Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee, on Wednesday. Batra was elected to the prestigious seat during the IOC Session in Lausanne as one of the 10 new members, after garnering 58 votes and four against.
The 59-year-old Batra is one of the few sports administrators to head a national Olympic committee while heading an important international sports federation.
Rain spoiled India's party as they struggled in heavy pitch conditions to lose 0-1 to Olympic champions Argentina and crash out of title race in the Hockey World League (HWL) Final, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Politicians and businessmen are causing harm by heading sports bodies, said Supreme Court on Thursday, which while expressing concern over the standard of hockey falling to an 'abysmal low' in the country.
Eight-time champions India have been clubbed alongside title holders Germany and World No 2 Netherlands in Pool B at the men's hockey competition at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Media reports have cited a lack of suitable facilities as the reason behind Birmingham's decision to axe shooting which has featured at every Games since 1966, with the exception of Edinburgh in 1970.
Roelant Oltmans, the Indian men's hockey team's chief coach, says the new competition format of having quarter-finals in place of direct semi-finals at the upcoming Rio Olympics is not only beneficial for the Men in Blue but all small teams too.
Pakistan Hockey Federation secretary Rana Mujahid is "frustrated" that the national sport is struggling to lure sponsors due to lack of international success in recent years and felt the scene was much better in India.
"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.
Majority of the Indian Olympic Association's top brass was unreachable after the Sports Ministry decided to suspend the national Olympic body for appointing the scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as its life-presidents.
The camp getting underway in Bengaluru on Sunday will conclude on September 18.
India finished third in the 100th anniversary Spanish Hockey Federation international tournament in Terrassa. The team beat reigning FIH Pro League champions Netherlands 2-1 in the third-fourth play-off match on Sunday.
'The feeling that we were Olympic champions only dawned on us when we reached India.'
While players and teams from other participating nations can venture out as and when they wish, individual outings are a big 'No' for the Pakistani players. They are allowed to visit places in groups only and have to mandatorily inform the security a day in advance.
'I believe there will be some treatment (of coronavirus) by September or October this year. We (India) have to plan ourselves thinking that Olympics will be held.'
Hockey India president Narinder Batra on Monday ruled out Pakistani players participation in future editions of Hockey India League saying they will not be considered until they apologise for their 'unacceptable behaviour' during last year's Champions Trophy.
'Indian hockey will lose out on one of its most important nurseries of good hockey talent.'
"Hockey India would like to confirm that all the tickets of India's matches against New Zealand on 23 & 24 May 2020 that were bought by our fans whether online or offline would be refunded," Norman said.
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 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.
The 27-year-old midfielder is first from the country to win the accolade since the awards were introduced in 1999.
The International Hockey Federation has confirmed India's withdrawal from its ambitious Pro League, one of FIH's flagship tournaments offering Olympic qualifying berths to the top four teams in both men's and women's events.
The government is working with the Indian Olympic Association, Indian Hockey Federation and Hockey India to facilitate a settlement that is acceptable to both the warring factions -- IHF and Hockey India, Sports Minister Ajay Maken informed the Lok Sabha.
'The way we are playing now, if we continue to play the same hockey, no one can stop us from standing on the podium in Tokyo.'
Harendra Singh, who was conferred the Dronacharya award in 2012, served as chief coach of the senior India men's hockey team from 2017 to 2018. Before that, he was also in charge of the Indian women's team for some time.
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.
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.
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.
The International Hockey Federation will allow defenders to wear protective face masks as a precaution while defending penalty-corners.
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.
Hockey is struggling to survive in the country because of lack of sponsors owing to the national team's poor show at the international stage.
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.
The cloud of doubt that threatened to disrupt the million-dollar World Series Hockey (WSH) has been cleared after warring factions Hockey India (HI) and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) entered into an interim arrangement on Monday.
The Delhi high court on Monday cleared the way for the players' participation in the World Series Hockey (WSH), a joint initiative of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Nimbus Sport, if the tournament schedule does not clash with international commitments of the national team.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
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.
War ravaged Ukraine's national ice hockey team players have been training in tough conditions, with the practice being interrupted by air sirens.
You don't prep for 2028 but for 2040, or even 2044. Sustained sporting excellence is based on mass support, grassroots development, and funding - and it is this trifecta India needs to work on, systematically, asserts Prem Panicker.
If CAS rules in Vinesh's favour, she will be awarded a joint-silver in the women's 50kg freestyle category.
