TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 (PAGE 10) DAILY...
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 (PAGE 10) DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU Sharapova ousted at US Open; Venus, Kvitova advance NEW YORK, Sept 4: Maria Sharapova's Grand Slam return after a 15-month dop- ing ban ended with a fourth-round defeat at the US Open but the for- mer world number one considered it a major step in her comeback. Latvian 16th seed Anastasija Sevastova yesterday rallied to eliminate the five-time Grand Slam champion 5-7 6-4 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, booking a quarter-final against American Sloane Stephens, who ousted Germany's Julia Goerges 6-3 3-6 6-1. Sharapova, the 2006 US Open winner, was able to find the posi- tives after making 51 unforced errors to only 14 by Sevastova, whose 21 winners were half the 30-year-old Russian's total. "Reflecting back on the week, I can be happy," Sharapova said. "It has been a really great ride. Ultimately, I can take a lot from this week." Tomorrow's other quarter-final will match Czech 13th seed Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, against US ninth seed Venus Williams, seeking her eighth Slam title and third US Open crown. Kvitova eliminated Spanish third seed and two-time Slam win- ner Garbine Muguruza 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 while Williams beat 35th- ranked Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 3-6 6-1. In Sharapova's first Slam since she tested positive for the banned blood booster meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, she ousted second-ranked Simona Halep in the first round and served notice to any contender her game remains formidable. "She played unbelievable throughout the first and second set and I just kept fighting, running for every ball," Sevastova said. "I was confident. I was feeling it. But still you have to beat her. She was playing one of the best matches here." Sharapova returned from her suspension in April, was snubbed for a French Open wildcard and missed Wimbledon with a thigh injury but received a US Open wildcard despite only one hard- court tuneup match due to a left forearm injury. "It's great to get that major out of the way," Sharapova said. "I'm thankful for the opportunity. I did my best and I can be proud of that." Sharapova is expected to jump from 146th to around 100th in the world rankings. "I'm focused on myself and trying to be as aggressive as possi- ble," Williams said. "Nobody ever gives you a Slam. You've got to take it and I'm going to try and take it." Kvitova, 4-1 all-time against Williams, missed five months after a knife-wielding home intruder injured her left hand last December. "I worked hard to come back and be here. It means a lot," Kvitova said. "I don't have words to describe. It was a tough time. All five months were very tough. "It was just a journey I didn't know how it would end. If it ends here on the big stage it's a happy end." Muguruza still leads the fight for world number one after the Open but will be overtaken if fourth seed Elina Svitolina makes the semi-finals or top seed Karolina Pliskova reaches the final. Stephens missed 11 months with a foot injury and returned only at Wimbledon, but has won 12 of her past 14 matches for her deepest US Open run in six tries. "I honestly couldn't have asked for a better comeback," Stephens said. "Making it to the quarter- finals here is unbelievable." In a men's draw assured of pro- ducing a first-time Slam finalist, Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta meets Argentine 29th seed Diego Schwartzman in the last- eight while South African 28th seed Kevin Anderson meets US 17th seed Sam Querrey, who beat German 23rd seed Mischa Zverev 6-2 6-2 6-1. Anderson matched his best Slam run from the 2015 US Open by beating Italy's Paolo Lorenzi 6- 4 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-4. "I got off to a great start the first two sets and imposed my game," Anderson said. "I had to dig deep and it feels absolutely fantastic to get through." Carreno Busta, who has not dropped a set, ended Canadian 18- year-old qualifier Denis Shapovalov's dream run 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (7/3). Shapovalov would have been the youngest Slam quarter- finalist since Michael Chang at the 1990 French Open and youngest at the US Open since Andre Agassi in 1988. "The biggest lesson is that I'm able to compete with these guys," Shapovalov said. "I still think I have a lot of work to do." Schwartzman eliminated French 16th seed Lucas Pouille 7- 6 (7/3) 7-5 2-6 6-2. At 5ft 7ins (1.70m), he is the shortest Grand Slam quarter-finalist since Peruvian Jaime Yzaga at the 1994 US Open. (Agencies) Venus Williams of the United States (L) in action against Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and (R) Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic waves to the crowd after her match against Garbine during fourth round match of US Open. Winners of Sunfeast Football Cup ‘Islamia Public School’ players posing for a group photo- graph after lifting the title. Sunfeast organizes football tournament for budding talent in Ladakh Excelsior Sports Correspondent SRINAGAR/LEH, Sept 4: Ladakh recently witnessed the excitement of the Sunfeast Cup football tournament during a 5-day long event which saw participation from multiple teams across the region. Played at the NDS grounds, 34 teams participated for the presti- gious trophy in the Under-13 and Under-16 categories. There was a separate segment for Under-16 girls in which 7 teams participated. Sunfeast Biscuits from ITC initiated the tournament with the intent to foster fresh talent by pro- viding them an effective plat- form and to encourage sports in the region over all. The young stars from Ladakh performed exceedingly well and each of the teams exhibited impressive skills and talent throughout the tournament. The special attraction of the tourna- ment was the Under-16 girls’ com- petition, which saw the teams being emphatically cheered and applauded by the crowd. Team Islamia Public School put a stellar performance through- out the match to keep pace and march towards victory against Imamia High School. In a tightly fought match of Under-16 boys, Mahabodhi School edged out Devils United in the finals. In another interesting set of matches in Under-13 boys, North City and Druk Padma Karpo won hearts with their undying sporting spirit. Team North City proved to be the dominating nerve of the match with a ruthless efficiency to pull off a deserving and a stunning victory in their final game. The winning teams were honoured by Dr Sonam Daawa Lonpo, Chairman CEC, LAHDC. Paritosh Wali, Chief Operating Officer, Biscuits & Confections Cluster, Foods Division, ITC Limited, said, “With the Sunfeast Cup we seek to provide a concrete platform for kids to showcase their talent at an early age and encourage the sportsman spirit in them to pursue their love for the game. Chief Guest on the occasion, Dr Sonam Daawa Lonpo, Chairman CEC, LAHDC said “Football has always been one of the popular sports in the country and a platform like the Sunfeast Cup is a great step to promote the sport at the grassroots level. The Sunfeast Cup has expanded the horizon of football among the young sportsmen in Ladakh by launching a big scale tournament for the first time in this part of the country. Gayal P Wangyal, Vice Chairman, J&K Sports Council Ladakh and Councilor of Sakti Constituency were present on the occasion. Inter Collegiate Badminton Tournament gets underway Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 4: Inter Collegiate Badminton (M&W) Tournament 2017-18 got under- way in the Gymnasium Hall, University of Jammu, here today. Prof. Avtar Singh Jasrotia, Director, Directorate of Sports & Physical Education, University of Jammuinteracted with the players and advised them to play the game in true spirit so that every individual gets oppor- tunity to express their skills. Among others present on the occasion were Sumnesh Sharma, Ashok Kumar, Sanjay Verma, Anil Sharma, Neeraj Sharma, Dr. Vinod Bakshi, Raj Kumar Bakshi, Vikas Karlopia and Tanvir Ahmed. In women’s section, GCW Udhampur defeated GDC Hiranagar by 2-0 and ASCOMS thrashed GDC Samba by 2-0, while in men’s section, GDC Hiranagar beat SPMR College by 3-0, GDC Kathua trounced GDC Samba by 3-0 and GCET out- played IDS Sohera by 3-2. All the matches were officiat- ed by Ravish Vaid, Taran Pal Singh, Rakesh Verma, Pushap Thakur and Manmohan Sharma. The Tournament is being organized by the Director, Directorate of Sports and Physical Education, University of Jammu. State Softball team posing for a group photograph before leaving for Chandigarh. J&K Softball team leaves for 10th NZ Softball C’ship Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 4: Jammu & Kashmir Softball Association (JKSFA) Men team left for 10th Senior North Zone Softball Championship, which is being held at Govt. Model Higher Secondary School, Sector 23, Chandigarh from tomorrow. The selected players included Sunny Singh, Jasbir Singh, Ajay Singh, Vikram Singh Chib, Ayush Singh, Sachin Singh, Anukul Bhagat, Ghar Singh, Amit Sharma, Parshant Singh, Amit, Aman Singh, Vikram Singh Chib, Pardeep Singh, Sagar Chib, Sumeet Singh and Sahil Thappa. Rohit Jamwal and Harvinder Singh Sodhi are accompanying the team as coaches. The Secretary of the JKSFA, CL Bhat and the selection commit- tee lauded the efforts of the players for their selection in 10th North zone Softball Championship. Newly elected office bearers of Body Building Association posing along with former Minister and Chief Patron, Raman Bhalla at MA Stadium in Jammu. Bhalla elected Chief Patron of Body Building Asso Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 4: Former Minister and senior Congress leader, Raman Bhalla was unani- mously elected as Patron-in-Chief of the Body Building Association of Jammu and Kashmir in its General Body Meeting held at MA Stadium, here today. Bhupinder Singh Tirthi was elected president of the Association, while Arun Kumar Sharma, Nand Kishore Gupta, Sandeep Dutta, Feroz Shah and Aslam Choudhary were elected as vice presidents. Rajesh Dutta was elected General Secretary of the Association, while Amit Manhas, Suresh Dutta and Earshul Saheen will be the organizing secretaries. Naresh Kumar Gupta, Kuldeep Choudhary, Advocate Himani Kohli and Gourav Dutta were elected as joint secretaries, while Sunil Mehta was elected treasurer of the Association. Advocate Rajesh Kumar will be the legal advisor, while the executive members include Amar Singh Suden, Balkar Angurana, Pawan Sharma, Aman Sharma, Vimal Jit, Rahul Bakshi, Dr Baljinder, Sr Gunit, Sajjad Ahmed, Mohd Usman and Zohaib. JKCA holding U-19 boys trials from Sept 6 Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 4: To pick the players for Under-19 boys’ state cricket team, the Jammu wing of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association is organiz- ing open selection camp/trials from September 6, 2017 at 3:30 pm onwards at GGM Science College Hostel ground, here. According to a handout issued here, the Association has advised the boys desirous to take part in the camp/trials to report at the venue on afore- mentioned date and time along with Xerox copies of date of birth certificate obtained from State Municipality Department, 2 School passing certificates and Pan Card, Passport or Aadhar Card. Speaker, Legislative Assembly Kavinder Gupta and others posing for photograph during first anniversary celebrations by K-16 Health Club. K-16 Health Club celebrates first anniversary Channelize young blood to stay healthy, work for nation building: Speaker Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 4: K-16 Health Club celebrated its first anniversary. On the occasion, Speaker, Legislative Assembly and MLA Gandhi Nagar Kavinder Gupta was the chief guest. The event was organized by the management of the club under the supervision of renowned weight lifters, while youths in large numbers participated in the programme. Speaker said that such institu- tions are the need of the hour, as they have many positive effects in changing the outlook of the society. He said these events and the institutions are working effectively in fighting against the divergent forces perpetuating in the society by effectively channelizing the young blood to stay healthy and work for the nation building. He said, such activities should be promoted to prepare the young people to meet the challenges of future through such coordinated and progressive programs. These things not only promote physical health but also inculcate the habits of hard work, discipline and posi- tive attitude towards life. Speaker felicitated the young boys and girls who performed well and earned name and fame for the state in various events organized from time to time throughout the country and at international level as well. Taking pledge of "Saying No to Drugs", the Speaker asked the youngsters to adopt natural diet for meeting their nutritional needs as it will not only help them to stay healthy and fit, but will help in the long run. He further said that develop- ment of the nation and its sustain- ability can be realized through youth participation and for the same the health of the youth should be prioritized and such pro- grams should be promoted. Bangladesh reach 253-6 despite Lyon's five wickets CHITTAGONG, Sept 4: Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed five wick- ets on a turning pitch but Bangladesh fought back to reach 253-6 at stumps on the opening day of the second Test. Lyon decimated Bangladesh's top order with four consecutive lbws before Sabbir Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim put on 105 for the sixth wicket to steady the hosts in Chittagong. Monsoon rain could disrupt play on the second day, putting pressure on Steve Smith's men to polish off Bangladesh's tail early as they seek a win to equalise the two-Test series. Australia lost their first-ever Test against Bangladesh last week and dropped a fast bowler in Chittagong to strengthen their spin attack on a turning wicket. Lyon disposed of the four opening batsman before claim- ing his fifth in the last session when Sabbir was stumped. But skipper Mushfiqur Rahim remains an obstacle for the tourists, unbeaten on 62 and patiently holding together the innings. Nasir Hossain, the last recognised batsman, was the other not out player with 19 at close of play at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. Rahim and Sabbir displayed contrasting styles in their stand, with Sabbir playing adventurous shots and Rahim anchoring. Sabbir scored his 50 off only 62 balls but slowed as Rahim became more confident, smash- ing his own half-century off 124 balls. Sabbir dispatched Lyon for a six over long-on and Rahim hit two consecutive fours against Steve O'Keefe. Lyon, the first off-spinner to open the Test bowling for Australia since 1938, finally removed Sabbir in the 82nd over when he was stumped by Mathew Wade. Lyon finished with figures of five for 77 off 28 overs. His scalps included Tamim Iqbal, one of the architects of Bangladesh's historic victory over Australia, who fell for just nine on his home ground. He also sent back Mominul Haque, who boasts the highest batting average of the Bangladesh team. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar got the other wicket for Australia, as a three-pronged spin attack took the battle to the hosts. Agar dismissed Shakib Al Hasan, whose all-round heroics earned him man of the match in the first Test, for 24. Rahim had won the toss and opted to bat first on what looked like a spinners' paradise. Bangladesh brought in Mominul in place of pace bowler Shafiul Islam. Australia picked spin bowl- ing all-rounder Steve O'Keefe, who replaced injured fast bowler Josh Hazlewood. Hilton Cartwright replaced out-of-sorts batsman Usman Khawaja, who scored just one run each in his two innings in the first Test. (AGENCIES) Kohli equals Tendulkar's feat, Bumrah jumps to 4th in rankings DUBAI, Sept 4: Virat Kohli has kept his stranglehold on the top spot in the ICC ODI batsman rankings and has also equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record of highest rat- ing points pocketed by an Indian. India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has made handsome gains in the bowlers' rankings, jumping as many as 27 places to be fourth behind Mitchell Starc, Imran Tahir and leader Josh Hazlewood. The latest rankings were released today, a day after India completed a 5-0 whitewash of hosts Sri Lanka in the ODI series. Kohli was in sublime touch in the series, scoring two hun- dreds to complete 30 ODI cen- turies. Kohli, who is also top-ranked in T20Is, has increased his lead over Australia's David Warner from 12 to 26 points and is now on 887 points, equalling the highest ODI rating points by an India batsman, recorded by Tendulkar in 1998. Rohit Sharma, the second highest run-maker in the series with 302 runs, and former cap- tain Mahendra Singh Dhoni are both back in the top 10. Sharma, who struck two centuries in Sri Lanka, has gained five slots to reach ninth place while Dhoni's 162 runs have lifted him two places to 10th position. Meanwhile, Bumrah has moved to a career-best fourth position in the bowlers' rankings. The 23-year-old, whose pre- vious best was 24th position in June this year, has moved up the table with his player of the series effort of 15 wickets, the best by any bowler in a bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka. His performances included a career-best five for 27 in the third ODI at Palekelle. Also gaining in the rankings is India's left-arm spinner Akshar Patel, who has moved up from 20th to 10th position after finish- ing with six wickets in four matches. Patel has thus closed in on his career-high rank of ninth in October last year. Hardik Pandya (up two places to 61st), Kuldeep Yadav (up 21 places to 89th) and Yuzvendra Chahal (up 55 places to 99th) are other India bowlers to gain in the rankings. In the team rankings, Sri Lanka have been unable to seal a direct qualification place in the 2019 World Cup, which they could have done by winning two matches in the series. Though they are in a strong position to make the grade, the Windies can overtake them by beating Ireland in an upcoming match on September 13 and win- ning either all five matches against England or the last four matches for a 4-1 win in the series from September 19-29. The top seven ODI sides apart from host England as on 30 September qualify directly. Teams not getting direct places will get another shot through a Qualifying tournament. India remain in third posi- tion but have gained three points to close in on Australia, which is also on 117 points but remains ahead on decimal points. (PTI) Sania, Bopanna reach US Open quarterfinals, Paes-Raja out NEW YORK, Sept 4: Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna have reached the quar- terfinals of their respective events at the US Open but the fledgling partnership of Leander Paes and Purav Raja has fallen flat yet again. The fourth seeded Indo- Chinese pair of Sania and Shuai Peng overcame a stiff resistance from Sorana Cirstea and Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2 3-6 7-6(2) in the third round of the women's doubles. In the mixed doubles, Bopanna and Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski, seeded seventh, quelled the challenge from Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Nicholas Monroe 6-3 6-4 in the second round. Paes and Raja, who joined forces recently, were knocked out of the men's doubles follow- ing a close 4-6 6-7(7) defeat against the Russian pair of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev in the second round. They had teamed up first for the Winston-Salem Open, where they made a first round exit. Raja has enjoyed some great results with compatriot Divij Sharan but loss of points and resultant slide in the rankings forced them to split to salvage the US Open. They anticipated that their combined ranking would not have given them a direct entry in the last Grand Slam of the season, so Raja teamed up with Paes while Sharan joined hands with Andre Begemann. (PTI) Saina resumes partnership with Gopichand NEW DELHI, Sept 4: London Olympics bronze medal winning shuttler Saina Nehwal has resumed her partnership with former coach Pullela Gopichand with an aim to achieve her "future goals". Saina today announced the decision on her twitter handle. "For a while I've been thinking about moving my training base back to the Gopichand academy and I had a discussion about this with Gopi sir and I am really thankful to him for agreeing to help me again," Saina tweeted. "At this stage in my career I think he can help me achieve my goals," she added. The 27-year-old champion shuttler had split with the national coach Gopichand before the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, decid- ing to hone her skills under Vimal Kumar in Bangalore. "I'm also very thankful to Vimal sir for helping me for the last three years. He helped reach world no.1 in the rankings and also helped me win two world championships medal silver in 2015 and bronze in 2017 along with many super series title," Saina wrote.(PTI) Inter Zone Competitions of District Jammu conclude Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 4: Inter Zone District Level competitions in the Sports disciplines of Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Volleyball, Wrestling Girls Under-19 years concluded at Govt. HSS Domana, while Cricket Under-19 boys and girls conclud- ed at MA Stadium, here today. The competitions were organ- ized by the Department of Youth Services & Sports, District Jammu, under the patronage of Sheikh Fayaz Ahmed, Director Youth Services & Sports, and under the Chairmanship of Madan Lal, Joint Director Youth Services and Sports, Jammu, while Chanchal Kour, DYSSO Jammu was the organizing secretary of the competitions. The main objective of these competitions was to select the teams in these disciplines for the upcoming Inter District Division Level competitions. At HSS Domana, in Kabaddi Under-19 boys final,Akhnoor/Chowki Choura zones defeated RS Pura/Miran Sahib Zones by 34-30 points, while in Kho-Kho Under-19 boys final, Akhnoor /Chowki Choura zones out- played Jammu/Dansal by 6-1 ponts and in Volleyball Under-19 boys, Akhnoor/Chowki Choura zone drubbed Jammu/Dansal zones by 2-0 sets. Meanwhile, at MA Stadium, Group-A defeated Group-B in a close contest. Abdul Samad emerged star performer in the tour- nament. The prizes were distributed by Chanchal Kour, DYSSO Jammu among the winners in a simple and well attended function at HSS Domana. While speaking on the occasion, she said that winning and losing is part of the game but, it is the participation which mat- ters the most. Newly elected Students Council of Vishwa Bharati School. Vishwa Bharati School organizes Investiture Ceremony Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 4: To enhance the leadership qualities and shoulder social responsibilities, Vishwa Bharati Public Higher secondary School, Akalpur Morh Jammu, organized an Investiture Ceremony for the election of students’ Council for the session 2017-18, here today. The process began with the casting and counting of votes. Somanshu of class 10th was elected as Head Boy and Tainya Sharma of class 10th as Head Girl. Harshdeep Singh was elected as Sports Secretary and Dharni Raina as Academic Secretary. During the ceremony stu- dents’ council was also made for the division of school related work. All the elected students were given badges and sashes as per their designations along with pledge to hold the school motto of loyalty, truth and honour in high esteem. School Principal, Prof Annapurna Koul congratulated the students and admonished them to perform their devolved duties effectively for the smooth functioning and maintaining of discipline and decorum in the school campus. For Vishwa House, Himanshu Sharma of Class 10th was elected Captain, while while Akashdeep Saini of 10th A as Vice Captain. Bhavna of 8th and Vanshika of the same class were elected Prefect I and Prefect II respectively. For Satyam House, Captain (Shivali 10th B); Vice Captain, Himanshu 9th A; Prefect I, Aditya Sidha 7th A and Prefect II, Salvi Saini 10th A. For Shivam House, Captain , Archana Saini (10th B); Vice Captain, Krishna (8th B); Prefect I, Isha (10th B) and Prefect II, Muskaan (9th A), while for Sundaram House, Captain, Deepinder (10th B); Vice Captain, Harsh Dev Bhagat (10th); Prefect I, Sachin (9th A) and Prefect II, Shubham Singh. Star India pays Rs 16,347 crore for IPL media rights MUMBAI, Sept 4: Star India today completed its virtual monopoly of cricket broadcast by winning the coveted Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights for a whopping 16,347.50 crore (USD 2.55 bil- lion) for the next five years. The staggering deal, which will run from 2018 to 2022, has turned out to be a financial wind- fall for the BCCI despite the administrative crisis it is facing at the moment. The testimony to IPL's growth as the premier sporting property of the country is reflected by the fact that the previous 10-year bid for TV rights only was bought by Sony at Rs 8200 crore in 2008. Now, the BCCI stands to earn nearly double that amount in half the duration (five years) with earnings of Rs 3270 crore from IPL media rights per year. The BCCI will now earn Rs 55 crore approximately from an IPL match compared to Rs 43 crore, ironically, for each interna- tional match that India play. "India, cricket and IPL have changed dramatically since its inception (in 2008) and this bid is a reflection of that," Star CEO Uday Shankar told mediapersons. The media rights include broadcast (TV) and digital (mobile and internet) for various segments namely India, Middle East, Africa, Europe and America. Interestingly, rival Sony's individual bid for broadcast (TV rights) this time was Rs 11,050 crore compared to Star's Rs 6,196 crore. However, as per rule, the companies could form a consor- tium and if its consolidated global bid happened to be greater than the sum total parts of every indi- vidual bid they stand to win the rights. Accordingly, the sum total of other bids, excluding Star con- sortium, was Rs 15,819.51 crore which is at least Rs 500 crore less than Star India's consolidat- ed bid. (PTI)
Transcript of TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 (PAGE 10) DAILY...
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 (PAGE 10) DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU
Sharapova ousted at US Open;Venus, Kvitova advance
NEW YORK, Sept 4:
Maria Sharapova's GrandSlam return after a 15-month dop-ing ban ended with a fourth-rounddefeat at the US Open but the for-mer world number one consideredit a major step in her comeback.
Latvian 16th seed AnastasijaSevastova yesterday rallied toeliminate the five-time GrandSlam champion 5-7 6-4 6-2 atArthur Ashe Stadium, booking aquarter-final against American
Sloane Stephens, who oustedGermany's Julia Goerges 6-3 3-66-1.
Sharapova, the 2006 US Openwinner, was able to find the posi-tives after making 51 unforcederrors to only 14 by Sevastova,whose 21 winners were half the30-year-old Russian's total.
"Reflecting back on the week,I can be happy," Sharapova said."It has been a really great ride.Ultimately, I can take a lot fromthis week."
Tomorrow's other quarter-finalwill match Czech 13th seed PetraKvitova, a two-time Wimbledonchampion, against US ninth seedVenus Williams, seeking hereighth Slam title and third USOpen crown.
Kvitova eliminated Spanishthird seed and two-time Slam win-ner Garbine Muguruza 7-6 (7/3),6-3 while Williams beat 35th-ranked Spaniard Carla SuarezNavarro 6-3 3-6 6-1.
In Sharapova's first Slam sinceshe tested positive for the bannedblood booster meldonium at the2016 Australian Open, she ousted
second-ranked Simona Halep inthe first round and served notice toany contender her game remainsformidable.
"She played unbelievablethroughout the first and second setand I just kept fighting, running forevery ball," Sevastova said.
"I was confident. I was feelingit. But still you have to beat her.She was playing one of the bestmatches here."
Sharapova returned from hersuspension in April, was snubbed
for a French Open wildcard andmissed Wimbledon with a thighinjury but received a US Openwildcard despite only one hard-court tuneup match due to a leftforearm injury.
"It's great to get that major outof the way," Sharapova said. "I'mthankful for the opportunity. I didmy best and I can be proud ofthat."
Sharapova is expected to jumpfrom 146th to around 100th in theworld rankings.
"I'm focused on myself andtrying to be as aggressive as possi-ble," Williams said. "Nobody evergives you a Slam. You've got totake it and I'm going to try and takeit."
Kvitova, 4-1 all-time againstWilliams, missed five months aftera knife-wielding home intruderinjured her left hand lastDecember.
"I worked hard to come backand be here. It means a lot,"Kvitova said. "I don't have wordsto describe. It was a tough time.All five months were very tough.
"It was just a journey I didn't
know how it would end. If it endshere on the big stage it's a happyend."
Muguruza still leads the fightfor world number one after theOpen but will be overtaken iffourth seed Elina Svitolina makesthe semi-finals or top seedKarolina Pliskova reaches thefinal.
Stephens missed 11 monthswith a foot injury and returnedonly at Wimbledon, but has won12 of her past 14 matches for herdeepest US Open run in six tries.
"I honestly couldn't have askedfor a better comeback," Stephenssaid. "Making it to the quarter-finals here is unbelievable."
In a men's draw assured of pro-ducing a first-time Slam finalist,Spanish 12th seed Pablo CarrenoBusta meets Argentine 29th seedDiego Schwartzman in the last-eight while South African 28thseed Kevin Anderson meets US17th seed Sam Querrey, who beatGerman 23rd seed Mischa Zverev6-2 6-2 6-1.
Anderson matched his bestSlam run from the 2015 US Openby beating Italy's Paolo Lorenzi 6-4 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-4.
"I got off to a great start thefirst two sets and imposed mygame," Anderson said. "I had todig deep and it feels absolutelyfantastic to get through."
Carreno Busta, who has notdropped a set, ended Canadian 18-year-old qualifier DenisShapovalov's dream run 7-6 (7/2)7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (7/3).
Shapovalov would have beenthe youngest Slam quarter- finalistsince Michael Chang at the 1990French Open and youngest at theUS Open since Andre Agassi in1988.
"The biggest lesson is that I'mable to compete with these guys,"Shapovalov said. "I still think Ihave a lot of work to do."
Schwartzman eliminatedFrench 16th seed Lucas Pouille 7-6 (7/3) 7-5 2-6 6-2. At 5ft 7ins(1.70m), he is the shortest GrandSlam quarter-finalist sincePeruvian Jaime Yzaga at the 1994US Open. (Agencies)
Venus Williams of the United States (L) in action againstCarla Suarez Navarro of Spain and (R) Petra Kvitova of theCzech Republic waves to the crowd after her match againstGarbine during fourth round match of US Open.
Winners of Sunfeast Football Cup ‘Islamia Public School’ players posing for a group photo-graph after lifting the title.
Sunfeast organizes football tournamentfor budding talent in Ladakh
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
SRINAGAR/LEH, Sept 4:Ladakh recently witnessed theexcitement of the Sunfeast Cupfootball tournament during a 5-daylong event which saw participationfrom multiple teams across theregion.
Played at the NDS grounds, 34teams participated for the presti-gious trophy in the Under-13 andUnder-16 categories. There was aseparate segment for Under-16girls in which 7 teams participated.
Sunfeast Biscuits from ITCinitiated the tournament with theintent to foster fresh talent by pro-viding them an effective plat-form and to encourage sports inthe region over all.
The young stars from Ladakhperformed exceedingly well andeach of the teams exhibitedimpressive skills and talentthroughout the tournament. Thespecial attraction of the tourna-
ment was the Under-16 girls’com-petition, which saw the teamsbeing emphatically cheered andapplauded by the crowd.
Team Islamia Public Schoolput a stellar performance through-out the match to keep pace andmarch towards victory againstImamia High School.
In a tightly fought match ofUnder-16 boys, MahabodhiSchool edged out Devils United inthe finals.
In another interesting set ofmatches in Under-13 boys, NorthCity and Druk Padma Karpo wonhearts with their undying sportingspirit. Team North City proved tobe the dominating nerve of thematch with a ruthless efficiency topull off a deserving and a stunningvictory in their final game. Thewinning teams were honoured byDr Sonam Daawa Lonpo,Chairman CEC, LAHDC.
Paritosh Wali, ChiefOperating Officer, Biscuits &
Confections Cluster, FoodsDivision, ITC Limited, said,“With the Sunfeast Cup we seekto provide a concrete platform forkids to showcase their talent at anearly age and encourage thesportsman spirit in them to pursuetheir love for the game.
Chief Guest on the occasion,Dr Sonam Daawa Lonpo,Chairman CEC, LAHDC said“Football has always been one ofthe popular sports in the countryand a platform like the SunfeastCup is a great step to promote thesport at the grassroots level. TheSunfeast Cup has expanded thehorizon of football among theyoung sportsmen in Ladakh bylaunching a big scale tournamentfor the first time in this part of thecountry.
Gayal P Wangyal, ViceChairman, J&K Sports CouncilLadakh and Councilor of SaktiConstituency were present on theoccasion.
Inter Collegiate BadmintonTournament gets underway
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 4: InterCollegiate Badminton (M&W)Tournament 2017-18 got under-way in the Gymnasium Hall,University of Jammu, here today.
Prof. Avtar Singh Jasrotia,Director, Directorate of Sports& Physical Education, Universityof Jammuinteracted with theplayers and advised them toplay the game in true spirit sothat every individual gets oppor-tunity to express their skills.
Among others present onthe occasion were SumneshSharma, Ashok Kumar, SanjayVerma, Anil Sharma, NeerajSharma, Dr. Vinod Bakshi, Raj
Kumar Bakshi, Vikas Karlopiaand Tanvir Ahmed.
In women’s section, GCWUdhampur defeated GDCHiranagar by 2-0 and ASCOMSthrashed GDC Samba by 2-0,while in men’s section, GDCHiranagar beat SPMR College by3-0, GDC Kathua trounced GDCSamba by 3-0 and GCET out-played IDS Sohera by 3-2.
All the matches were officiat-ed by Ravish Vaid, Taran PalSingh, Rakesh Verma, PushapThakur and Manmohan Sharma.
The Tournament is beingorganized by the Director,Directorate of Sports andPhysical Education, Universityof Jammu.
State Softball team posing for a group photograph beforeleaving for Chandigarh.
J&K Softball team leaves for10th NZ Softball C’ship
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 4: Jammu &Kashmir Softball Association(JKSFA) Men team left for 10thSenior North Zone SoftballChampionship, which is beingheld at Govt. Model HigherSecondary School, Sector 23,Chandigarh from tomorrow.
The selected players includedSunny Singh, Jasbir Singh, AjaySingh, Vikram Singh Chib,Ayush Singh, Sachin Singh,
Anukul Bhagat, Ghar Singh,Amit Sharma, Parshant Singh,Amit, Aman Singh, VikramSingh Chib, Pardeep Singh,Sagar Chib, Sumeet Singh andSahil Thappa.
Rohit Jamwal and HarvinderSingh Sodhi are accompanying theteam as coaches.
The Secretary of the JKSFA,CL Bhat and the selection commit-tee lauded the efforts of the playersfor their selection in 10th Northzone Softball Championship.
Newly elected office bearers of Body Building Association posingalong with former Minister and Chief Patron, Raman Bhalla atMA Stadium in Jammu.
Bhalla elected Chief Patronof Body Building Asso
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 4: FormerMinister and senior Congressleader, Raman Bhalla was unani-mously elected as Patron-in-Chiefof the Body Building Associationof Jammu and Kashmir in itsGeneral Body Meeting held at MAStadium, here today.
Bhupinder Singh Tirthi waselected president of theAssociation, while Arun KumarSharma, Nand Kishore Gupta,Sandeep Dutta, Feroz Shah andAslam Choudhary were elected asvice presidents.
Rajesh Dutta was elected
General Secretary of theAssociation, while Amit Manhas,Suresh Dutta and Earshul Saheenwill be the organizing secretaries.
Naresh Kumar Gupta,Kuldeep Choudhary, AdvocateHimani Kohli and Gourav Duttawere elected as joint secretaries,while Sunil Mehta was electedtreasurer of the Association.
Advocate Rajesh Kumar willbe the legal advisor, while theexecutive members include AmarSingh Suden, Balkar Angurana,Pawan Sharma, Aman Sharma,Vimal Jit, Rahul Bakshi, DrBaljinder, Sr Gunit, Sajjad Ahmed,Mohd Usman and Zohaib.
JKCA holdingU-19 boys trials
from Sept 6Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 4: To pickthe players for Under-19 boys’state cricket team, the Jammuwing of Jammu and KashmirCricket Association is organiz-ing open selection camp/trialsfrom September 6, 2017 at 3:30pm onwards at GGM ScienceCollege Hostel ground, here.
According to a handoutissued here, the Association hasadvised the boys desirous totake part in the camp/trials toreport at the venue on afore-mentioned date and time alongwith Xerox copies of date ofbirth certificate obtained fromState Municipality Department,2 School passing certificatesand Pan Card, Passport orAadhar Card.
Speaker, Legislative Assembly Kavinder Gupta and others posingfor photograph during first anniversary celebrations by K-16Health Club.
K-16 Health Club celebrates first anniversaryChannelize young blood to stay healthy,
work for nation building: SpeakerExcelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 4: K-16 HealthClub celebrated its first anniversary.
On the occasion, Speaker,Legislative Assembly and MLAGandhi Nagar Kavinder Guptawas the chief guest.
The event was organized bythe management of the club underthe supervision of renownedweight lifters, while youths inlarge numbers participated in theprogramme.
Speaker said that such institu-tions are the need of the hour, asthey have many positive effects inchanging the outlook of the society.
He said these events and theinstitutions are working effectivelyin fighting against the divergentforces perpetuating in the societyby effectively channelizing theyoung blood to stay healthy andwork for the nation building.
He said, such activities shouldbe promoted to prepare the young
people to meet the challenges offuture through such coordinatedand progressive programs. Thesethings not only promote physicalhealth but also inculcate the habitsof hard work, discipline and posi-tive attitude towards life.
Speaker felicitated the youngboys and girls who performed welland earned name and fame for thestate in various events organized fromtime to time throughout the countryand at international level as well.
Taking pledge of "Saying Noto Drugs", the Speaker asked theyoungsters to adopt natural diet formeeting their nutritional needs asit will not only help them to stayhealthy and fit, but will help in thelong run.
He further said that develop-ment of the nation and its sustain-ability can be realized throughyouth participation and for thesame the health of the youthshould be prioritized and such pro-grams should be promoted.
Bangladesh reach 253-6 despite Lyon's five wicketsCHITTAGONG, Sept 4:
Australian off-spinnerNathan Lyon claimed five wick-ets on a turning pitch butBangladesh fought back to reach253-6 at stumps on the openingday of the second Test.
Lyon decimated Bangladesh'stop order with four consecutivelbws before Sabbir Rahman andMushfiqur Rahim put on 105 forthe sixth wicket to steady thehosts in Chittagong.
Monsoon rain could disruptplay on the second day, puttingpressure on Steve Smith's mento polish off Bangladesh's tailearly as they seek a win toequalise the two-Test series.
Australia lost their first-everTest against Bangladesh lastweek and dropped a fast bowlerin Chittagong to strengthen theirspin attack on a turning wicket.
Lyon disposed of the fouropening batsman before claim-ing his fifth in the last sessionwhen Sabbir was stumped.
But skipper MushfiqurRahim remains an obstacle for
the tourists, unbeaten on 62 andpatiently holding together theinnings.
Nasir Hossain, the lastrecognised batsman, was theother not out player with 19 atclose of play at the ZahurAhmed Chowdhury Stadium.
Rahim and Sabbir displayedcontrasting styles in their stand,with Sabbir playing adventurousshots and Rahim anchoring.
Sabbir scored his 50 off only62 balls but slowed as Rahimbecame more confident, smash-ing his own half-century off 124balls.
Sabbir dispatched Lyon for asix over long-on and Rahim hittwo consecutive fours againstSteve O'Keefe.
Lyon, the first off-spinner toopen the Test bowling forAustralia since 1938, finallyremoved Sabbir in the 82nd overwhen he was stumped byMathew Wade.
Lyon finished with figures offive for 77 off 28 overs. Hisscalps included Tamim Iqbal,one of the architects of
Bangladesh's historic victoryover Australia, who fell for justnine on his home ground.
He also sent back MominulHaque, who boasts the highestbatting average of theBangladesh team.
Left-arm spinner AshtonAgar got the other wicket forAustralia, as a three-prongedspin attack took the battle to thehosts.
Agar dismissed Shakib AlHasan, whose all-round heroicsearned him man of the match inthe first Test, for 24.
Rahim had won the toss andopted to bat first on what lookedlike a spinners' paradise.Bangladesh brought in Mominulin place of pace bowler ShafiulIslam.
Australia picked spin bowl-ing all-rounder Steve O'Keefe,who replaced injured fast bowlerJosh Hazlewood.
Hilton Cartwright replacedout-of-sorts batsman UsmanKhawaja, who scored just onerun each in his two innings inthe first Test. (AGENCIES)
Kohli equals Tendulkar's feat,Bumrah jumps to 4th in rankings
DUBAI, Sept 4:
Virat Kohli has kept hisstranglehold on the top spot inthe ICC ODI batsman rankingsand has also equalled SachinTendulkar's record of highest rat-ing points pocketed by an Indian.
India pacer Jasprit Bumrahhas made handsome gains in thebowlers' rankings, jumping asmany as 27 places to be fourthbehind Mitchell Starc, ImranTahir and leader JoshHazlewood.
The latest rankings werereleased today, a day after Indiacompleted a 5-0 whitewash ofhosts Sri Lanka in the ODIseries.
Kohli was in sublime touchin the series, scoring two hun-dreds to complete 30 ODI cen-turies.
Kohli, who is also top-rankedin T20Is, has increased his leadover Australia's David Warnerfrom 12 to 26 points and is nowon 887 points, equalling thehighest ODI rating points by anIndia batsman, recorded byTendulkar in 1998.
Rohit Sharma, the secondhighest run-maker in the serieswith 302 runs, and former cap-tain Mahendra Singh Dhoni areboth back in the top 10. Sharma,who struck two centuries in SriLanka, has gained five slots toreach ninth place while Dhoni's162 runs have lifted him twoplaces to 10th position.
Meanwhile, Bumrah hasmoved to a career-best fourthposition in the bowlers' rankings.
The 23-year-old, whose pre-vious best was 24th position inJune this year, has moved up the
table with his player of the serieseffort of 15 wickets, the best byany bowler in a bilateral ODIseries in Sri Lanka.
His performances included acareer-best five for 27 in thethird ODI at Palekelle.
Also gaining in the rankingsis India's left-arm spinner AksharPatel, who has moved up from20th to 10th position after finish-ing with six wickets in fourmatches. Patel has thus closed inon his career-high rank of ninthin October last year.
Hardik Pandya (up twoplaces to 61st), Kuldeep Yadav(up 21 places to 89th) andYuzvendra Chahal (up 55 placesto 99th) are other India bowlersto gain in the rankings.
In the team rankings, SriLanka have been unable to seal adirect qualification place in the2019 World Cup, which theycould have done by winning twomatches in the series.
Though they are in a strongposition to make the grade, theWindies can overtake them bybeating Ireland in an upcomingmatch on September 13 and win-ning either all five matchesagainst England or the last fourmatches for a 4-1 win in theseries from September 19-29.
The top seven ODI sidesapart from host England as on 30September qualify directly.Teams not getting direct placeswill get another shot through aQualifying tournament.
India remain in third posi-tion but have gained threepoints to close in on Australia,which is also on 117 points butremains ahead on decimalpoints. (PTI)
Sania, Bopanna reachUS Open quarterfinals,
Paes-Raja outNEW YORK, Sept 4:
Sania Mirza and RohanBopanna have reached the quar-terfinals of their respectiveevents at the US Open but thefledgling partnership ofLeander Paes and Purav Rajahas fallen flat yet again.
The fourth seeded Indo-Chinese pair of Sania and ShuaiPeng overcame a stiff resistancefrom Sorana Cirstea and SaraSorribes Tormo 6-2 3-6 7-6(2)in the third round of thewomen's doubles.
In the mixed doubles,Bopanna and CanadianGabriela Dabrowski, seededseventh, quelled the challengefrom Maria Jose MartinezSanchez and Nicholas Monroe6-3 6-4 in the second round.
Paes and Raja, who joinedforces recently, were knockedout of the men's doubles follow-ing a close 4-6 6-7(7) defeatagainst the Russian pair ofKaren Khachanov and AndreyRublev in the second round.
They had teamed up first forthe Winston-Salem Open,where they made a first roundexit.
Raja has enjoyed some greatresults with compatriot DivijSharan but loss of points andresultant slide in the rankingsforced them to split to salvagethe US Open.
They anticipated that theircombined ranking would nothave given them a directentry in the last Grand Slamof the season, so Raja teamedup with Paes while Sharanjoined hands with AndreBegemann. (PTI)
Saina resumes partnership with GopichandNEW DELHI, Sept 4:
London Olympics bronze medal winning shuttler SainaNehwal has resumed her partnership with former coach PullelaGopichand with an aim to achieve her "future goals".
Saina today announced the decision on her twitter handle."For a while I've been thinking about moving my training base
back to the Gopichand academy and I had a discussion about thiswith Gopi sir and I am really thankful to him for agreeing to helpme again," Saina tweeted.
"At this stage in my career I think he can help me achieve mygoals," she added.
The 27-year-old champion shuttler had split with the nationalcoach Gopichand before the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, decid-ing to hone her skills under Vimal Kumar in Bangalore.
"I'm also very thankful to Vimal sir for helping me for the lastthree years. He helped reach world no.1 in the rankings and alsohelped me win two world championships medal silver in 2015 andbronze in 2017 along with many super series title," Saina wrote.(PTI)
Inter Zone Competitions ofDistrict Jammu conclude
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 4: Inter ZoneDistrict Level competitions in theSports disciplines of Kabaddi,Kho-Kho, Volleyball, WrestlingGirls Under-19 years concluded atGovt. HSS Domana, while CricketUnder-19 boys and girls conclud-ed at MA Stadium, here today.
The competitions were organ-ized by the Department of YouthServices & Sports, DistrictJammu, under the patronage ofSheikh Fayaz Ahmed, DirectorYouth Services & Sports, andunder the Chairmanship of MadanLal, Joint Director Youth Servicesand Sports, Jammu, whileChanchal Kour, DYSSO Jammuwas the organizing secretary of thecompetitions.
The main objective of thesecompetitions was to select theteams in these disciplines for theupcoming Inter District Division
Level competitions.At HSS Domana, in Kabaddi
Under-19 boys final, Akhnoor/ChowkiChoura zones defeated RS Pura/MiranSahib Zones by 34-30 points, while inKho-Kho Under-19 boys final,Akhnoor /Chowki Choura zones out-played Jammu/Dansal by 6-1 pontsand in Volleyball Under-19 boys,Akhnoor/Chowki Choura zonedrubbed Jammu/Dansal zones by 2-0sets.
Meanwhile, at MA Stadium,Group-A defeated Group-B in aclose contest. Abdul Samademerged star performer in the tour-nament.
The prizes were distributed byChanchal Kour, DYSSO Jammuamong the winners in a simple andwell attended function at HSSDomana. While speaking on theoccasion, she said that winningand losing is part of the game but,it is the participation which mat-ters the most.
Newly elected Students Council of Vishwa Bharati School.
Vishwa Bharati School organizesInvestiture Ceremony
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 4: To enhancethe leadership qualities andshoulder social responsibilities,Vishwa Bharati Public Highersecondary School, AkalpurMorh Jammu, organized anInvestiture Ceremony for theelection of students’ Council forthe session 2017-18, here today.
The process began with thecasting and counting of votes.Somanshu of class 10th waselected as Head Boy and TainyaSharma of class 10th as HeadGirl. Harshdeep Singh waselected as Sports Secretary andDharni Raina as AcademicSecretary.
During the ceremony stu-dents’ council was also made forthe division of school relatedwork. All the elected studentswere given badges and sashes asper their designations along withpledge to hold the school mottoof loyalty, truth and honour inhigh esteem.
School Principal, Prof
Annapurna Koul congratulatedthe students and admonishedthem to perform their devolvedduties effectively for the smoothfunctioning and maintaining ofdiscipline and decorum in theschool campus.
For Vishwa House,Himanshu Sharma of Class 10thwas elected Captain, whilewhile Akashdeep Saini of 10th Aas Vice Captain. Bhavna of 8thand Vanshika of the same classwere elected Prefect I andPrefect II respectively.
For Satyam House, Captain(Shivali 10th B); Vice Captain,Himanshu 9th A; Prefect I,Aditya Sidha 7th A and PrefectII, Salvi Saini 10th A.
For Shivam House, Captain ,Archana Saini (10th B); ViceCaptain, Krishna (8th B);Prefect I, Isha (10th B) andPrefect II, Muskaan (9th A),while for Sundaram House,Captain, Deepinder (10th B);Vice Captain, Harsh Dev Bhagat(10th); Prefect I, Sachin (9th A)and Prefect II, Shubham Singh.
Star India pays Rs16,347 crore for IPL
media rightsMUMBAI, Sept 4:
Star India today completed itsvirtual monopoly of cricketbroadcast by winning the covetedIndian Premier League (IPL)media rights for a whopping16,347.50 crore (USD 2.55 bil-lion) for the next five years.
The staggering deal, whichwill run from 2018 to 2022, hasturned out to be a financial wind-fall for the BCCI despite theadministrative crisis it is facing atthe moment.
The testimony to IPL's growthas the premier sporting propertyof the country is reflected by thefact that the previous 10-year bidfor TV rights only was bought bySony at Rs 8200 crore in 2008.
Now, the BCCI stands to earnnearly double that amount in halfthe duration (five years) withearnings of Rs 3270 crore fromIPL media rights per year.
The BCCI will now earn Rs55 crore approximately from anIPL match compared to Rs 43crore, ironically, for each interna-tional match that India play.
"India, cricket and IPL havechanged dramatically since itsinception (in 2008) and this bid isa reflection of that," Star CEOUday Shankar told mediapersons.
The media rights includebroadcast (TV) and digital(mobile and internet) for varioussegments namely India, MiddleEast, Africa, Europe andAmerica.
Interestingly, rival Sony'sindividual bid for broadcast (TVrights) this time was Rs 11,050crore compared to Star's Rs 6,196crore.
However, as per rule, thecompanies could form a consor-tium and if its consolidated globalbid happened to be greater thanthe sum total parts of every indi-vidual bid they stand to win therights.
Accordingly, the sum total ofother bids, excluding Star con-sortium, was Rs 15,819.51 crorewhich is at least Rs 500 croreless than Star India's consolidat-ed bid. (PTI)
