Roelant Oltmans, the Indian men's hockey team's chief coach, says the new competition format of having quarter-finals in place of direct semi-finals at the upcoming Rio Olympics is not only beneficial for the Men in Blue but all small teams too.
Rediff.com brings you a glance of all the action from the week gone by.
Captain Manpreet Singh and goalkeeper P R Sreejesh are among a few senior India players rested for next month's Olympic hockey test event in Tokyo. Besides Manpreet and Sreejesh, defender Surender Kumar was also rested.
The draw for the eight groups for the final round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which will be played from June 12 to July 13 in Brazil, was just held in Costa do Saupe near Salvador de Bahia.
Jwala Gutta said that before comparing ourselves to badminton giants like China and Japan, India should look to improve the quality of doubles' players. Jwala also questioned the logic of holding the national camp only at the Gopichand academy.
Brazil's Gabriel Jesus made one goal, scored another and was sent off in the second half as they beat Peru 3-1 to win the Copa America for the ninth time.
Olympic medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik does not endorse the Indian Olympic Association's call for a boycott of the 2022 Commonwealth Games but at the same time feels that dropping shooting from the event's roster is "wrong on the athletes."
Yohan Blake believes if not for Usain Bolt, he would have been the fastest man in the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) records leaked by hackers raised a lot of questions with healthy athletes seemingly taking banned substances, TASS news agency reported.
Cape Town-born Van Niekerk is the reigning 400m world champion and he broke Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record to win Olympic Gold in Rio de Janeiro last year.
'I love both sport -- rally and shooting. And this was my dream for a long time, to be champion in rally and champion in shooting and this was really a good thing what I make for myself' 'When I started rally, I was looking for another sport to help me from (the) concentration side and I find myself one day practicing shooting and I said, 'okay this is a right sport to help me for driving, for rally'
Jota Silva said the day would serve to "reflect on what happened on July 8," the day in 2014 when eventual world champions Germany beat Brazil 7-1 in the semi-finals.
Spaniard Rafa Nadal won his 67th career title with a 7-5, 7-5 victory against dangerous Italian Fabio Fognini in the final of the Hamburg Open on Sunday.
Brazil's failure to claim an Olympic soccer gold medal, the one major tournament they have never won, is all because Pele never played in the competition, the soccer great joked on Thursday.
Five sports, including baseball, skateboarding and surfing, are on track to feature at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after the IOC on Wednesday recommended their inclusion to attract a younger audience, said a source close to the discussions.
Saina Nehwal feels the year going by is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
Over 30 per cent of athletes who competed at the 2011 world championships admitted to having used banned substances in the past, according to a World Anti-Doping Agency-commissioned study released on Tuesday.
Thomas Bach has virtually complete control over the body and by far the biggest influence on whether the Games will go ahead or not. With the Games having only been cancelled in the past due to World Wars One and Two, Bach will undoubtedly do everything in his power to protect the IOC's prime product
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal feels that year 2015 is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
In the week of his 31st birthday, Messi was again a largely anonymous figure as they lost 4-3 to France in a thrilling last-16 match in Kazan.
Singaporeans waved flags and cheered for swimmer Joseph Schooling on his return to the island city state on Monday after winning the country's first Olympic gold medal.
India hockey coach Roeland Oltmans is delighted at his team's outstanding performance at the Champions Trophy and said it will boost their confidence to produce a better show at the Rio Olympic Games.
Russia's anti-doping agency RUSADA said on Wednesday that comments made by its director general about sports doping has been distorted and taken out of context, the TASS news agency reported.
Australia's Olympic delegation in Rio de Janeiro said on Monday that organizers had made "fantastic" progress in fixing problems with unfinished housing, although officials admitted that only two-thirds of the buildings had passed full safety checks.
In sizzling form after clinching the China Open and finishing runners-up at Hong Kong, Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu will look to sign off the year with another crown when she competes in the season-ending World Superseries Finals starting in Dubai from Wednesday. In Rio de Janeiro, Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win an Olympics silver medal in August, but qualifying for the Dubai World Super Series final still was a far cry as she was placed at 16th in the Destination Dubai Rankings with just two events -- China Open and Hong Kong Open -- remaining.
An Olympic quota place pocketed, Indian boxer Shiva Thapa (56kg) ended his campaign with a silver medal after losing in the final of the Asian/Oceania Qualifying Tournament Qian'an, China on Friday. The 22-year-old Assamese, who is a World Championship bronze-medallist, went down 0-3 to Thailand's Chatchai Butdee in the summit clash. Butdee is the reigning Asian champion. Shiva had booked his ticket to Rio de Janeiro by making the finals yesterday after beating Kazakhstan's Kairat Yeraliyev. Meanwhile, it was a heartbreak once again for L Devendro Singh (49kg), who missed a second opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. The Commonwealth silver-medallist, who lost in the semifinals a day prior, went down in the box-off for the Olympic slot on Friday.
Leander Paes aspires to win not only a second Olympics medal but also obliterate the Ramanathan Krishnan's Davis Cup record of most singles win for India.
Kiren Rijiju said he would fail as a Sports Minister if India cannot finish inside the top 10 in the medals tally by 2028 Olympics.
Former badminton No 1 Lee Chong Wei returned home to Malaysia and said he faced a three-week wait for the verdict from his doping hearing.
London has become the world's most expensive city to live and work, overtaking Asian hotspot Hong Kong, according to study by real estate adviser, Savills.
The 20-year-old's top prize, however, did not translate into an Olympic quota for India as Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil have already secured the maximum two berths available per country in last year's World Championships.
Qatar hold off for a later edition after two failed attempts to land sport's greatest spectacle
The results ensured an unprecedented top finish for India across all four ISSF World Cup stages this year
By his own charismatic admission, Usain Bolt is a living legend. But if the Jamaican sprint king pulls off only part of his stated goals in Rio de Janeiro, a whole new vocabulary of superlatives will be required. Arguably the greatest sprinter in history, Bolt already owns the world records for the 100 meters and 200m. In London four years ago, he completed an unprecedented "Double Triple" by retaining the 100m, 200m and 4x100m crowns won four years earlier in Beijing.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Margaret Chan said on Tuesday Brazil is doing a good job tackling the Zika virus and ensuring that the Olympic games it will host in August will be safe for athletes and visitors. Chan said Brazil's government is doing all it can to mobilize Brazilian society in fighting the "formidable" Aedes mosquito that transmits the virus that has spread rapidly through the Americas since last year. "I want to reassure you that the government is working very closely with the international Olympic movement, with the local organizing committee, supported by the WHO, to make sure we have a very good work plan to target the mosquito, and to make sure that people who will come here either as visitors or athletes will get the maximum protection they need," Chan said. "I am confident the government can do it," she told reporters after meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
Their friendship and camaraderie, they say, goes way beyond tennis but Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna are in no hurry to form a mixed doubles team in the coming season despite the speculation that they could be pairing up for India at the Olympic Games next year.
India lifted its sagging morale as Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna cruised into the semi-finals while pugilist Vikas Krishan advanced to the quarters on a day the shooters, archers, shuttlers and track and field athletes suffered reverses at the Rio Olympics.
USA swimmer Michael Phelps wins men's 200-meter butterfly, his 20th Olympic gold.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
The sport's governing body said on Tuesday that the seven had all met the "exceptional eligibility criteria" after satisfying the board that they have been training in an environment that passes the necessary anti-doping requirements.
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