Is US Open champion Marin Cilic a one slam wonder or the next big thing?

September 9, 2014

Marin CilicNew York, Sep 9: Marin Cilic hit all the right notes in a dominant 6-3 6-3 6-3 win over Kei Nishikori in the US Open final on Monday but it remains to be seen if the big Croatian is another one slam wonder or perennial threat. The final was a strange and unfamiliar one for tennis fans, the match marking the first time since the 2005 Australian Open that at least one of Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer were not playing for the title.

At Flushing Meadows, fans had also been used to seeing one of the 'Big Four' walking away at the end of the fortnight with the silver trophy, Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Andy Murray lifting every US Open title in the last decade except one. Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in 2009, who toppled Federer in five sets, was the only other man to clinch the title. Since then Del Potro has not been back to a Grand Slam final and only once made it to the semi-finals.

Sitting in his post-match press conference with the trophy beside him, even Cilic found it hard to believe. "I mean, seems completely unreal to be called grand slam champion," said the 14th seed. "I was dreaming about this all my life and suddenly last four, five days everything started to change. I started to play absolutely unbelievable starting with the fifth set with (Gilles) Simon. After that I had unbelievable run of the matches against these top guys. And what it means to me, it means everything. It's just a huge accomplishment and huge moment for me and for my team and for everybody around me who was with me all these years supporting me, believing in me and never giving up. So this is just the peak of the world."

Changing of Guard

Over the last few years fans having been watching intently for any signs of a changing of the guard at the top of men's game. Until this year, Marat Safin - who clinched the 2005 Australian Open - and Del Potro were the only men outside the Big Four to have clinched a grand slam title in the last decade. This year, however, two new names have been added to the honour roll as Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka created a shock by winning the Australian Open and Cilic claimed the US Open.

A new crop of young, eager challengers are also knocking at the door with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, Canadian Milos Raonic along with Nishikori among those deemed as possible future grand slam winners.

Cilic, however, is not quite ready to proclaim the start of a new era in men's tennis, instead praising his luck has much as his thundering serve. "A lot of guys are saying people would like to watch top four guys much more to extend their streak at the top and to extend their run at the grand slams because, they attract the most the fans and the TV," said Cilic. "But one day definitely they are going to go out and there's going to be a need for somebody else. I feel this time, this year, I think the guys from second line were a bit lucky because Andy Murray was also having trouble with his back; Wawrinka was up and down with his tennis after Australia and a few other players were not playing at the best all the time. And Rafa is not here. So that opened a little bit the gate for everybody else. I feel it's going to definitely be much bigger competition next year. I think the game of tennis is definitely going to evolve much more."

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: Five centrally contracted Indian cricketers including Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been issued notices by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for failing to disclose their whereabouts as the BCCI cited "password glitch" as the reason for delay.

The other players to have received the notice include women stars Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, who are among the five cricketers in the 110 strong National Registered Testing Pool (NRTP). Speaking to PTI, NADA DG Navin Agarwal confirmed that BCCI has sent an official explanation for their five NRTP players' failure to submit whereabouts.

"There are two ways to fill up the whereabouts form in the ADAMS (Anti Doping Administration & Management Systems) software. Either athlete does it himself or association fills it up on his or her behalf," Agarwal said. "Now athletes in some discipline aren't educated enough or do not have access to internet and find themselves unable to handle the whereabouts clause of the ADAMS or upload the filled up

"They use assistance of their concerned federations. So federations have accepted responsibility of uploading their whereabouts," Agarwal said.

He said cricketers too at times find it tough to complete the process on their own. "Similarly in cricket also, although these people are well qualified and they can do it, perhaps they don't have the time for whatever reasons, so the federation concerned, the BCCI has taken upon itself the responsibility of uploading their whereabouts." So why didnt BCCI upload the the three-month whereabouts this time?

"Well they have given an explanation which appears to be reasonable but a decision will be taken. They have said that there has been a glitch with regards to password in ADAMS. Now they have said that issue has been resolved," Agarwal added. NADA DG added that "BCCI's explanation will be discussed as to whether it will be counted as one of three filing failures or not. It will be decided on the explanation given and how they (BCCI) proceed from here."

While country has been under lockdown, the rule to submit three months of whereabouts is mandatory. Three such failures to disclose leads to one Anti Doping Rule Violation (ADRV), which could lead up to two years of suspension upon hearing.

While BCCI has "officially gagged" its employees from talking to the media, it couldn't be ascertained that why as normal a glitch as a password error took days to resolve. A BCCI veteran, who has been privy to cricket operations, asked why the five cricketers were not told to upload the form themselves.

"This was lockdown period where they are not living out of suitcases. Some of the names have also engaged in multiple instagram chats and podcasts which their agents are managing," he said.

"If cricket operations team were having a glitch in fixing password, well the five cricketers could have been asked to do so and they would have done it individually with some guidance. "Probably NADA would be lenient this time but if it becomes an official warning, then who's responsible," he added.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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News Network
April 5,2020

New Delhi, April 5: England batsman James Vince lashed out at people for not taking proper measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and said people are going out as if "everything is normal".

"Just seen the pictures of people out and about today as if everything is normal. What selfish people, surely by now they've realised this is serious. Well done to everyone who's doing their bit and staying in," Vince tweeted.

On March 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Europe was now the 'epicentre' of the disease.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 4,313 with at least 708 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the largest one-day rise since the start of the outbreak as confirmed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The total number of cases in the UK as on Saturday is 41,903, a rise of 3,735 cases in the last 24 hours.

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