Ludhiana, Sept 6 (ANI): India's bronze medal win in wrestling at the Beijing Olympics has provided the much needed boost to budding sportsmen, especially in Punjab.

In Punjab, wrestling is a popular sport in the villages, and Sushil Kumar's bronze medal win has prompted wrestlers in villages to do something similar.

Kumar rose from obscurity to achieve sporting glory in the men's 66 kg freestyle category at the Beijing Olympics. He is only the second Indian wrestler after K D Jadhav to win a bronze. Jadhav won it in the 1952 Heisinki Games.

In Punjab, one practitioner of wrestling said he wanted to contest at the international level. During fairs and festivals, wrestling is almost obligatory and is heartily participated in by wrestlers and spectators alike. To prepare for international contests, the Punjab Government has provided wrestling mats at some places, but major rural contests are still fought in mud fields. Punjab's Sports Department picks the best wrestlers and trains them at places like the National Institute of Sports, Patiala. Sukhbir, an organiser of a wrestling competition said: "Youth who come to fairs watch wrestling and develop an interest in it. The present generation is forgetting Punjabi traditions, but such fairs help in keeping these traditional values alive."

Punjab leads in every sphere. People enjoy success in whatever profession they try their hand. The youth should concentrate more on wrestling and keep away from drugs. If Punjab follows its cultural values by promoting mud wrestling at the fairs, it can bring laurels to the country and Punjab through talented wrestlers in international contests. By Karan Kapoor (ANI)

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Dubai, Sept.7 (ANI): Australia's Nathan Bracken has slipped off the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers following a relatively disappointing series against Bangladesh.

In three ODIs, the 30-year-old took just two wickets at an average of 29 and, such is the competitive nature of the rankings, that was enough to knock him off top spot. His place is taken by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.

Vettori had surged to the top of bowling chart back in February before Bracken swapped places with the left-arm spinner following the second ODI between England and New Zealand at Birmingham on 18 June.

Bracken's team-mate Mitchell Johnson has also slipped one place to fourth but fellow pacer Stuart Clark has jumped four places after picking up five wickets at an average of 9.20. He shares 15th spot with the West Indies' Daren Powell and Pakistan's Iftikhar Anjum.

Shane Watson has returned to the top 50 after rocketing 14 places to share 40th place with India's Praveen Kumar.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has strengthened his status as Bangladesh's premier bowler by climbing seven places to 27th position while Saqibul Hasan has also jumped seven places to 39th spot. However, fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza has failed to defend his 36th position and has dropped to 42nd spot after a wicketless series.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, Australia's stand-in captain Michael Clarke has dropped one place to 15th after scoring 40 runs at an average of 13.33.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has risen 10 places to 35th position but captain Mohammad Ashraful has slipped three places to 59th.

India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads Australia's Mike Hussey in the batting chart while England's Andrew Flintoff heads the all-rounders' category.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship, Australia's 3-0 victory has earned it one ratings point which has lifted it to 131 ratings points. In contrast, Bangladesh has dropped to 45 ratings points.

The ODI action resumes next month when New Zealand plays Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series in Mirpur (9 and 11 October) and Chittagong (14 October) while Ireland, Zimbabwe and Kenya feature in a tri-series in Nairobi from 17 to 25 October. (ANI)

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Washington, Sept 7 (ANI): With United States getting the most Olympic medals and China winning the most golds, it might seem difficult to rank the nations. But, according to a leading statistician, both the countries are 'dead even'.

"Every four years, the question of how to rank countries comes up," said Knut Wittkowski, the Rockefeller University statistician who performed the analysis.

"The large number of conflicting rankings attests to the fact that it's not easy to present an answer. This year, some rankings show the U.S. on top while others show China," Wittkowski added.

The new method of ranking is unique in a way that it does not assign any particular weights to the medal categories but merely assumes that gold counts more than silver and silver counts more than bronze.

Then, using multivariate analysis to compare each country's wins to those of every other country, it's possible to determine an overall ranking that does not depend on subjective assumptions about the relative value of each medal.

Using this means of analysis, which was developed at Rockefeller and has also been applied to medical data, Web-based comparison shopping, real estate valuation and financial investments, China and the U.S. each score ahead of all other countries except each other.

Russia takes third place, the United Kingdom fourth and Germany and Australia are tied for fifth. (ANI)

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Dubai, Sept.7 (ANI): International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat will announce the short-lists for this year's LG ICC Awards in New Delhi tomorrow.

The short-lists for eight individual prizes, including a new one for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year, will be revealed in the Ganga Jamuna Room, Shangri La Hotel, in New Delhi at 12:30 p.m. (IST).

The short-lists for the men's awards have been compiled after votes were submitted by a 25-person panel from around the world, made up of renowned former players, respected members of the media, and an elite umpire and elite match referee. The panel members were asked to vote for players nominated by a Selection Panel chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd.

The short-lists for the Women's Cricketer of the Year Award were decided after each of the world's top 10 teams was given the opportunity to nominate two players. This award was then voted on by a separate 16-person voting academy featuring former players and other experts on the women's game.

The LG ICC Awards 2008 will take place this year at The Westin Hotel in Dubai on 10 September.

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its fifth year and this will be the first time it has been staged in Dubai. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006) and Johannesburg (2007).

In addition to the individual awards and the Spirit of Cricket Award, this year's LG ICC Awards will also feature the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

The LG ICC Awards is presented in association with FICA (the Federation of International Cricketers' Association). (ANI)

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