The hero of India's triumph in the hockey final at the Tokyo Olympics had settled in Spain after retiring from the Railways.
Mercurial forward Dhanraj Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon and Jugraj Singh have been included among the 26-probables for the Olympics.
Rajinder Singh will be the chief coach in place of Harendra Singh.
The ace striker was not picked in an 18-member "experimental" side to play in a four-nation tournament in Japan.
Pained to see the Indian ice hockey team's fund raising campaign in a bid to participate in the IIHF Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia Division I in Kuwait from April 18-24, the former India opener has taken it as a 'moral responsibility' to support the sport.
Deedar Singh was the lone new face in place of an indisposed Sandeep Michael.
Indian men's hockey captain P R Sreejesh has been named as one of the candidates for 2016 Goalkeeper of the Year award of the FIH while Harmanpreet Singh made the grade as one of the 2016 Rising Men Star of the Year nominees. The nominees for the 2016 Hockey Stars Awards, the annual prizes recognising the best players, goalkeepers, rising stars, coaches and umpires in a given calendar year were announced during the Hockey Revolution Part 2 Conference of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) which is currently taking place in Dubai.
Bajit Dhillon, Bajit Saini and Mukesh Kumar return to the Indian team for tournaments in Australia.
Bhupinder Singh Bajwa will be the chairman of the panel with hockey Olympian M M Somaya and former international shuttler Manjusha Kanwar being the other two members.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), on Friday, cleared Narinder Batra of indulging in any wrongdoing during his election as the IOA president, rejecting the complaint of irregularity filed by the Indian body's vice-President Sudhanshu Mittal.
All these male politicians are unlikely to risk their sinecures to speak up in support of a bunch of women wrestlers who have chosen to challenge a politician who appears to have the ruling regime in a stranglehold, points out Kanika Datta.
International Hockey Federation president Leandro Negre expects India to be a force to reckon with in the upcoming Junior World Cup, but said it won't be easy for the hosts to win the tournament, in Delhi, from December 6-15.
Pargat Singh played a key role in Michael Nobbs' appointment as India's chief hockey coach but the former captain now says it is high time the under-performing Australian is given the "marching orders".
The Indian Boxing Federation might be in trouble following its termination by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), but Sports Minister Jitendra Singh assured the boxers that their training would not suffer and would be provided with all the required facilities.
India cricketer Harbhajan Singh hosted a high-profile wedding reception at a posh hotel, in New Delhi, on Sunday, which was attended by a host of Bollywood celebrities, teammates and politicians.
North Korea will not be the only nation leaving the Pyeongchang Olympics without a medal, but they are one of the few minnows of winter sports to have earned rousing cheers wherever they go.
The Athletes Commission of the IOA has recommended the national Olympic body to put systems in place to deal with issues of the players "with respect and dignity" in the light of the protest by India's top wrestlers.
"Reach and revenue" has been Narinder Batra's agenda going into the polls and soon after becoming the first non-European President of the International Hockey Federation, the veteran Indian sports administrator vowed to take the game across the globe. Batra, who is the Hockey India President, defeated David Balbirnie of Ireland and Australia's Ken Read to become the 12th FIH President -- the first Asian to grab the post in the world body's 92-year-old history. Batra got 68 votes in his favour while Balbirnie and Read managed 29 and 13 votes respectively. Out of 118 voters, only 110 voted while eight abstained.
Both the Indian men's and women's teams will play against Spain on February 26 and 27 in a two-legged tie, followed by matches (both men's and women's) against Germany on March 12 and 13.
List of international sports events affected by the coronavirus that has killed over 900 people and infected more than 40,000 in China
'The law is neither able nor willing to function the way the legal machinery is envisaged.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
The Netherlands Robert Van der Horst and Lidewij Welten won the men's and women's International Hockey Federation (FIH) Player of the Year awards, respectively, for their performances in 2015.
Indian defender Surender Kumar will not play any role in the ongoing fourth Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament after being suspended for two matches following a deliberate foul during the game against Malaysia.
Taking strong exception to FIH's "weak" censure to Pakistani players for their obscene behaviour after beating India in the Champions Trophy semi-final, Hockey India decided that it would not host any event sanctioned by the world body until strong punishment is handed out to the offenders.
The 36-year-old Jhajharia, who is the first Indian to win two Paralympic gold medals, was the first choice of the awards selection committee.
In 2015 when Indian the women's team qualified for the Rio Olympics after a gap of 36 years, it was Rani who had played a key role in the decisive victory against Japan.
'Due to the ongoing pandemic and lockdown, we the sports bodies are unlikely to get any sponsorship and hence we may find it very difficult to restart our activities effectively'
The team management in London was told that Sardar should come to Leeds for questioning by the Yorkshire police.
The International Hockey Federation will allow defenders to wear protective face masks as a precaution while defending penalty-corners.
'Congratulations MS Dhoniji and CSK. We are happy that at least some sportspersons are getting respect and love they deserve. For us, the fight for justice is still on,' Sakshi said in her tweet, which received more than 50,000 likes and nearly 10,000 retweets in 12 hours.
Roelant Oltmans and Terry Walsh's participation as coaches in the upcoming Hockey India League is finally over after HI secretary general Narinder Batra said that the duo will not get paid by the government body during the one-month period of the franchise-based league.
Tennis great Leander Paes says it is "humbling" to be the first Indian tennis player and the first Asian male tennis player to be nominated for the prestigious International Tennis Hall of Fame.
The train crash on Friday, involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train, is one of the deadliest such accidents since independence.
Seventy two years ago, a newly independent India ventured to hold the the first Asian Games in Delhi with meager resources.
Fearing serious repercussions, the Indian Olympic Association, on Wednesday, asked the sports ministry to immediately resolve the controversy surrounding Kosovan boxer Donjeta Sadiku's visa.
A golden dream unfulfilled for over 30 years remained just that in women's hockey but India equalled its best ever medal haul as sailors joined the assorted contributors to the country's tally at the 18th Asian Games, on Friday.
Chopra expressed his disappointment a day after Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha came down heavily on the wrestlers for hitting the streets to resume their protests instead of approaching its athletes' commission to lodge their complaints against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
A few Indian stars will have to go through the disappointment of watching all the action from afar.
Sachin Tendulkar inspired me to make comeback after CWG snub, says Sardar
