It was a disappointing first session for Indian boxers in the World Championships quarter-finals, on Wednesday, as the seeded duo of Asian champion Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) lost, and Satish Kumar (+91kg) was declared medically unfit.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg), on Thursday, became the first Indian boxer to make the cut for this year's Olympics by entering the Asian Qualifying Tournament's final but the celebrated M C Mary Kom (51kg) failed to book her Rio Games ticket after losing in the last-four stage, in Qian'an, China.
Indian boxers continued to pack a mighty punch at the World Championships, as Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Manpreet Singh (91kg) entered the pre-quarter-finals with contrasting victories in their respective second round bouts, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Friday.
'Vijay was adamant. He wanted the first poster to be eyecatching. Vijay wants to make a splash with his Bollywood debut.'
Debutant Akash Kumar (54kg) secured India's first medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade on Tuesday after advancing to the semi-finals with a superb win over former Olympic silver-medallist Yoel Finol Rivas of Venezuela.
The Indian juggernaut rolled on unabated as the star-studded boxing squad joined the shooters in what is turning out to be an outing of unprecedented dominance by the host country at the 12th South Asian Games, in Guwahati, on Saturday.
Bitter about the administrative mess which he feels cost him a medal at the Rio Olympics, pugilist Manoj Kumar says Indian boxing is on death bed right now and desperately needs intervention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am sure that I would have won a medal if India was not suspended from the International Boxing Association (AIBA).] "Had the first round in that pre-quarterfinal bout gone in my favour, the result would have been different," Manoj told PTI in an interview.
India's Suraj Panwar clinched a silver in men's 5000m race walk event in the ongoing Youth Olympic Games to open the country's medal account in athletics in Buenos Aires.
The participation of Indian athletes in Friday's Tokyo Olympic Games opening ceremony will be kept to a 'bare minimum' in view of the COVID-19 threat, while only six officials from the contingent will be allowed to take part in the event.
India's star boxer Vijender Singh does not want to carry the baggage of last year's maiden defeat on the professional circuit as he returns to the ring.
'There is more to life than sport and anything can happen in sport, so you need something to fall back on'
The Indian flag was hoisted by members of the Indian contingent at the Athletes Village of the Asian Games in both Jakarta and Palembang, to mark the country's 72nd Independence Day.
Nikhat Zareen, Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda, who brought honour to the country at the women's World Boxing Championships 2022, were felicitated by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.
MC Mary Kom and the seasoned L Sarita Devi spearheaded India's gold rush at the second India Open boxing tournament, which concluded on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
Cricket was the first to hit the restart button in Indian sports with the IPL, albeit on foreign shores of UAE, in a strict bio-secure bubble.
A source close to the team said the top members of the coaching staff are among those who have tested positive.
Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) qualified for Tokyo Olympics by advancing to the semi-final with a comfortable win over Philippines' Irish Magno, at the Asia/Oceania Qualifiers in Amman, on Monday. World number one Amit Panghal (52kg) qualified for his maiden Olympic Games, while Manish Kaushik (63kg) remained in the hunt for a Tokyo ticket despite losing his quarter-final bout.
Distraught after losing her controversial semifinal bout, Indian boxer L Sarita Devi on Tuesday stunned officials and spectators by refusing to accept the bronze medal, which is now in the custody of organisers.
Indian professional boxer Neeraj Goyat notched up a Technical Knockout win over Congo's Bebe Rico Tshibangu in the Amir Khan-supported Super Boxing League's Crypto Fight Night in Dubai.
'Vijender is a power puncher, he is a smart boxer as well.' Lee Beard, Vijender Singh's trainer, highlights why the Indian boxer is the favourite for Saturday's double title clash.
As we celebrate International Women's day on March 8, meet the Indian sportswomen who have made the nation proud with their superlative performances in the sporting arena.
Debutant Akash Kumar (54kg) signed off with a bronze medal in the AIBA men's World Boxing Championships after losing to Kazakhstan teenager Makhmud Sabyrkhan in the semi-finals, in Belgrade, on Thursday.
Shiva Thapa and Vikas Krishan will be among India's best bets to better both the colour and number of medals at the 19th World Boxing Championships, starting in Hamburg on Friday.
Tokyo-bound AFI medical commission chairman AK Mendiratta dies of COVID-19.
Continental champion Shiva Thapa (56kg) was barely tested as he advanced to the quarter-finals but it was curtains for comeback-man Akhil Kumar (60kg) after he lost an edge-of-the-seat last-16 bout on a bitter-sweet day for Indian boxing in the 17th Asian Games.
Vijender and Losan will square off on March 19 in a super middle-weight (76kg) showdown in Goa
The Sports Ministry on Saturday suspended Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) assistant secretary Vinod Tomar, a fallout of the grapplers' allegations of sexual harassment and corruption against the sports body's chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Besides legendary boxer MC Mary Kom and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, the panel includes archer Dola Banerjee and Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) president and IOA treasurer Sahdev Yadav.
Six-time World champion M C Mary Kom's (51kg) pursuit of a second Olympic medal ended in the pre-quarterfinals of the Tokyo Games as she went down to 2016 edition's bronze-medallist Ingrit Valencia in a fiercely-fought showdown.
'I've got a huge Indian homecoming to look forward to this summer so it's vital I get pasy next opponent in Bolton.'
It is the the biggest fight of his emergent professional career, but Indian boxing star Vijender Singh said the WBO Asia title contest against Kerry Hope is no huge deal for him and he is taking it as just another stepping stone in the circuit. The 30-year-old dasher, who is unbeaten in the professional arena, has won all his bouts via konckouts. Eyeing a seventh knockout in what is meant to be a 10-round contest, Vijender said his approach to the contest is no different from the one he had for his previous bouts.
Vijender Singh would be eyeing a third successive knockout victory but the task seems easier said than done against an experienced and aggressive Samet Hyuseinov when the two square off in the star Indian boxer's maiden six-round professional contest in Manchester on Saturday.
'Shooting is number one.' 'Archery, wrestling, badminton and boxing.' 'These are the five where we stand the best chance of winning a medal.'
Indian boxing's national observer Akhil Kumar sees nothing wrong in leaving out national chief coaches from the Commonwealth Games contingent but what irks him is the higher pay and greater importance given to the foreigners in the support staff.
Rediff.com recaptures these and other exciting sporting moments from the week gone by....
It was a watchful start by the experienced Indian as she took her time to get a measure of her aggressive opponent.
Captain Rani Rampal's clinical strike helped India beat South Africa 1-0 to seal their place in the semi-finals of the women's hockey event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, on Tuesday.
Asian silver-medallist Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and former junior World champion Nikhat Zareen (51kg) were among eight Indian boxers to make the finals, while five others settled for bronze medals in the 56th Belgrade International Tournament in Serbia.