The legendary PT Usha will be officially elected as the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) during the governing body's polls on Saturday, ushering in a new era in country's sports administration.
Earlier, BWF and Badminton England had delayed the start of the event by a couple of hours following a 'significant number' of inconclusive COVID-19 test results.
Former India badminton coach Vimal Kumar on Tuesday blamed the withdrawals by Asian nations for the postponement of the Thomas and Uber Cup Final, calling it a "big setback" for the sport.
'Although a Commonwealth Shooting Championships is amongst one of several ideas being discussed with the ISSF, nothing has been formally proposed, let alone agreed upon'
After bringing home just two medals from the Rio Olympics, India needs to be realistic in its preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Games and should narrow its focus to a handful of sports, says former All England badminton champion Prakash Padukone. P.V. Sindhu's silver medal in the badminton women's singles and a bronze from wrestler Sakshi Malik at the Rio Games was considered a sorry return for a nation of 1.3 billion people. India have won a total of 28 medals since first competing at the Olympics in 1900 but a government think tank has come up with a strategy it hopes will help the country to 50 medals in 2024, including prioritising 10 sports.
Wrestlers threaten Supreme COurt action over sexual harassment allegations against WFI President
Denmark's 2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen and home favourite Okuhara Nozomi, who won bronze at Rio 2016, are also among the star names.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Badminton's Tokyo rankings frozen as BWF rules out any more qualifying tournaments.
For the first time India will play host to the final rounds of the prestigious Thomas and Uber Cup championship next year after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) officially awarded the hosting rights to the country.
Will India finally reach the elusive double-digit mark? Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry, for one, is willing to stick his neck out on the possibility.
Tasnim Mir, who earlier this month became the first Indian to claim world number one status in the U-19 category, beat Keyura Mopati 13-21, 21-14, 21-19 to set up a second round clash against Malvika Bansod.
After Indonesia and South Korea on Friday joined Thailand, Australia, Chinese Taipei and Algeria in pulling out due to the dreaded disease
The Rio Olympics silver medallist couldn't hold back her happiness at being re-acquainted with her gym equipment.
Crowned the world number one, Saina Nehwal celebrated her numero uno status with a straight-game demolition of Japanese Yui Hashimoto, while Kidambi Srikanth too saw off Xue Song of China to reach their maiden finals at the Yonex Sunrise India Super Series.
The Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, one of badminton's last two Olympic qualifying events, was on Friday postponed due to a recent COVID-19 surge in the host country, dealing a severe blow to the Tokyo hopes of Indian stars like Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth.
India's top-five finish not a given this time
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.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said the academic training at the National Centre of Excellence and Sports Auhtority of India Training Centres will also be suspended.
Was it badminton sensation PV Sindhu, who became the first Indian to win the World Championships gold medal? Or is it the young shooting progidy Saurabh Chaudhary? Or his India colleague Elavenil Valarivan, who recently took over as World No 1? What about India's heroes on the cricketing field -- Virat Kohli? Rohit Sharma?
South Korea ended their 12-year wait for an Uber Cup title with a 3-2 upset of defending champions China that was only decided in the last singles match of the final in Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 6,000 lives and infected close to 160,000 people worldwide, has led to the cancellation or postponement of all sporting events across the globe. ports Minister Kiren Rijiju urged the athletes to not lose spirit and keep working hard to stay battle ready for competitions.
Airbadminton was globally launched at Guangzhou last week by the Badminton World Federation
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Friday recommended Kidambi Srikanth for the Khel Ratna award after the top Indian shuttler apologised for pulling out of a tournament midway and show-caused his teammate H S Prannoy for slamming the federation after not being nominated for the Arjuna honour.
India's shuttlers, including London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, expressed shock after reports emerged that a sparring partner of the Taiwanese national team, who was in Birmingham during the All England Championship, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Chirag said "it is difficult to stay motivated" in such uncertain times.
Hockey India on Tuesday became the latest sports federation to reject government grant and go ahead with its upcoming elections by defying the Sports Ministry's age limitation guideline.
In an official communication to concerned national sports federations, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has informed them about about the staying arrangements and the need to undergo an RT-PCR test for COVID-19 72 hours prior to their arrival in the UK.
Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra today said that the country should aim to win 'double digit' medals at the Tokyo Olympics
India's badminton doubles specialist N Sikki Reddy on Saturday heaved a sigh of relief after returning negative for COVID-19 barely two days after testing positive for the contagious disease, saying she was "shocked" by the not-so-kind reactions her initial result attracted.
It's high time we took fashion lessons from her.
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal accused the sport's administrators of placing money above players' safety by continuing last week's All England Championships despite the coronavirus pandemic. The 30-year-old lost in the opening round of the marquee event, which was among a handful which continued even as the bulk of global sporting calendar was either postponed or cancelled.
Her reluctance to appear for BAI trials could well end her chances of representing the flag
Legendary Prakash Padukone was revered as the world number one player during his hey days before the modern day computerised ranking system was introduced.
Sindhu has agreed to compete in next month's Thomas and Uber Cup after deciding to pull out of the event earlier due to personal reasons
On the last day of the competition, Yash Vardhan and Shreya Agrawal bagged three gold medals each.
Seven Olympic and six Paralympic disciplines were identified for support at a meeting of the Mission Olympic Cell.
The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players
'Compared to three or four years back, I have cut down on my time as an active chess player. I have long aspired to come into the chess administration and this opportunity as the deputy president will be a huge learning curve for me'.
The second edition of the Virat Kohli-backed Indian Sports Honours were held on Friday in Mumbai where the top performers in 17 sporting disciplines were felicitated.
