Shiva Thapa (60kg) won a place in India's boxing team for the Asian Games after winning in the trials, while Sarjubala Devi clinched the 51kg spot in the women's squad -- a category that was thrown open after M C Mary Kom pulled out of the equation due to a shoulder problem.
Olympic bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom (51kg) and World Championship bronze-winner Shiva Thapa (56kg) were given the top billing in the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament draw held in Qian'an, China on Friday.
Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar discussed the way forward for L Sarita Devi with Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday and urged the entire country to support the woman boxer who is facing a possible life ban from the International Boxing Association for refusing her bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games.
Mary Kom lets it rip after winning trial bout against Nikhat Zareen
Normally a star-studded display teeming with celebrities, the Tokyo Olympics ceremony was low-key, with fewer than 1,000 people in attendance, strict social distancing rules and signs calling on spectators to "be quiet around the venue."
Almost every medal that is there to be taken is in her kitty but M C Mary Kom says she still trains like a maniac, the latest result of the regimen being a gold on debut at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast on Saturday.
Path-breaking tennis ace Sania Mirza takes pride in the fact that many of India's sporting stars, outside cricket, are women even though she believes that it will take a few more generations before being a sportswoman is seen as a natural career choice in the country. The winner of six Grand Slam titles, spoke on a range of issues including the role of parents and attitude of coaches towards women players during a webinar organised by the All India Tennis Association and the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
All but written off after a string of injuries wrecked havoc on his career four years ago, enigmatic boxer Akhil Kumar staged a remarkable comeback to make the 10-member Indian men's team for the Asian Games, in Incheon, South Korea.
'It has made things easier for me in terms of planning for Olympics'
M C Mary Kom says she is a shade "nervous" heading into her ninth appearance at the showpiece, not because of the competition that awaits her but the overwhelming expectations at home.
Mary Kom has self-isolated at her Delhi residence since returning from the this month's Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jordan where she booked herself a second Olympic berth. Relaxed she might be at home but Mary Kom said she understands the fear of the virus outbreak
Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) qualified for Tokyo Olympics by advancing to the semi-final with a comfortable win over Philippines' Irish Magno, at the Asia/Oceania Qualifiers in Amman, on Monday. World number one Amit Panghal (52kg) qualified for his maiden Olympic Games, while Manish Kaushik (63kg) remained in the hunt for a Tokyo ticket despite losing his quarter-final bout.
Indian pugilist Sonia Lather was assured of a medal in the 57kgs at the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championship, only the colour had to be decided on Friday in a thrilling final in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Nikhat was hoping to challenge Mary Kom in the 51kg trials.
Long-serving archery coach Purnima Mahato and women's hockey coach Narendra Singh Saini were among five sporting personalities who were recommended for the prestigious Dronacharya award this year.
The Padma Vibhushan for this year has been awarded to a total of seven prominent personalities, while 16 have been given the Padma Bhushan, 118 have been given the Padma Shri on the 71st Republic Day this year, they said.
Lovlina Borgohain, who clinched the welterweight (69kg) bronze at Tokyo Olympics, spoke about the hardships she endured to get where she is, the joy of watching the triumph of human spirit at the Games
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Sourav Ganguly emphasised the need for playing day/night Tests to attract more spectators to stadiums.
India has just 28 Olympic medals to its credit since making a debut back in 1900.
Men joined the gold quest through Gaurav Solanki (52kg) and Vikas Krishan (75kg) as the team rejoiced its best ever medal haul at the mega-event on Saturday.
Veteran Manoj Kumar (69kg) assured himself the second Commonwealth Games medal of his career as four Indian boxers entered the semi-finals of the mega-event with contrasting victories in the quarter-finals, in Gold Coast, on Tuesday.
Coaches being hand-in-gloves with athletes in usage of banned substances to win medals and later financial rewards from the government is well known in Indian sports but few have aired their views in public.
World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg), on Thursday, became the first Indian boxer to make the cut for this year's Olympics by entering the Asian Qualifying Tournament's final but the celebrated M C Mary Kom (51kg) failed to book her Rio Games ticket after losing in the last-four stage, in Qian'an, China.
Indian boxing's national observer Akhil Kumar sees nothing wrong in leaving out national chief coaches from the Commonwealth Games contingent but what irks him is the higher pay and greater importance given to the foreigners in the support staff.
In photos: Priyanka Chopra as Assam Tourism's new ambassador.
M C Mary Kom and Pooja Rani knocked out their respective opponents while L Sarita Devi survived a scare as India grabbed all the three gold medals on offer in women's boxing for an overall clean-sweep of top honours in the 12th South Asian Games in Shillong on Tuesday.
The AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships is taking place in an indoor stadium from Thursday through to November 24 but teams are complaining about a toxic smog hanging over the city, caused by seasonal burning of crop stubble and emissions from vehicles and industry.
It was a celebration of woman power in sports as Olympic stars PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar were on Monday conferred India's highest sporting honour -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- along with shooter Jitu Rai in a gleaming awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
M C Mary Kom notched up her fifth gold medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championships, winning a fiercely-contested summit clash in the 48kg category in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Wednesday.
M C Mary Kom pulled no punches as she lambasted critics and challengers after securing her second Olympic appearance. Her reference was to the selection controversy that preceded the qualifiers when former junior world champion Nikhat Zareen sought Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju's intervention while demanding a trial bout against the Manipuri. The ill-tempered and hyped trial bout was won by Mary Kom.
'Mary just stopped talking to me. Maybe she did not like the fact that she was the gold medallist, but it was me (Sarita), not her, who was getting all the attention.'
London Olympics bronze medallist MC Mary Kom declared her intention to bow out on a high at the Rio Games in 2016, saying it could be her last tournament.
Indian boxing got the first glimpse of Dingko's talent at the 1989 sub-junior nationals in Ambala where he became a champion as a 10-year-old.
Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom entered the final in the 48 kg classs at the Commonwealth Games, beating Sri Lanka's Anusha Dilrukshi , on Wednesday.
Celebrated boxer M C Mary Kom will aim for a historic sixth gold at the AIBA Women' World Championships, the build up of which has been marred by a row over lone Kosovan boxer's participation and poor quality air in the national capital.
'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'
MC Mary Kom advanced to the final but Shiva Thapa settled for a bronze medal after an upset semi-final loss in the India Open boxing tournament for men and women in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The state units affiliated to Boxing India on Wednesday claimed ignorance about the International Boxing Association's decision to constitute an ad-hoc committee for administrating the sport in India, even as it planned to write to AIBA about proposing a date for conducting its elections.
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