A 24-strong team for the men's hockey series against Japan was announced on Thursday, following a week-long preparatory camp held at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, that commenced on April 22.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished luck to the Rio-bound Indian contingent and exuded confidence that they will not only clinch medals but also win hearts with their conduct during the Olympic Games starting on August 5.
Rani Rampal led the team to historic victories in the Women's Asia Cup in 2017, silver at the 2018 Asian Games and played a critical role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped India qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Defending champion Indian Railways has been drawn in Group A along with Maharashtra and Kerala in the 2nd Hockey India Senior Women National Championship to be held in Bhopal from October 14 to 23.
Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh, India's women's cricket captain Jhulan Goswami and boxer Dinesh Kumar are among the top sportspersons nominated for the Arjuna award, in recognition of their outstanding achievements during the last year. The National sports awards (Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dhyan Chand) selection committee, headed by P T Usha, met in Delhi on Friday and finalised the list of awardees.
Sprint legend P T Usha was on Thursday named chairperson of the selection committee for this year's national sports awards, while hockey icon Ashok Kumar was appointed head of the panel to pick the Dronacharya awardees. The 17-member panel to select the winners of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dhyan Chand awards also includes tennis ace Leander Paes and Olympic bronze medallist weightlifter Karnam Malleswari.
The committee also picked 19 sportspersons for the Arjuna Award, including the likes of cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav, track and field stars Tejinder Pal Singh Toor, Mohammed Anas and Swapna Barman.
Embarrassed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's failure to turn up for the Padma Shri awards last Wednesday, the government issued a notification saying National sports awards, like the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhronacharya and Dhyanchand, will be withdrawn if the recipient is absent from the ceremony without intimation.
1975 World Cup-winning captain Ajit Pal Singh will supervise its functioning.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the youth to sweat it out on the play fields instead of spending time in playing computer games, saying 'playing field is more important than play station'.
An overwhelming 2.5 lakh people turned up at the India Gate to get a glimpse of the glittering trophy, which will be presented to the winners of the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup on Sunday.
Former Indian women's hockey team captain Rani Rampal announced her retirement on Thursday, ending a glittering 16-year career.
Deepa Malik became the first Indian woman para-athlete and the oldest to be conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
CA Bhavani Devi, the first Indian fencer to participate at the Olympics, on Monday received her Arjuna Award from Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.
Hosts India drew curtains to their disastrous campaign at the Hero Junior Men's Hockey World Cup by finishing a disappointing 10th after losing to arch-rivals Pakistan in a classification match at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, in New Delhi on Sunday.
Legendary radio personality Ameen Sayani passed into the ages on Tuesday, leaving the entertainment industry in a state of mourning.
Two-wheeler manufacturing giant Hero Motocorp Limited announced its association with the Junior Hockey World Cup, to be held next month, as the title sponsor.
'Paris 2024 was the first time that both the men's and women's team qualified for the team championships.' 'The women's team made it to the quarter-finals, just one short of the medal round, and the men's team also did well.' 'The mixed doubles is another event where India is doing very well.' 'So these three events are events where there is a possibility of us winning medals at the Olympics.'
The Netherlands scored two first-half goals to beat Olympic champions Germany 2-1 and enter the semi-finals of the Hero Hockey World League Final at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old goalkeeper, a veteran of 328 international matches, took to social media to announce his decision.
Forget past and think about future: coach Harendra Singh's advice to women's hockey team
Harmanpreet, Sreejesh shortlisted for FIH Hockey Stars Awards
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Dipa Karmakar is one of only five women in gymnastics history to have successfully executed the Produnova -- called the 'vault of death'.
Skipper Sardara Singh has been rested for third Asian Champions Trophy. In his absence, Hockey India said, midfielder Manpreet Singh will lead India's 18-member squad for the tournament in Kakamigahara, Japan, from November 2-10.
The prime minister said everyone in the country is proud of Patel's contribution to India before it attained freedom and during the early years after the nation became independent.
Guwahati is the venue of one of the semi-finals of the Under-17 football World Cup to be held across six cities from October 6-28.
Sharath will be honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the country's highest sports recognition, later this month.
For the Dronacharya awards, the BFI has finalised the names of national women's coach Mohammed Ali Qamar and assistant coach Chhote Lal Yadav.
Virat Kohli sent the shutterbugs into a clicking frenzy as he received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
The Sports Ministry confirmed on Thursday that it will stick to the original list of winners for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards, thereby dashing discus thrower Krishna Poonia's hopes of being conferred the country's highest sporting honour.
Out of the podium race in the Hero Junior Men's Hockey World Cup, India have a chance to redeem some pride with a win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the 9-10th place classification match but national coach Baljit Singh Saini refused to treat the high-profile fixture as a "special" encounter.
This year a whopping 74 winners were picked for the national honours, including an unprecedented five Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratnas and 27 Arjuna awardees.
Delhi Waveriders showed no mercy on the Kalinga Lancers as they inflicted a humiliating 5-0 defeat on the Odisha-based side in match seven of the Hero Hockey India League (HHIL) in New Delhi.
The AIFF executive committee also accepted the recommendation to discontinue their development side, Indian Arrows, and instead create an elite youth league using the fund.
Deepti is one of the 27 athletes who will be getting the Arjuna Award on August 29 this year.
Table tennis player Manika Batra, who will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award this year, said that the accolade would spur her to bring more laurels for the country.
Former India captain Jude Felix has been appointed coach of the senior men's hockey team. The Olympian will work under chief coach Terry Walsh, Hockey India said on Wednesday.
Striker Gurwinder Singh Chandi failed to make the cut as Hockey India announced an 18-member squad, led by Sadar Singh, for the eight-nation Hero men's Champions Trophy, in Bhubaneswar, from December 6-14. Lalit Upadhyay, who was capped nine times earlier, has been drafted in place of Chandi in the squad, named by Hockey India selectors after trials at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi on November 18.
