After capping off his remarkable career as a full-time marksman by winning two bronze at the Asian Games in Incheon on Tuesday, India's lone individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra said he will only be a 'hobby shooter' from now on.
Besides the duo, 2017 World Weightlifting Champion in the 48kg category, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and former Asian Games gold medallist tennis player Somdev Devvarman were conferred with the Padma Shri award.
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.
India's top men's player Saurav Ghosal had a comfortable opener against Australian Steven Finitsis in the PSA World Squash Championship in Doha on Saturday.
In what has so far been a non-controversial Test match in Southampton, there was a whiff of the same on the second day. England player Moeen Ali was seen wearing a pair of 'Save Gaza' wristbands during the Indian innings. The 27-year-old all rounder also wore a 'Free Palestine' wrist band while batting.
India's Apurvi Chandela won the gold medal, while compatriot Ayonika Paul clinched the silver in the women's 10m Air Rifle at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
As the one-year ban for the tearful outburst at the Asian Games ends on Thursday, former World champion Laishram Sarita Devi says the forced sabbatical proved a blessing in disguise and helped her become a thinking boxer and calmer person.
Some stellar performances by seasoned veterans and promising youngsters continued to raise the bar in Olympic sports but there was heartbreak in equal measure when corruption scandals blighted India's favourite obsession, cricket, in a see-saw year for the country's sportspersons.
Shooters continued to deliver medals for India at the 17th Asian Games with the trio of Heena Siddhu, Rahi Sarnobat and Anisa Sayyed cliching a bronze in the women's 25m pistol event in Incheon on Monday.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap speaks to Harish Kotian/Rediff.com about his recent triumph over world No. 1 Chen Long of China and why he wants the Indian Badminton League to be revived.
Barely days after quitting as chief coach of the national men's hockey team, Terry Walsh has expressed a willingness to return to India provided Hockey India shows some "desire" to work out a "viable solution".
P V Sindhu hoped to regain peak fitness before the start of individual events and assured India will return with multiple medals.
Rediff.com brings you a collection of some of the odd and unusual sports images from around the world in recent weeks.
A star-studded Indian shooting contingent will begin their Rio Olympics campaign on Saturday with in-form Jitu Rai hoping to launch the country's medal haul in an event which will also see his more illustrious senior colleague Abhinav Bindra aiming to end his glorious career on a high.
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
Meet first-time Indian athletes hoping to make an impression in Rio.
As the curtain comes down on 2014, here's a look at the five best performances over the last 12 months. And, guess what? Two Indian sportsmen figure in the list!
Sushil took a minute and 20 seconds to defeat Johannes Botha of South Africa on technical superiority to claim his third successive gold medal at the Games.
Jamaica's former world champion Yohan Blake sailed into the final of the 100 metres at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday, living up to his top billing on the opening day of the athletics at the Gold Coast.
Manika Batra's sensational run at the Commonwealth Games culminated with a fourth medal in as many events while India emerged as the best table tennis nation with a record eight medals including three gold medals.
National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand remained tightlipped about his split with Saina Nehwal, saying he doesn't want to talk about the issue as the Asian Games is just round the corner.
Arpinder Singh clinched India's first men's triple jump gold in 48 years with a jump of 16.77m in the Asian Games, in Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck the winning goal to help Real Madrid become European champions, while Marin Cilic made an impressive comeback after a ban to claim the US Open crown in September. Also, Germany defeated Argentina to become football world champions. Rediff.com brings you the last instalment of the Best Sports Photos of the Year!
Le Clos, however, was only able to clinch gold in the 50m butterfly in the first final of second day's programme and faded over the last leg to finish seventh in the 200m freestyle. South Africa finished sixth in the 4x100m relay.
P V Sindhu and K Srikanth have been given the top billing in the respective women's and men's singles badminton competitions of the Commonwealth Games
Indian sports had a lot to celebrate despite a decrease in the medal count at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
Dipa Karmakar's achievement, says Divya Nair, has lessons for us all.
Indian teen sensation P V Sindhu made sure of a second consecutive bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal after she was beaten in straight games in the women's singles quarter-finals at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
India's Manika Batra and Mouma Das lost 3-0 to Tianwei Feng and Mengyu Yu of Singapore in the women's sinlges final.
The final day of the Commonwealth Games was marred when Scottish athlete Callum Hawkins was left without medical attention on the marathon course after collapsing in brutal heat during the last event of the athletics programme.
An obsession with being 'neat, tidy and stylish' almost led her to archery, says world champion and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who feels a chance meeting with her eventual coach changed her career plans.
Dinesh Karthik acknowledged that he has an onerous task of replacing a very successful Gautam Gambhir but asserted that he has it in him to steer Kolkata Knight Riders to at least the IPL Play-offs and get the best out of his side.
London Olympics bronze medallist MC Mary Kom declared her intention to bow out on a high at the Rio Games in 2016, saying it could be her last tournament.
'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.'
Ace Indian discus thrower Vikas Gowda got a morale booster ahead of the upcoming Asian Games as he finished overall fourth in the prestigious IAAF Diamond League Series to pocket $ 3,000 prize money.
'I want to join the association in the administration, may be as an advisor to address the plaguing issues of Indian doubles'
Former chief national wrestling coach Vinod Kumar expressed relief and contentment over Delhi High Court's directive to the Centre to confer him with the Dronacharya award.
Usain Bolt's lack of form combined with his late withdrawal from the Jamaican 100 metres national trials on Thursday have raised more doubts about the future of the world's fastest man.
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.
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