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).
Cricket legend Rahul Dravid reckons there could be "a sense of doubt, hesitancy and fear" initially in the minds of athletes, as well as people in general, when sport resumes in the post coronavirus pandemic world. The novel coronavirus pandemic has led to either cancellation or postponement of all sporting activities worldwide, including the Tokyo Olympics.
The Indian Badminton League's glamour quotient has gone up by quite a few notches with a consortium involving former cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar and Telugu actor Nagarjuna buying the event's Mumbai franchise.
The list of international sporting events affected by a new virus outbreak in China grew on Wednesday with skiing World Cup races in Yanqing cancelled and Olympic women's football in Australia in doubt over concerns about athletes' safety. Badminton, tennis and basketball were among other sports whose governing bodies were rearranging events, weighing possible changes or monitoring the implications of the outbreak.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will ring the customary Eden Bell
As preparations for the Rio Olympics gather pace, India may be headed for yet another paltry medal haul.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Srikanth said winning for the country was a big motivating factor for the team.
The first Indian woman grappler to win an Olympic medal, a bronze in the 58kg freestyle at Rio, she was the obvious choice as P V Sindhu, India's only other medallist, who bagged a silver in the women's singles badminton, left for Hyderabad on Saturday.
These athletes made India proud four years ago.
When brands look at cricket, India's male cricketers are an obvious choice.
The eight disciplines comprised archery, badminton, table tennis, hockey, judo, gymnastics, swimming and weightlifting.
'Everyone wants to get involved when there is success.' 'But what about guaranteeing it?' 'Making sure girls have the opportunity to succeed all the time?'
'Team India's participation in the Olympics couldn't have ended on a sweeter note'
India's chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand believes the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed given the unprecedented crisis that the world is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The committee will also be suggesting measures for making the code acceptable to all the stakeholders so that a balance is struck between autonomy of National Sports Federations.
>There's still hope and plenty to play for, says Rediff.com's Aruneel Sadadekar.
They shut up the naysers with sheer success.
The Sports Ministry removed the Rs 2 lakh cap on the salary given to Indian coaches for training elite athletes in a bid to encourage them to produce better results. The move is also aimed at attracting former players to become high performance trainers.
India captain Virat Kohli will like to 'play for another 10 years' if he is able to train as hard as he is at this point of time in his career.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, met the Indian athletes who will represent the country at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and wished them luck.
Four Indian Paralympics medal winners at the Rio Games last month -- Devendra Jhajharia, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Deepa Malik and Varun Singh Bhati -- were on Monday felicitated by a host of personalities, including cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.
If anyone qualifies to be called a legend in Indian hockey after Dhyan Chand, it's Balbir Singh Senior, said iconic Milkha Singh condoling the death of his 'great friend'. Balbir and Milkha competed together at the highest level for the country in their respective games and even worked together for Punjab Sports department in the 1960s.
Fresh from her triumphant exploits with senior partner Jwala Gutta in the Canadian Open, shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa said the ace Indian doubles pair was now aiming to break into the top ten while qualifying for next year's Rio Olympic Games.
India's badminton queen Saina Nehwal has signed a 40-crore deal with Rhiti Sports Management company, making her the country's highest paid sportsperson outside cricket.
One of India's strongest Olympic medal hopes, ace shooter Manu Bhaker feels preparations 'cannot get better' than the ongoing training-cum-competition tour of Croatia as she works on her consistency ahead of the Tokyo Games.
Former India coach Anil Kumble is in the running for the Coach of the Year award in the inaugural edition of the Indian Sports Honours, instituted by the RP-SG Group in association with the foundation of skipper Virat Kohli.
The Indian Olympic Association and the federations might be against it but the National Sports Bill has got a collective thumbs up from India's top athletes, who feel the draft has the potential to drastically change the country's sports scene.
Kidambi Srikanth is against any drastic changes in the scoring system being contemplated by the world body.
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
'He has two small children, think of the impact on them.' Mixed emotions in Indian sports fraternity after Sushil's arrest in murder case.
The Sports Ministry on Thursday said it has started a "thorough review" of India's dismal outing at the Rio Olympics and is also seeking feedback and suggestions from the athletes who competed in the quadrennial extravaganza. India finished with a disappointing two medals, through PV Sindhu's silver in badminton and Sakhsi Malik's bronze in wrestling, at the two-week sporting gala last month.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
India has been battling a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many countries to ban travellers from India.
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.
Rising Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh was named the 'Junior Player of the Year' by the Asian Hockey Federation in its Congress held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet the Indian athletes who will represent the country at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Tamil Nadu Tennis Association Vice President Karti Chidambaram says the top 5-6 players such as Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sumit Nagal, Dhakshineshwar Suresh and Nitin Sinha should be supported to travel with a common coach and trainer, play 26 tournaments, out of which at least 18 are abroad, train for 20 weeks and have six weeks of rest in a year.
Participants at the Indian Wheelchair Tennis Tour held in Chennai did not let adversity affect their outlook on life. A Ganesh Nadar presents some of their stories.
The Olympic silver medalist could charge between Rs 75 lakhs and Rs 1 crore per endorsement.
