Defending champion Andy Murray and 2001 winner Lleyton Hewitt made light of the heavy, humid New York conditions to breeze into the US Open last 16.
     Third-seeded Murray, who ended his country's 76-year wait for a Grand Slam men's champion when he won his maiden major title in New York last year, eased past Germany's world number 49 Florian Mayer, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-2. His win was built on an impressive 42 winners and seven aces.
     "I think I need to start my matches quicker than I have been doing. I am not that fast out of the blocks," said the 26-year-old. "But once I got going I was striking the ball cleanly."
     Murray, the reigning Olympic and Wimbledon champion, will next face Uzbekistan's world number 65 Denis Istomin, who put out Italian 20th seed Andreas Seppi, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-1.
     Istomin will be playing in the last 16 in New York for the first time after ending Seppi's perfect streak of seven five-set wins in 2013. Two of those came against him at the ...

Murray, Hewitt turn up heat as US Open sweats

PTI Automatic

Pakistan did not play in the inaugural Hockey India League and it is extremely unlikely that they will also feature in the next year's event as Pakistan Hockey Federation is reluctant to sent its players to India because of the current tension prevailing between the two nations.
     PHF secretary Asif Bajwa said the way present situation stands the Federation was not keen on sending the players for the second edition of the event to be held across different cities in India from January 23 to February 23 next year.
     "We have received a communication from Hockey India to give 'No Objection Certificates' to Pakistani players for next year's hockey league but it is unlikely that we will send our players until and unless the situation between the two countries improves. As of now we will not send our players for next year's league," Bajwa told PTI on the sidelines of the ninth Asia Cup hockey tournament here.
     "Last time we saw what happened. We were really worried for our ...

Pakistan unlikely to sent players for 2014 HIL

Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, fought their way into the men's doubles quarterfinals while Sania Mirza and Jie Zheng hardly broke a sweat to book a berth in the women's doubles last-eight pair stage, here today
     Paes and his Czech partner, seeded fourth, had to battle for two hours and 12 minutes to overcome 14th seeded veteran French pair of Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut 7-5 4-6 6-3.
     Up next for Paes and Stepanek could be India's Divij Sharan and his Taipei partner Yen-Hsun Lu. The duo defeated the Israeli team of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 6-4 5-7 7-6 (2) in a hard-fought contest.
     Divij and Lu have a tough match on hand as they face Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and the Netherlands' Jean-Julien Rojer, a combination that is seeded fifth in the season's final Grand Slam.
     Sania and China's Zheng, seeded 10th, took out sixth seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Kveta Peschke of Czech Republic 6-2 6-3 in one hour and 12 minutes.
     Sania and Zheng never 

Paes-Stepanek, Sania-Zheng in US Open quarterfinals

Swati Ghate halted top seed Tania Sachdev's winning run carving out a draw to remain in sole lead with five points after seventh round of the 40th National Women Premier Chess Championship here today.
	Two-time defending champion Mary Ann Gomes, Soumya Swaminathan and Padmini Rout occupied the second position, closely chasing the leader with half-a-point deficit.
	Swati opted for the Queen's  defence in reply to Tania's queen pawn opening as both the players chose not to take risk to force a draw in 33 moves.
	Padmini jumped to the joint second spot with a win against Nisha Mohota in the advance variation of the Caro Kan defence.
	The Odisha girl won a knight with a pin against Nisha's king after which the latter resigned immediately.
	Playing black against Bodda Pratyusha, Mary Ann was involved in her third consecutive draw in the meet in a Sicilian defence.
	Pratyusha obtained a slight advantage from the opening but Mary Ann held her own in a difficult position to draw in a rook ...

Swati in sole lead, Padmini climbs to joint second

After the grand success of inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL), BAI president Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta today said that there is a possibility of making a few changes in the next edition such as including women's doubles and having a review system in place and advancing the timings of matches.
     The Badminton Association of India president said that the biggest success for the popularity of badminton is both men and woman play this game.
     "Both genders play the game with equal enthusiasm and that is exactly why IBL has received so much of popularity, success and attention. Keeping this interest in mind it will be interesting to include woman's doubles if format, time and situation allows," Das Gupta said.
     "Women's doubles is a very important part of world badminton. Like men's category, even women have three format at the Olympics and team world events. I personally feel we can have women's doubles included but surely this is my personal opinion and not of IBL.
     "Such .

BAI prez wants women's doubles & review system in IBL 2

India fought valiantly before losing 3-4 to defending champions South Korea in the final of the ninth Asia Cup hockey tournament here today and the players feel that a bad umpiring decision at the fag end of the match cost them the title.
     Australian umpire Murray Grime awarded Korea a penalty corner just two minutes from the hooter when Rupinderpal Singh tackled a Korean forward inside the circle, but the Indian players feel it was wrong judgement by the umpire and the tackle was a clean one.
     "The last penalty corner which Korea got was wrongly given. By no chance it was a penalty corner. It was a clean tackle from Rupinder, but the umpire debated that he deliberately did it," an Indian player said on condition of anonymity.
     The resultant penalty corner hurt India badly as Kang Moon Kweon made no mistake with the chance and converted it to shatter the hopes of handful of Indian supporters present at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium.
     "The umpiring cost us the match. We 

India rues bad umpiring cost them Asia Cup final

Defending champions India dished out a listless performance but still managed to beat arch-rivals Pakistan 1-0 in the opening game of the SAFF Football Championship here today.
     It took an own goal from Pakistan captain Samar Ishaq in the 14th minute that ensured three points for Sunil Chhetri and Co. The Indian will take on Bangladesh in their second group league encounter on Tuesday.
     The match was billed as a contest between Pakistan defender and former Fulham player Zesh Rahman against Chhetri. Both disappointed during the 90 minutes of play. While 30 plus Rahman has become slow, Chhetri's profligacy in the 18-yard box cost India three clear chances.
     On all these occasions, the India captain has the ribal custodian at his mercy but his powerful shots were way off the mark.
     The winner in the 14th minute was more about a defensive error on the part of Pakistan.
     Right wing back Nirmal Chhetri overlapped and tried to find an onrushing Sunil between the two rival 

Lacklustre India pip Pakistan 1-0 in SAFF Cup opener

David Warner has been dropped from the Australia squad for the forthcoming one-day international matches against Scotland and England, Cricket Australia (CA) announced Sunday.
     Meanwhile CA also said left-arm fast medium bowler Mitchell Starc was returning home with "some lower back soreness".
     Australia coach and selector Darren Lehmann said dynamic batsman Warner had been left out of the one-dayers, which start with a lone ODI against Scotland in Edinburgh on Tuesday before a five-match series with England begins in Leeds on Friday, because of a lack of runs at this level.
     "David has been left out of the Australian ODI squad for this tour purely due to his recent lack of form in this format," Lehmann said in the CA statement.
     "By his own admission, David would acknowledge that unfortunately he hasn't scored the weight of runs that he would like recently in one-day cricket for his country," former Australia batsman Lehmann added.
     Warner played in just one match 

Warner and Starc out of Australia squad for ODIs

India made a spirited fightback in the second half but failed to earn a direct berth in next year's hockey World Cup as they lost the high-scoring summit clash 3-4 to defending champions South Korea, here today.
     The Indians, who are virtually assured of a place in the game's showpiece event to be held at The Hague, Netherlands, needed to win the eight-nation tournament to secure a direct entry in the World Cup.
     Korea's fourth title win means Malaysia are certain to return to the World Cup after a gap of 12 years.
     The Indians will now have to wait till the conclusion of the Oceania Cup in November, which either Australia and New Zealand is expected to win, for the official confirmation of their participation from the FIH.
     Both Australia and New Zealand have already made it to the World Cup through FIH World League.
     The Koreans scored through Jang Jong Hyun (28th minute), You Hyo Sik (29th), Nam Hyun Woo (57th) and Kang Moon Kweon (68th). For India, Rupinderpal .

Runners-up finish for India in Asia Cup

beat Eugin Victor (Kar) 4-2: 18-60, 73-34, 55-51, 65-52, 39-70, 59-24
     Shyam Jagtiani (Rlys) beat Sandip Patil (Kar) 4-3: 25-55, 68-32, 33-64, 35-64, 63-61, 96-25, 67-20
     Suffiyan Ahmed (Kar) beat Naveen.V (TN) 4-3: 63-36, 35-63, 65-09, 55-63, 64-48, 55-48, 62-26
     Prem Prakash (TN) beat Ashith Deepak Panday (Mah) 4-0: 67-48, 66-47, 65-25, 77-50
     Deepak.A (kar) beat Dharamraj (TN) 4-0: 58-24, 60-32, 50-21, 61-09.

Partiban (TN) beat M.L.Lakshman (Kar) 4-1: 53-47, 108-60, 60-62, 75-62, 59-23

Cueists Rishab Pandya and Prem Prakash scored identical 4-0 victories in their respective opening rounds as the Bangalore Qualifying leg for the Indian Open began here today.
     Maharashtra's Rishab beat Karnataka's Niranjan K 68-27, 66-09, 81 (64)-25, 65-02 while Tamil Nadu's Prem Prakash defeated Maharashtra's Ashith Deepak Panday 67-48, 66-47, 65-25, 77-50.
     Karnataka's Balaji Reddy, L.Nagaraj, Germain Girish & K.S.Naveen Kumar also advanced to the next round comfortably as Naveen registered the highest break of the day - 70.
      Results:
     Rishab Pandya (Mah) beat Niranjan K (Kar) 4- 0: 68-27, 66-09, 81 (64)-25, 65-02
     Mithun.V (Kar) beat Gajendran (TN)4- 0: 59-23, 64-30, 80-05, 62-27
     Vishal Vaya (Mah) beat Partiban (Kar)4-0: 48-28, 59-47, 66-10, 63-57
     Germain Girish (kar) beat Rohit Sardeshmukh (Mah) 4-1: 47-56, 60-13, 61-48, 60-25, 58-17
     I.V.Rajiv (AP) beat Abhijith More (Kar) 4-1: 49-39, 69-22, 41-69, 83-22, 77-19.

Rishab, Prem score thumping wins

The IBL 'Shuttle Express' witnessed a nail-biting finish with Siril Verma defeating Akshay Verma in the U-16 boys category and Kanika Kanwal notching up a convincing win over Bhavya Rishi in girls event here today.
     While Siril beat Akshay 21-19 21-8, Kanika defeated Bhavya 21-7 21-18 to emerge as the winners here.
     Speaking on this occasion, Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta, Badminton Association of India (BAI) President & MP said: "It's a moment of pride for us. We not only successfully conducted India's first Badminton League but we have even successfully identified two young champions who can make it big in the sport."
     Ashish Chadha, CEO Sporty Solutionz, the 'Commercial Partner' for Vodafone IBL, said: "We created Shuttle Express with the sole intention of giving India their next champion. I am confident today that the winners will not stop their journey in the world of badminton today rather their journey has started today."
     The 'Shuttle Express' offered an incentive ...

Kanika, Siril emerge winners of first 'Shuttle Express'

Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra, already assured of a PGA card for 2014, shot an even par 72 on the third round to lie tied 64th in the Hotel Fitness golf Championship here.
     Chopra's card included an incredible six birdies, but he also gave away four bogeys and a double bogey in the third round to aggregate three-under 213 after three days in a tournament that has been low-scoring.
     Patrick Cantlay opened a three-stroke lead a week after the former UCLA star missed a chance to wrap up a PGA TOUR card.
     Fighting a back injury, the 21-year-old Cantlay had two eagles, six birdies and a double bogey in the third round to reach 19-under 197 at Sycamore Hills in the Web.Com Tour Finals opener.
     Cantlay missed the cut last week in the Cox Classic in Omaha, Neb, to drop from 25th to 29th on the Web.Com Tour money list.
     The top 25 after Cox Classic, the final event in regular season, secured PGA TOUR cards for the 2013-14 season, while Nos. 26-75 are fighting with Nos. ...

Chopra slips down to 64th on Web.Com Tour

SSP Chowrasia rounded off the week with one-under 70 to finish with a total of three-over 287 at the ISPA Handa Wales Open here today.
     Chowrasia, the lone Indian out of the three who started out the week, had shot 75 in the third and that cost him a better finish at The Celtic Manor Resort.
     Shiv Kapur and Jeev Milkha Singh had earlier missed the cut.
     Chowrasia birdied three times, all three times on back nine on 11th, 15th and 18th and his bogeys came on fourth and 16th.
     Earlier in the third round, Chowrasia was even par after five, but then double bogeyed the eighth and bogeyed 15th and 17th. He was tied 37th and should finish just inside 35th place.
     Into the final round Gregory Bourdy and America's Peter Uihlein were tied for the top spot after five holes. Bourdy was two-under through five and Uihlein was one-over after five.
     On Saturday, Uihlein assumed control of the ISPS Handa Wales Open after an enthralling third round. Uihlein, who won the Madeira .

Chowrasia rounds off with one-under 70 at Wales Open

Sachin Tendulkar is set to play his landmark 200th Test match before his home fans with the BCCI today making a surprise announcement that the West Indies team has been invited for two Tests and five ODIs in November next.
     The iconic batsman, who has already played a record 198 Tests, was earlier expected to become the first player in the history of the game to figure in 200 Tests in South Africa where the Indian team is scheduled to tour in December.
     Kolkata and Mumbai are likely to be the venues for the Tests against the West Indies.
     The sudden announcement about a short tour by West Indies has given rise to speculation that Tendulkar, who has struggled in Test of late, may play his final Test at his home ground in Mumbai and then announced his retirement after an unprecedented 24-year international career during which he has become the highest run getter (15837 runs at an average of 53.86) with a record 51 centuries.
     He also has the highest centuries in ODIs ...

Tendulkar to play landmark 200th Test at home

Speculations may be rife that senior cricketer Sachin Tendulkar could get a chance to play the historic 200th Test match of his career in front of his home crowd at the Wankhede Stadium here later this year, but Mumbai Cricket Association officials are no rejoicing, as yet.
	"It will be decided as per the rotation policy of the Board (BCCI). There's no guarantee we will get the match," MCA President Ravi Savant told PTI when contacted.
	BCCI Working Committee today met in Kolkata and approved the proposal for hosting the West Indies at home in November for a couple of Tests and five-match ODI series, which is not in the original Future Tours Programme (FTP) of the ICC as India was scheduled to tour South Africa.
	One of the two Test matches, probably the second as that would coincide with the 200th appearance in the longest format of the game, is widely expected now to be held at Tendulkar's home ground here.
	Mumbai's Wankhede had hosted a Test match previously last November against .

No guarantee Wankhede would host Tendulkar's 200th Test

A defiant BCCI President N Srinivasan today declared that he will chair the Board's Annual General Meeting scheduled to be held in Chennai on September 29.
     "I will chair the Annual General Meeting," Srinivasan told reporters today while leaving the hotel where the working committee meeting was held here.
     Having attended today's working committee meeting, Srinivasan dismissed rumours that he had been under immense pressure since stepping aside as Board president in the wake of the alleged involvement of his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan in the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal.
     "I was always relieved. I really don't understand what the problem is. Did I do anything wrong? Was there any accusation or any case against me?," Srinivasan shot back.
     The Tamil Nadu strongman also clarified that although there were no discussions on the itinerary of the upcoming tour of South Africa but at the same time the Board was not planning to scrap the tour either.
     "I've not ..

I will chair the AGM in Chennai, declares Srinivasan

Already out of next year's World Cup, Pakistan had something to cheer about as the three-time champions defeated hosts Malaysia 3-1 to win the bronze medal at the ninth Asia Cup hockey tournament here today.
     Pakistan, who needed to win the Asia Cup to qualify for next year's World Cup at The Hague, Netherlands, dished out a spirited performance to prevail over the erring Malaysians.
     Pakistan, who will miss the World Cup for the first time since the introduction of the event in 1971, scored through a brace from Abdul Haseem Khan (35th, 56th) and skipper Muhammad Imran (54th) to register the victory in the third-fourth place play-off match at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium.
     For Malaysia, Faizal Saari scored the lone goal in the 34th minute.
     It was a chance for Malaysia to avenge their 1-4 defeat at the hands of the same opponents in the pool stages but they let the opportunity slip because of their own mistakes.
     Played under heavy weather conditions, at least the 

Pakistan beat Malaysia 3-1 to win bronze in Asia Cup

The working committee of the BCCI today approved its interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya's five-point proposal to curb corruption in the upcoming Champions League T20 which will be held across Indian cities from September 17.
     The suggestions given by Dalmiya, which were accepted unanimously by the working committee, are originally a part of the veteran administrator's 12-point agenda named "Operation Clean-Up" in order to curb corruption in the Indian Premier League after S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested on charges of spot-fixing.
     The first point in the proposal is appointment of an Anti-Corruption and Security Unit official along with dedicated security staff for each team.
     Secondly, restriction in the movement around the dug-out and Match Officials' area along with enforcement of strict 'Code of Conduct'.
     The third and the most significant proposal, which the players would have to adhere to, is pertaining to accepting gifts from people.
     .

WC approves five-point proposal to curb corruption in CLT20

His exile is not yet over but N Srinivasan was given the go ahead to perform the BCCI's "constitutional and statutory functions" by the Working Committee which also invited him to attend the Board's Annual General Meeting on September 29 in Chennai.
     Srinivasan, who was forced to step aside in the wake of the IPL spot-fixing scandal in which his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was implicated, attended the working committee meeting here today.
     The Tamil Nadu strongman, however, did not chair the meeting, which was presided over by interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya.
     "Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya was in the Chair. He informed the members that there were certain constitutional and statutory functions of the President, BCCI, which would have to be discharged by Mr N Srinivasan till the next AGM," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement after the working committee meeting.
     "It was decided that the Working Committee invite Mr. N. Srinivasan, President, BCCI, to perform his ...

BCCI allows Srinivasan to perform statutory functions

India have retained their top position in the ICC ODI team rankings table while Virat Kohli remained the highest-ranked Indian batsman at the fourth spot in the latest list issued today.
     India, who have been in the number one position since February 2013 when they beat England 3-2 at home to regain the top place, have 123 rating points to their credit, ahead of Australia (114) and England (112).
     While Kohli managed to maintain his position in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also retained his seventh spot in the top-10 list, which still has South Africa's Hashim Amla sitting at the top.
     Meanwhile, the bowlers' chart is still headed by all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja with 733 points.
     Jadeja will have the first shot at an outright lead at the top of the tree when he's expected to take the field against Australia in Pune on October 13.
     West Indies' Sunil Narine continues to lead the bowlers' table, followed by Saeed Ajmal of ...

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