India's top-five finish not a given this time
As Parineeti Chopra brings Saina Nehwal's story on screen, Joginder Tuteja takes a look at how well Bollywood's sports movies have done at the box office.
Dabang Mumbai made a splendid recovery from 0-4 down to draw level with Kalinga Lancers before a timely field goal by the visitors buried their hopes of a maiden win as they went down 4-6 in a Hockey India League match (HIL) in Mumbai on Sunday.
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
The Congress fielded Channi from two seats -- Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar and Bhadaur in Barnala, a move which showed how much the Congress was banking on him. He lost both, and the party received a drubbing from the AAP.
Leaking late goals has been something of an Achilles' heel for the Indian hockey team but captain Sardar Singh believes his team have addressed the issue as they head to Rio looking for the country's first Olympic medal in 36 years. Once-mighty India are the most decorated nation in the sport's Olympic history but the South Asians collected the last of their eight gold medals way back at the Moscow Games in 1980. Having failed to qualify for the Beijing Games in 2008, the team representing a nation of 1.3 billion people did recover to seal a spot at the London Games four years later only to finish last among the 12 countries taking part.
India's women's hockey team beat Belarus 3-1 to clinch their third successive win in the five-Test Series in Bhopal on Sunday.
President Ram Nath Kovind presented Padma awards to 73 individuals, some posthumously, at a ceremony held in the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Monday.
India were made to toil hard by the world No 2 Australia before eventually losing the match in a close encounter.
India's 16-member squad for Rio Olympics was announced on Tuesday in New Delhi. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will lead the side with SV Sunil as the vice captain.
At their medal ceremony, the players team sang the Russian anthem over the sound of the Olympic anthem at the Gangneung Hockey Centre despite being barred from having their flag raised or anthem played.
Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick as defending champions India defeated South Korea 4-1 in their final round robin match to keep a clean slate and storm into the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
India's triumphant Tokyo Olympics contingent, including history-making Javelin Throw gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra, returned to the country on Monday and was greeted by frenzy and chaos at the New Delhi airport, where supporters jostled to catch a glimpse of their sporting heroes.
Riding on forward SK Uthappa's twin strike, the Indian men's hockey team posted yet another win against New Zealand 'A' in the second game of the Kiwi tour, in Auckland, on Saturday.
India registered a thumping 11-0 victory over Oman in the U-18 Asia Cup hockey, boosting their chances to make the knockout round, in Dhaka, on Sunday.
From our archives: Payal Singh Mohanka on the Indian hockey legend who passed into the ages on Thursday.
The studies that put Virat Kohli as the top brand now do not have Rohit Sharma in the Top 10. That will change quickly if he delivers the T20 World Cup next year or the ODI championship the year after.
Dabang Mumbai and Kalinga Lancers entered the finals of the fifth edition of Coal India Hockey India League by winning their respective semi-finals against Delhi Waveriders and Uttar Pradesh Wizards at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium in Chandigarh on Saturday.
India's men's hockey team slumped to its second defeat in the FIH Pro League, beaten 3-5 by Spain in the second match of their two-legged tie, at the Kalinga stadium, in Bhubaneswar, on Sunday.
According to a Sports Ministry official, they had already prepared a blue-print and if given a go-ahead by the health ministry, they plan to start the vaccination for Olympic-bound athletes from next month.
Skipper Florian Fuchs and striker Affan Yusuf struck a brace each as Dabang Mumbai thrashed defending champions Jaypee Punjab Warriors 10-4 to register their second win in the fifth season of the Hockey India League (HIL), in Mumbai, on Friday.
'I feel more like an athlete.' 'So now, I'd like to experience the actor in me more.'
In 2015 when Indian the women's team qualified for the Rio Olympics after a gap of 36 years, it was Rani who had played a key role in the decisive victory against Japan.
Uttar Pradesh Wizards eked out a dramatic 8-6 victory over Kalinga Lancers in a high-scoring thriller with two goals coming in the final minute as the fourth edition of Hockey India League made a sensational start under new field goal rules in Bhubaneswar.
P V Sindhu won the ESPN's 'Female Sportsperson of the Year' award while young shooter Saurabh Chaudhary bagged the honour in the male category.
We asked you Dear Readers for your memories, photographs and videos of your meeting with M S Dhoni.
The Indian junior men's hockey team recorded its fourth successive victory at the Sultan of Johor Cup with a 5-4 win over defending champions Australia, assuring a semifinal spot.
The Tokyo Olympics produced many, many, many emotional moments for the athletes and their coaches...
Joginder Tuteja takes a look at Bollywood's patriotic films, coming up.
Defending champions Ranchi Rays displayed their class and routed Uttar Pradesh Wizards 6-0 in a round robin match to seal their semi-final berth in the fourth edition of the Hockey India League, in Ranchi, on Saturday.
Favourites India demolished hapless Russia 10-0 in their opening match of the FIH Series Finals hockey tournament to start their 2020 Olympics qualification campaign on a rousing note, Bhubaneswar, on Thursday.
Striker Mandeep Singh scored two beautiful field goals as Delhi Waveriders produced their best performance of the tournament so far to spank Uttar Pradesh Wizards 8-1 and register their first win in the fifth edition of the Hockey India League, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
While there are rumours that Sardar Singh's axing is because of his dip in form in recent times, the team's chief coach and High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans said the move was necessitated to relieve the ace midfielder from excess responsibilities.
Mary Kom's winning start and Manika Batra's brilliant come-from-behind victory were the only bright spots in an otherwise gloomy day for India at Tokyo, observes Raj Kishore Mishra.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
It's only when Gold moves away from Akshay Kumar's blundering Bangla and hockey humbug to become a story of grace among go-getters that it comes close to becoming the movie it should have been, says Sukanya Verma.
While a billion hearts would pray for all the participants to do well, all eyes would be set on the duo of Deepika Kumari/Atanu Das, the four shooters and Mirabai Chanu to open India's medals count.
Tokyo should remain the benchmark and source of inspiration till at least Paris 2024. In the shorter run, India's preparations for the Asian and Commonwealth Games next year must begin based on lessons learnt now, asserts Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry.
Two goals down they rallied to beat South Africa via a golden goal in the final.
