India's triumphant Tokyo Olympics contingent, including history-making Javelin Throw gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra, returned to the country on Monday and was greeted by frenzy and chaos at the New Delhi airport, where supporters jostled to catch a glimpse of their sporting heroes.
India's Siril Verma climbed a whopping 11 rungs to take the number one spot in the junior men's singles category of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings on Thursday.
India's world record holder weightlifter Mirabai Chanu revealed that she was 'completely broken' after the failure at the 2016 Rio Olympics and talking to a psychologist helped her get back on track.
The 34-year-old two-time Olympic medallist proved that class is permanent, and that the youngsters still have a long way to go, at least in his weight category -- the men's 74kg freestyle.
With uncertainty hovering over India's participation in next month's Artistic Gymnastic World Championship, top gymnasts Rakesh Patra and Dipa Karmakar feel not taking part in the competition will affect their preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.
Livid with detractors for casting aspersions on her achievements because of a dope-tainted past, Asian Games gold medallist discus thrower Seema Punia said she has been 'ill-treated' by authorities, including the national federation, for many years now.
Jeswin Aldrin, who had already qualified for the championships, however missed the cut.
'I don't think that I have done anything great. I haven't won any Olympic gold medal.'
Early exits at Japan Open and Denmark Open proved costly for ace India shuttler Saina Nehwal as she lost her World No.1 crown to All England and World champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
Claiming to be saddled with faulty equipment from China, the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) on Monday called for a boycott of sports apparatus made in that country after the violent face-off in eastern Ladakh killed 20 Army personnel last week. The IWLF ordered four weightlifting sets, comprising barbells and weight plates, from Chinese company ZKC last year. The body said that the equipment turned out to be faulty and the weightlifters are no longer using them.
The Planning Committee encouraged athletes to maintain their physical fitness and strictly follow their diet charts. AFI's Planning Committee conveyed its message to athletes during an online meeting with the national campers, coaches and support staff.
Bajrang Punia says men's camp should start on schedule.
The 24-year-old from Tripura, who had finished fourth in vault event in the 2016 Rio Olympics, scored 14.150 to win gold. She had topped the qualification also with a score of 13.400.
'If he is being spoken in the same breath as Dhyan Chand, then you can image how good he was.'
National camp to resume on Monday.
Leonard Barsoton of Kenya and Ethiopia-based Bahraini athlete Desi Jisa set new course records in the men's and women's elite international section en route to winning titles at the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K marathon.
He said the time was right to strengthen and popularise table tennis in India, especially with 27 Indian paddlers currently in top 100 and 17 of them in top 50 in the world rankings.
Pakistan Hockey Federation is still awaiting the No Objection Certificate from its government to send its national squad for the Junior Hockey World Cup, to be held in Lucknow from December 8.
A BTech and PhD in police, human rights and social justice, Singh joined the federal anti-money laundering investigations agency in 2009 on deputation from Uttar Pradesh where he was serving as a state police service officer.
'We keep climbing one step and slipping three. In 2004, our relay team was 7th in the world. Then we slipped from there. Otherwise, today our 4x400 metres relay team would have been gearing for a medal at the Rio Games.' 'If we need to compete at the world level, our thinking needs to be at world level. You can't have akhada thinking.'
It is important that these events do not remain one-offs. It is crucial that India sets long-term targets, and not solely depend on foreign coaches from regions that continue to produce some of the finest talents in the world, asserts Arindam Roy.
Kashyap, a Commonwealth Games champion, was trailing 8-14 in the third game when he chose to retire after pulling his calf muscle.
The spot-fixing and betting scandal in Indian Premier League matches is unfortunate but IPL should not be scrapped, former Sri Lankan fast bowler Ashanta De Mel said.
Rubbishing rumours that he had engineered the dope fiasco surrounding Olympic-bound Narsingh Yadav, a fuming Satpal Singh said it was wrong to point fingers at him and his protege without any proof. A fuming Satpal said the allegations against him were absolutely baseless and was ready to face any inquiry.
Gymnastics officials said that Dipa's feat was the first time an Indian woman clinched a gold in a global gymnastic competition.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt on the national sports budget as the central government on Monday allocated Rs 2596.14 crore for the financial year 2021-22 -- a reduction of Rs 230.78 crore when compared to the amount earmarked initially for the previous year.
Dhillon, who has been training Tejinder for the last five years, revealed that his ward could not give his best at the Commonwealth Games due to his father's cancer.
Sushil, who is yet to make a formal statement on the matter, put out a cryptic tweet after the controversy broke out.
Neeraj will be competing in his first Olympics and he has already qualified for the Tokyo Games early last year before the COVID-19 pandemic began
Bajrang Punia stopped using his social media handles and asked fans to keep showing him support as he gets battled ready for the Games
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
The World Championships will be held in Budapest from October 20-28.
A day before the Tokyo-bound Indian shooting contingent hits the range for its first training session in Croatia, Manu Bhaker's pistol will give way to a pen and the shooting gear to her study materials, as she logs in for her BA fourth semester exam.
Top Indian sprinter Dutee Chand on Friday smashed her own national record in the women's 100m dash on the fourth and final day of the 58th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships in Guwahati to establish herself as a gold medal contender in the upcoming Asian Games.
Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom had an unlikely training partner on Thursday when Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore donned the punching mitts and sparred with her.
Sushil Kumar's fight for an Olympic berth suffered another blow with the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) strongly hinting that they would prefer Narsingh Yadav for the Rio event by insisting on not having a trial given the quota winner's "consistent performances". Following the Delhi High Court directive, a special WFI committee, formed on the instruction of the court, held a meeting with the two-time Olympic medallist, to sort out as to who between Sushil and Narsingh would represent India in the men's 74kg freestyle category at the mega-event in August. "Sushil has put forward his views before the committee and has maintained what he has been saying since the very beginning that he should get a chance to undergo a trial," WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh told reporters in New Delhi. "We have told him that 'you have put Indian wrestling at a pedestal and we cannot ignore your contribution and we all respect you'. But on the other hand, there is another wrestler who has brought the Olympic quota and also has been giving consistent performances. So, can we be unfair to him also?" Brij Bhushan added.
Star gymnast Dipa Karmakar's coach Bisweshwar Nandi has dismissed the notion that it would have been better had the medalists and other top performers at the Rio Games been given financial before their sojourn to Brazil.
He was permanently absorbed into the ED cadre in 2014 and has headed some high-profile investigations into the 2G spectrum allocation case, the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the money laundering cases against former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, the Aircel Maxis and VVIP choppers case.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has promised "surgical" precision in distribution of funds to athletes preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games, asserting that centralisation of the process has made bureaucratic hurdles a thing of past.
