Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Ms Usha may soon discover that winning four gold medals at the Asian Games and qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics is a walk in the park compared with the challenges of stabilising governance at the IOA, observes Kanika Datta.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Bodin Issara was banned for two years by the Badminton Association of Thailand (BAT) for physical assault after his ugly on-court brawl with former doubles partner Maneepong Jongjit during the final of the Canada Open last week.
On Sunday the Ukrainian Tennis Federation urged the sport's governing body the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to immediately expel Russia and Belarus from the organisation and ban Russia from team and individual tournaments. Also, athletes from Ukraine and other nations have called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to suspend Russia and Belarus and ban their athletes from events immediately.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has prompted India to withdraw from next month's shooting World Cup in Cyprus, the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) revealed on Friday.
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?
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
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.
India's schedule on Day 3 of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on July 31, Sunday.
Her reluctance to appear for BAI trials could well end her chances of representing the flag
Team India will compete in 15 sporting disciplines as well as four disciplines in the para sports category.
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.
'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'.
It was another good year for PV Sindhu, who won the India Open Super Series and Korea Open Super Series titles, besides bagging the silver at Glasgow World Championship and finishing as runners-up at Hong Kong Open last month.
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.
Sanjay Mishra to become new BAI general secretary
Indian Olympic Association's acting president Anil Khanna called it a 'gender-neutral contingent' with 108 men and 107 women being part of the touring party.
Sachin Tendulkar has no hesitation in terming India as favourites going into the World Cup but what makes him happier is the team's ability to be competitive 'in any part of the world and on any surface'.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
As many as 14,000 runners from across 15 countries will be lining up to take part in a nearly month-long initiative to raise funds for coaches and support staff in various sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisers said on Thursday. Championed by celebrated national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, and Arjuna Awardees Ashwini Nachappa and Malathi Holla, 'Run to the Moon' will conclude on July 21 to coincide with the 51st anniversary of man's first landing on the moon.
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.
India's top-five finish not a given this time
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
List of international sports events affected by the coronavirus that has killed over 900 people and infected more than 40,000 in China
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that the government will keep in close touch with all relevant groups to ensure a virus outbreak does not have affect the Summer Olympics. Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organisers are not considering cancelling the Olympics, which start on July 24.
Mary Kom said she merely left it on the federation and did not pressurise it to rule in her favour.
Top shuttlers, including Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, are likely to leave for Malaysia and Singapore via Doha to participate in the last two Olympic qualifiers next month due to travel bans imposed by the two countries in the wake of unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases in India.
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.
The World Badminton Federation charged eight female players with misconduct on Wednesday after four Olympic doubles teams had attempted to 'throw' matches to secure a more favourable draw later in the tournament.
Kim had developed a good rapport with Sindhu, who time and again acknowledged the Korean's role in her success.
Pullela Gopichand called P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal -- his two most successful pupils -- as 'precious diamonds'.
The IOA also said that the decision will now relieve the Indian athletes of having to train amidst lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
India has been battling a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many countries to ban travellers from India.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
On the last day of the competition, Yash Vardhan and Shreya Agrawal bagged three gold medals each.
Badminton in the country received a massive fillip on Saturday with Indian Open granted a Super Series status for a three-year period starting next year. So far a Grand Prix event, the tournament staved off the challenge from Swiss Open to bag the honour, riding on the support it got from non-European countries in the World Badminton Federation (WBF) Executive Council meeting in Kuala Lumpur.