Star wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Pooja Dhadha were among the 24 players to get the central contracts which came into effect from November 15, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) announced on Friday.

The biggest beneficiaries are Bajrang, Vinesh and Pooja who have been put in the ‘A’ category. The others have been divided in four other categories (B to E).

The three marquee wrestlers will get an annual retainership of Rs 30 lakh, besides other benefits.

Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and Rio Games bronze medal winner Sakshi Malik are in category B and will receive Rs 20 lakh each.

Grade C has seven grapplers, including 2016 Asian Championship Gold medallist Sandeep Tomar, World Junior Championship Silver medallist Sajan Beniwal along with Vinod Kumar Omprakash, Ritu Phogat, Sumit, Deepak Punia and Asian Games Bronze medallist Divya Kakran. Each one of them will receive Rs 10 lakh each annually.

Rahul Aware, Naveen, Utkarsh Kale, Sachin Rathi, Vijay, Simran, Manshi and Anusha are in Category D and are entitled to Rs 5 lakh each annually, while Navjot Kaur, Kiran, Harpreet Singh and Jitendra will get Rs 3 lakh each, having been placed in Grade E.

The WFI, keeping the future in mind, will support 120 boys and girls, who have been placed in grades F, G, H and I where the U-23, Junior, Cadets and U-15 will reap the benefits of the development and growth programmes.

In Grade F, WFI has kept all Under-23 National-level gold medal winners across all categories and these wrestlers will get an annual stipend of Rs 1.2 lakh, each of them collecting Rs 10,000 per month.

In an inaugural ceremony of the Senior Nationals at Nandininagar in UP, where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was the chief guest, WFI Chief Brij Bhushan Saran Singh announced the central contracts for the wrestlers.

“Wrestling can’t get better than this. The central contracts system is a big boon and will boost our morale,” said Bajrang.

Echoing his view, Vinesh said: “It (the money) will motivate us more than ever and it provides a good competition among wrestlers.”

 As part of their preparations for the Olympic Qualifiers, Hockey India has invited former Australian striker Glenn Turner to work with the womens hockey team strikers in a special camp starting December 1 at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru, it was announced on Friday.

The Canberra Hockey star who was part of the World Cup-winning Australian squad in 2010 and 2014, will arrive in Bengaluru on Friday night for the eight-day national camp.

Speaking about the camp, coach Sjoerd Marijne said: “It is good for our strikers to use the experience of Glenn Turner. As a striker, his positioning in the circle was critical for his team scoring goals and the positioning of strikers is one of the key areas we want to improve on.”

Marijne further emphasised that the camp will also help build leadership among the players.

“Glenn is someone who has experienced the pressure of performing top level hockey and he was part of the Australia’s leadership group and often worked with younger players in his team. We will ask him to share his experience as a leader too and I am sure our strikers can benefit immensely from this camp,” added Marijne.

The players named for the strikers camp include Skipper Rani, Youth Olympic Games silver medallist Lalremsiami, Navneet Kaur, Navjot Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur, Vandana Katariya, Anupa Barla, Priyanka Wankhede, Preeti Dubey, Mumtaz Khan, Jyoti, Poonam Rani and Leelavathy Mallamada.

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 New Zealand pipped France 2-1 in its opening game of the Hockey World Cup 2018 at the Kalinga stadium here on Thursday.

After a goalless first quarter, Kane Russell scored for New Zealand in the 17th minute and as France failed to convert opportunities in the later part of the second quarter, the Kiwis enjoyed a 1-0 lead at half-time.

Later, a long pass from midfield was well controlled by Stephen Jenness, who made no mistake in finding the back of the net, making the scoreline read 2-0 in New Zealand’s favour with just four minutes of play left.

It seemed France wouldn’t be able to open its account but Victor Charlet converted a penalty corner in the 59th minute to make the score 2-1.

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 Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels KL Rahul should play responsibly being an experienced player of the side.

While five different Indian batsmen notched up their respective half-centuries against Cricket Australia XI in the warm-up game here on Thursday, Rahul failed to make a significant contribution after falling for just three runs.

“He (Rahul) is not a young player anymore and he is on his second tour here. He has played 30 Tests and he has a responsibility. We expect him to play with that responsibility and play his role for the team,” Bangar told reporters here.

“He (Rahul) has been looking in good shape, including today. It is just that he is finding new ways to get out. Even today, the ball was quite afar when he played it away from his body and lost his wicket. But what we are reading he is playing the ball well and he is one hit away (from form),” the batting coach expressed.

“We know his ability and if he converts that to performances then it is important for the team.”

The 46-year-old also said that the opening combination and as the number six slot for the first Test in Adelaide are still up for grabs and the team management will take a call on it after the second innings of the ongoing game.

“I would say there are still some spots to be taken. We will keep a close eye on how the second innings goes and it gives some other batsmen a hit especially Murali Vijay and middle order batsmen, and see how they go,” said Bangar.

“There are certain spots to be taken still. We are looking at the opening slot as well as the number six slot. Those are the positions we are still looking at, we have not decided yet,” he added.

Praising youngster Prithvi Shaw (66 runs off 69 deliveries), who slammed a half-century, on Thursday, the batting coach said: “He has made a mark straightaway in whichever format he has played limited overs or first-class cricket, Irani Trophy, Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy or India A. He has shown he can adapt to the conditions and to the stage as well.”

“He plays with a lot of clarity and the impressive thing about him is that he gets into good positions with a clarity of mind and fearlessness of youth that helps him quite a bit,” Bangar pointed out.

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 Bengal Warriors staged a remarkable comeback to stun Zone B leaders Bengaluru Bulls 44-37 in an exciting Pro Kabaddi League clash here on Thursday.

This was only the third defeat of the season for Bengaluru.

In a contest of contrasting halves, Bengaluru dominated the first period and opened up a comfortable 19-12 lead by half-time.

But Bengal made a strong comeback to draw level at 21-21 early in the second-half.

They then took a two-point lead before Bengaluru levelled at 23-23.

But Bengal earned an all-out soon after to regain the lead.

The lead soon swelled to 10 points as Bengal started to dominate.

Bengaluru tried hard to make a comeback with star raiders skipper Rohit Kumar and Pawan Kumar picking up several points.

But Bengal maintained their grip on the proceedings and clinched a decisive victory.

Earlier in the evening, Gujarat Fortunegiants came up with a power packed performance to overpower local favourites Puneri Paltan 45-20.

It was a neck-and-neck battle until the middle of the first-half.

But some successful tackles by the Gujarat defence put Pune under pressure.

The Pune defence also gave away a couple of easy points.

Gujarat’s Sachin Tanwar pulled off two consecutive successful raids, the second a two-point one as Pune suffered an all-out.

Gujarat maintained the upper hand and took a comfortable 20-11 lead into the break.

Gujarat continued to dominate in the second-half and inflicted another all-out on Pune to clinch a comprehensive victory.

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India started their 2018 Hockey World Cup campaign on a thunderous note, hammering minnows South Africa 5-0 in the opener at the Kalinga Stadium here on Wednesday.

Three field goals and two penalty corners helped World No.5 India register a comprehensive win in the second match of the evening.

Simranjeet Singh scored two goals (43rd and 46th minute), while Lalit Upadhyay (45th minute), Akashdeep Singh (12th minute) and Mandeep Singh (10th minute) slammed a goal apiece to fashion India’s win.

The hosts will next face World No.3 Belgium in their second pool match on December 2.

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 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday greeted the Indian Hockey Team for a 5-0 victory over South Africa in their opening match at the 2018 Hockey World Cup campaign in Bhubaneswar.

“A fantastic start for the Indian Hockey team! Congratulations to our team for an impressive win against South Africa in their opening match at the World Cup in Odisha.

“Best wishes for the upcoming games,” Modi, who is in Argentina to attend the G20 summit tweeted.

India on Wednesday hammered minnows South Africa with three field goals and two penalty corners in the opener at the Kalinga Stadium.

World No.5 India registered a comprehensive win in the second match of the evening with Simranjeet Singh scoring two goals (43rd and 46th minute), Lalit Upadhyay (45th minute), Akashdeep Singh (12th minute) and Mandeep Singh (10th minute).

India will next face World No.3 Belgium in their second pool match on December 2.

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Soccer’s governing body FIFA said Wednesday a deputy chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of its Ethics Committee has resigned from his post.

The resignation of Malaysian Sundra Rajoo came one week after he was suspended from his position over involvement in an investigation into corruption in Malaysia, Efe news reported.

“The FIFA Ethics Committee has taken note of the resignation with immediate effect of Mr Sundra Rajoo as a deputy chairman of its adjudicatory chamber,” the FIFA confirmed in a statement on its official web site.

Besides his work with FIFA, Rajoo is also the Director of the Asian International Arbitration Center in Kuala Lumpur.

The statement recalled that the chairman of the adjudicatory chamber, Vassilios Skouris, had decided on November 21 that Rajoo “would not be involved in any further activities of the adjudicatory chamber following an investigation launched by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission”.

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 Puneri Paltan staged a superb comeback to beat Haryana Steelers 35-33 in a thrilling Pro Kabaddi League match here on Wednesday.

This was Pune’s third successive victory over Haryana in this competition.

It was a contest of contrasting halves as Haryana dominated the opening period to open up a 15-point lead.

But Pune were a transformed unit after the break and overturned the gap to win an edge-of-the-seat thriller.

Both teams had a tentative start before Haryana rode a series of successful raids to gradually build up a formidable 22-8 lead by half-time.

Pune made a good comeback after the break to close the gap.

But Monu Goyat pulled off a ‘super raid’ to help Haryana maintain their dominance.

However, Pune continued to rack up the points with several successful raids and inflicted an all-out on Haryana to close the gap to 21-27.

Pune continued to chip away at Haryana’s lead and earned a second all-out to take the lead at 31-29.

The final few minutes saw a tough battle but Pune held on to their slender lead to clinch victory.

The second match of the evening saw a close hard fought contest which saw Bengaluru Bulls beat Telugu Titans 34-26.

It was a neck-and-neck affair from start to finish.

With scores tied at 25-25 with a couple of minutes to go, Bengaluru earned an all-out which set up for a strong finish.

 The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced a major five-year deal with Bira 91, one of the leading global beer brands, as the official sponsor of ICC global tournaments including the cricket World Cup, T20 World Cup, World Test Championship, U19 World Cup and the Women’s Championship.

As an official partner, Bira 91 will integrate the partnership across broadcast and digital platforms, and in-venue activations at all ICC events through their range of products, an ICC statement read.

Commenting on the agreement, Campell Jamieson, ICC General Manager Commercial, said: “As we started discussing the partnership with Bira 91, the natural overlaps in their ambitions and ours became obvious. Cricket has more than one billion adult fans and is a natural partner for this exciting brand.”

“The ICC is delighted that Bira 91 has chosen cricket as its partner to drive its global expansion and help achieve its ambition of becoming the first global consumer brand out of India.

“We welcome Bira 91 into the world cricketing family, and we look forward to working together for the next five years to deliver a strong partnership at ICC global events,” he added.

Ankur Jain, Founder and CEO of Bira 91, said, “The ICC partnership is a key moment for Bira 91 as we embark on creating the first global consumer brand to come out of India. A generational ‘change of guard’ in beer is underway as consumers shift towards beers with more colour and flavour.”

IANS