Rediff.com brings you a collection of some of the odd and unusual sports images from around the world in recent weeks.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
The United States Tennis Association will hold the US Open this year without fans amid the COVID-19 outbreak even though some top players have expressed concerns about attending the tournament due to the virus, according to multiple reports.
'The players all appreciate -- we all appreciate -- the fact that despite the pandemic and the restrictions, because of all of this protocol that has been put in place, the IPL season is still happening.'
Track and field athletes led India's gold rush on the third day of competitions at the 13th South Asian Games as the country added a whopping 29 medals to jump to the top of the medals tally, in Kathmandu, on Wednesday.
16-year-old Nagaland leg-spinner Khrievitso Kense says he became a cricketer all by himself and honed his skills by watching Warne on TV.
If you want to see what India should be like and how Indians should live, you have to see Bhilai, says Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
Indian freestyle wrestlers claim Asian team title in U-17 category
Facts on the Commonwealth Games to be held in Australia's Gold Coast:
Xu Xin and Feng Tianwei bagged the men's and women's singles title at the 28th Asian Cup table tennis tournament, beating their famed opponents in two high-quality finals at the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday.
Wriddhiman Saha wears his reticence like a badge of honour and, quite like his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni, doesn't believe in sledging opposition batsmen.
Rising prevalence of work-from-home and e-learning is driving sales of notebooks and tablets for most brands, but Apple's superior performance has more to do with its product quality.
Life of a professional cricketer isn't easy and the COVID-19 pandemic has made things all the more difficult as movement off the field is strictly monitored, says mental conditioning coach Anand Chulani, who is working with several players in IPL 2021.
Men could extend their reign for the second successive time after annexing the title in the previous edition at Surat in 2015. The Indian men had won their first crown in Kuala Lumpur in 2004.
India's dominance went uncontested for the fifth successive day at the 12th South Asian Games, as its shooters, wushu players and track-and-field athletes annihilated competition to sweep most of the gold medals up for grabs, in Guwahati, on Wednesday.
Andy Murray is yet to reach his maximum potential and should only get better but the world number one has not seen the back of Novak Djokovic, according to eight-times Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi.
Any vegetable, when stuffed in a wheat covering and fried crisp with ghee and served with a dab of white butter, becomes fit for a king's banquet.
The administrators are busy thrashing out resumption plans but with the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, India's sportsperson are pleading for caution as discussion rages on whether competitions can resume by August. Top stars from various disciplines want the waiting period to continue, while others pointed out at the loss it would cause in terms of fitness and readiness.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
Frozen balls containing team names have been used to rig European soccer's club competition draws although the ruse was never used at FIFA, the former chief of the game's world governing body, Sepp Blatter, has said.
'Salman and I would play table tennis and drive an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) while shooting in Karjat. And he made me eat a lot of biryani!' Child actor Harshaali Malhotra shares her Bajrangi Bhaijaan experience.
The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has decided against hiring a foreign coach for the Rio Olympics, a move that will adversely affect the players preparation, especially the women's team, for the Summer Games in August next year.
R Sridhar recalls 'Ravi ship' and more
The views are stunning, the skies are blue, the forests are lush and, wonder of wonders, thanks to the discipline of the tea estate, even man isn't vile, discover Renu Bahal Wadhwa and T C A Srinivasa Raghavan after a trip to Kerala's breathtakingly beautiful hill retreat.
'He asked us to spread awareness on social distancing and hygiene. He spoke about how we need Virat's (Kohli) fighting spirit to win this battle'
Director Rahul Nair's gabby comedy looks at the difficulty of dating in the digital age in a manner that's equal parts shallow and silly, notes Sukanya Verma.
A summary of Friday's action at the US Open.
Asian Games will be a reality check for India's athletes after the Commonwealth Games high
Drawing flak after the loss to India, Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed has warned his teammates of further backlash at home if they fail to lift their game in the remaining matches of the ongoing World Cup.
Indian men's and women's team scripted history by clinching the gold medals at the World Table Tennis Team Championship with superb victories over Luxemburg and Brazil respectively in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. Indian eves beat Luxemburg 3-1 in the event final of the Second Division, while their male counterparts overcame a stiff Brazil 3-2. India had sealed their entry in the Champions Division last night after reaching the finals. Incidentally, this was the first time ever that the women's team kept a clean slate -- eight wins -- in the first and the second stages. The men, on the other hand, bounced back after losing their only group match against Nigeria to achieve the exceptional honours.
Sharath Kamal of India moved into the third round of the World Table Tennis Championship in Suzhou, China, on Wednesday.
The Meerut-based Vihan shot 73 in the final after topping the qualification earlier in the day. The gold went to 34-year-old South Korean Hyunwoo Shin and bronze to 42-year-old from Qatar, Hamad Ali Al Marri.
India's veteran tennis ace Leander Paes hinted at possible retirement on Monday, saying he now relies on experience to outsmart opponents and shouldn't be playing past another year.
Ace doubles player Leander Paes and his big-serving partner Rohan Bopanna did not practise or play enough together to give themselves a decent chance to win a medal in the men's doubles event at the Rio Olympic Games, said the former's ex-partner Mahesh Bhupathi in Mumbai on Monday. "The (men's) doubles team was definitely under-prepared, in fact there no preparation - that's the right word. "They did not practise, did not play any matches together. Even when Leander and me were not playing on tour in 2004 and 2008 (Olympic Games in Athens and Beijing), we always came together, played a couple of tournaments together. That's what the Olympics demands," said Bhupathi at the Khar Gymkhana in Mumbai.
Defeats in sports dominated by China at previous Olympics have left the country in an unfamiliar third place on the medals table, with some predicting that Rio 2016 could witness the lowest haul in two decades.
Check out the complete schedule of Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics
The Sports Ministry confirmed on Thursday that it will stick to the original list of winners for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards, thereby dashing discus thrower Krishna Poonia's hopes of being conferred the country's highest sporting honour.
The deadly COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented postponement as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Japanese government and the athletes world over agreed that Olympics in July-August this year could not have gone ahead in the present circumstances.
"If telecom changed the game for how business was done in India, then we need 20 more of those systemic game-changers to take us to the next level," Ronnie Screwvala tells Pavan Lall.
