News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Sofiane Feghouli's late goal eased the nerves at Valencia's Mestalla as the Spanish club grabbed a 3-1 victory over Monaco in the first leg of their Champions league play-off round tie on Wednesday.
Manchester United were given a troublesome tie against Club Bruges in the draw for the Champions League playoff round on Friday, although it could have been worse as they avoided Lazio, CSKA Moscow or Monaco.
'The events of 2020 have actually put our relationship under exceptional stress.' What External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told the All India Conference of China Studies on Thursday, January 28, 2021.
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."
The SCO is increasingly seen as a counterweight to NATO and its membership will help India have a greater say in issues relating to security and defence besides combating terrorism.
Asian Games bronze medallist Pooja Rani (75kg) entered the pre-quarter-finals in the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championships with a hard-fought victory over Ukraine's Mariya Borutsa, in Astana, on Friday.
Napoli went down 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig, Arsenal and AC Milan enjoyed comfortable away wins, and Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi scored twice to secure a 3-2 victory in Europa League last 32, first leg action
Foreign ministry spokesman said no change in China's position in case of non-NPT countries.
It is apparent that an easing of tensions at the border and a disengagement of troops is on the cards, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Star grappler Yogeshwar Dutt would seek to grab an Olympic quota place in his first opportunity when he spearheads a 17-member Indian campaign at the Asian Olympic Qualification wrestling championship, starting in Astana, Kazakhstan from Friday. It will be a tough three-day competition from March 18-20, considering that only the top two finishers in each weight category here will secure an Olympic berth for a country. This is the second qualifying event for the Rio Games. The first was held last year at the World Championship in Las Vegas, where just one Indian in Narsingh Yadav bagged a quota place for the country in Men's 74kg freestyle. With India's entry at Rio de Janeiro ensured in 74kg category, no one will be competing in this category. Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar also fights in the same weight division as Narsingh. Thus, the squad consists of five grapplers in men's freestyle, six in Greco-Roman and six in female wrestling. London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar, who pulled out of the 2015 World Championship due to an injury, has the best chance of grabbing an Olympic berth for India as well as a medal.
Welcoming Jaishankar, Foreign Minister Wang referred to the Indo-Pak tensions without directly mentioning about India scrapping the Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Star grapplers Bajrang and Babita Kumari qualified for next month's World Wrestling Championship after emerging victorious in their respective weight categories in the final selection trials at the SAI training centre in Sonepat.
China on Monday said India's membership bid in the NSG has become "more complicated" under the "new circumstances" as it again ruled out backing New Delhi's entry in the grouping, saying there should be non-discriminatory solution applicable to all non-NPT signatory countries.
Jose Callejon took advantage of Napoli's numerical advantage in the 48th minute of the playoff round second leg tie, handing them an away goal which, added to their 2-0 win from the first leg, effectively ended Nice's challenge as it left the French side needing to score four goals.
AC Milan, Villarreal and Nice reached the knockout stage of the Europa League after posting wins on Thursday in the penultimate round of the group stage.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
The event, in Astana, Kazakhstan, is the final qualifying tournament for women boxers in the 51kg, 60kg and 75kg Olympic categories and has 12 Rio tickets on offer. Which means pugilists will have to at least make the semi-finals in the three chosen divisions to book a berth.
Swaraj also said that Pak cannot take Kashmir to the ICJ.
Rediff.com gives you a glimpse of the best sporting action from the week gone by.
Ajax Amsterdam, returning to the stadium where they last won the Champions League 20 years ago, squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against 10-man Rapid Vienna on Wednesday.
Frenchman Romain Bardet timed his final effort perfectly to win the 12th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, setting up a thrilling second half of the three-week race as defending champion Chris Froome showed a rare sign of weakness.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
'A lack of strategic trust and the 'persistent security dilemma' prevails between India and China,' points out Dr Rup Narayan Das.
UEFA wants consistent sanctions against match-fixing across Europe and has drafted an 11-point plan to help make that happen, general secretary Gianni Infantino said on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Several German government websites,including Chancellor Angela Merkel's official page, have been crippled in an unprecedented cyber attack claimed by a pro-Russian group demanding that Berlin sever ties with the regime in Ukraine, just ahead of their leaders' meet.
India, along with Pakistan, is set to be inducted as full members into the bloc, which mainly deals with issues relating to security and defence.
Karman struggled to contain her unforced errors but prevailed 6-3 6-4 win over Eudice Chong to give India a 1-0 lead in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie.
German Andre Greipel was again far too strong for the opposition as he claimed his second win in this year's Tour de France.
Check out the main contenders for this year's Tour de France, which starts on Saturday in Utrecht, Netherlands.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is very much aligned with the foreign policy priorities of the Modi 2.0 government, says Sana Hashmi.
'The verdict will open up the floodgates for Pakistan to take the ICJ route on many issues in context of Jammu and Kashmir,' warns Rajeev Sharma.
Overall leader Chris Froome put the hammer down on the Tour de France when the Briton humiliated his rivals in the first mountain test, winning the 10th stage in awe-inspiring fashion on Tuesday.
Alexis Vuillermoz earned the French their first victory on this year's Tour de France, his final kick proving too hot to handle for the big guns in the eighth stage on Saturday.
Tour de France leader Tony Martin abandoned the race on Thursday after breaking his collarbone.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands attacked near the foot of the final climb to win the ninth stage of the Tour de France in extreme weather conditions as Alberto Contador pulled out of the race on Sunday.
The meeting, which lasted for nearly 50-minutes, comes in the backdrop of stiff Chinese opposition to India's entry into the NSG, which looks after critical issues relating to nuclear sector, including trade and export of nuclear technology.
Vishnu Vardhan won his second Challenger level title of the season with Japanese partner Toshihide Matsui but four other Indians, including Leander Paes, tumbled out of various ATP events across the globe.
