m was better than the nearest competitor.

“I could have crossed 90m today but I was repeatedly getting too much height in my throws. But I am happy with my performance,” Neeraj told the media after the event.

“My next target is wining gold at the Diamond League Final which starts on September 13,” he added.

Sudha grabbed her second medal at the Asian Games as she claimed a silver medal in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase.

Sudha, the reigning Asian champion, clocked 9:40.03 minutes to finish behind Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, who completed the race in 9:36.52 minutes.

The 32-year-old Sudha, who had won the gold medal in the 2010 edition, was a tad slower than her personal best of 9:39.59.

Thi Oanh Nguyen of Vietnam bagged the bronze medal in 9:43.83. She and Sudha were among the group that was behind Winfired, who set the pace early.

Sudha had finished fourth at the 2014 edition in Incheon but this time she ensured that she finished within the top three with a tight finish as she surged past Chinese competitors Zhang Xinyan and Xu Shuangshuang and Nguyen.

Neena clinched silver in the women’s long jump. She recorded a best attempt of 6.51 metres to finish second. Bui Thi Thu Thao of Vietnam registered her season’s best attempt of 6.55m to win the gold medal.

The bronze medal went to China with Xu Xiaoling jumping 6.50m.

Nayana James, the other Indian in the fray, finished at a disappointing 10th in the 11-member field with an attempt of 6.14m.

In the men’s 400 metres hurdles, Dharun claimed the silver medal with a new national record.

Dharun recorded his personal best of 48.96 seconds to finish second behind Qatari Abderrahman Samba, who delivered a Games record of 47.6s.

The Tamil Nadu athlete held the previous national record mark of 49.45 seconds, set during the Federation Cup in March.

Here in this Indonesian capital, the 21-year-old became the first Indian to break the 49s timing.

Dharun was a slow starter and was outside the top three positions till 300 metres. He was contending between fourth and fifth spot. But he made a great dash in the final 100m to finish second as India got a medal in the discipline after a gap of eight years.

The bronze medal went to Takatoshi Abe, who timed 49.12 seconds, while Taiwan’s Chieh Chen was fourth with a timing of 49.62 seconds.

Another Indian in the fray, T. Santhosh Kumar, completed the race in 49.66 seconds.

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold medal, along with three silver medals in athletics, continued success stories of P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal and the men’s table tennis team’s first-ever medal assurance marked a successful day for India at the Asian Games here on Monday.

India continued to shine in athletics for the second straight day, with Neeraj creating a new national record on his way to the title, while Dharun Ayyasamy (400m hurdles), Sudha Singh (3,000 metres steeplechase) and Neena Varakil (women’s long jump) clinched the silver medals.

India now is ninth in the medal standings with 41 medals (8 gold, 13 silver and 20 bronze). Global superpower China leads the table with 191 medals, followed by Japan (136 medals) and South Korea (106 medals).

The day, for India, began with the performances of the badminton superstars, Sindhu and Saina. The latter had to settle for bronze after suffering a 17-21, 14-21 defeat in the semi-finals to Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan. The 28-year-old’s bronze was the first individual badminton medal at the Asiad for India in 36 years.

However, Sindhu soon brought joy to the Indian fans as she stormed into the final with a 21-17, 15-21, 21-10 victory over World No.2 Akane Yagamuchi of Japan.

The 23-year-old Sindhu became the first Indian shuttler to reach the final of badminton singles competition at the Asiad. It will be the first time India will have two singles shuttlers standing on the podium in the continental quadrennial Games.

Then the women’s hockey team took the limelight as it defeated Thailand 5-0 in its final Pool B match to enter the semi-finals. Rani Rampal (37th, 46th, 56th minutes) scored a hat-trick while Monika (52nd) and Navjot Kaur (55th) also found the target in the fourth and final quarter to help India post a comprehensive victory.

Thereafter, India shone bright in the indoor athletics events. Reigning Asian champion Neeraj threw 88.06 metres in his third attempt to clinch the gold, bringing India’s second medal in the event in Asiad history. Gurtej Singh had taken a bronze at the 1982 edition in New Delhi.

Such was the domination of the 20-year-old that even his lowest throw of 83.25m was better than the nearest competitor.

In his first attempt, Neeraj recorded 83.46 metres. He fouled his second attempt but the next three attempts saw him throwing 88.06m, 83.25m and 86.36m respectively. Neeraj again fouled his final attempt but it did not matter as the other athletes in the field came nowhere close to his performance.

Sudha grabbed her second medal at the Asian Games as she claimed a silver medal in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase. Sudha, the reigning Asian champion, clocked 9:40.03 minutes to finish behind Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, who completed the race in 9:36.52 minutes.

Neena clinched silver in the women’s long jump, recording a best attempt of 6.51 metres to finish second. Bui Thi Thu Thao of Vietnam registered her season’s best attempt of 6.55m to win the gold medal.

In the men’s 400 metres hurdles, Dharun claimed the silver medal with a new national record, Dharun recorded his personal best of 48.96 seconds to finish second behind Qatari Abderrahman Samba, who delivered a Games record of 47.6s.

The 21-year-old Tamil Nadu athlete became the first Indian to break the 49s timing.

In the women’s 400m hurdles, Anu Raghavan and Jauna Murmu finished fourth and fifth respectively.

In table tennis, the Indian men’s table tennis team edged past Japan 3-1 in the quarter-final to assure itself of a historic first medal, while women’s lost their quarter-final clash against Hong Kong. Prior to this edition of Asiad, India had not won any medal in table tennis.

India’s men’s team beat Vietnam and Macau by identical scoreline of 3-0 in Group D to finish second. In the quarter-final, G. Sathiyan won two matches while veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal won one as they ousted Japan, the last edition’s bronze medallist.

The women’s team, meanwhile, lost their quarter-final clash against Hong Kong 1-3. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manika Batra gave India a good start beating Ho Ching Lee but Ayhika Mukherjee lost her match to Hoi Kem Doo, while Mouma Das suffered a reversal at the hands of Wai Yam Minnie to derail their campaign. Manika then fluffed her lines in the fourth match of the game against Hoi Kem Doo as Hong Kong took the tie 3-1.

India also enjoyed a good outing in the boxing ring, with Vikas Krishan and Amit Panghal registering comprehensive victories by identical 5-0 margins to enter the quarter-finals.

Vikas overpowered Ahmed Tanveer of Pakistan by unanimous decision while Amit earned a similar decision against Mongolia’s Enkhmandakh Kharkhu.

In squash, the Indian men’s team of Saurav Ghoshal, Harinder Sandhu, Ramit Tondon and Mahesh Mangaonkar thrashed Indonesia 3-0 in Pool B and then defeated Singapore 3-0 to boost their chance of reaching the semi-finals.

In the women’s category, the India team, comprising Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal, Tanvi Khanna and Sunayna Krurvilla, registered another deserving victory, outplaying Iran 3-0.

(IANS)