India's table-tennis ace Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das booked their tickets to the Rio Olympics after winning their respective final rounds in Stage 2 of the Asia Olympic Qualification tournament in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal feels that year 2015 is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
Leander Paes's dreams of winning a second Olympic medal went up in smoke as he and Rohan Bopanna made an inglorious exit in the opening round of the men's doubles competition, losing in straight sets to the Polish pair of Marcin Matkowski and Lukasz Kubot 4-6 6-7 (6-8) in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. Playing in his record seventh and probably his last Olympics, Paes - a bronze medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Games, saw his campaign get over in only 84 minutes as not for once did the Indian pair look like having forged a winning combination.
A short display of Brazilian culture, including their music and dance, greeted the Indian contingent at the formal Welcome Ceremony in the Games Village for the 31st Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Amputee long jumper Markus Rehm is running out of time to make the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August as the world athletics body has not yet set the criteria for ruling if he can compete with his prosthetic leg. Nicknamed "Blade Jumper", the 2012 Paralympics gold medalist and 2014 German long jump champion hopes to become the second athlete with a carbon fibre running blade to compete in the Olympics after South Africa's Oscar Pistorius in 2012. But a new rule by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) requires amputee competitors to prove their prosthesis gives them no added advantage over other athletes. Competition Rule 144.3(d) bans 'the use of any mechanical aid, unless the athlete can establish on the balance of probabilities that the use of such an aid would not provide him with an overall competitive advantage over an athlete not using such aid.' In order to present his case to the IAAF, Rehm, who beat able-bodied athletes with a jump of 8.10 metres at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix in February, has asked for the criteria for this regulation but still not received a reply.
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!
Bowling, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, surfing and wushu were also included among the final eight, whittled down by a committee from the original 26 sports which applied for inclusion earlier this month.
The United States will bid for the 2024 Olympics, seeking to host the Summer Games for the first time since 1996.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
'At the end of the day, athletes are humans just like the rest of us.'
Winning gold medals will prove easier than winning back fan trust, admitted IAAF chief Sebastian Coe as he prepared to open the world indoor athletics championships on Thursday.
India's trailblazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar on Thursday denied reports that she was returning the BMW car presented to her by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar for her historic performance at the Rio Olympic Games.
Individual Russian track and field athletes assessed as clean will be able to compete for their country in Brazil, the Olympic Games' top official said on Tuesday, diluting a blanket ban the sport's global federation had called for.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Margaret Chan said on Tuesday Brazil is doing a good job tackling the Zika virus and ensuring that the Olympic games it will host in August will be safe for athletes and visitors. Chan said Brazil's government is doing all it can to mobilize Brazilian society in fighting the "formidable" Aedes mosquito that transmits the virus that has spread rapidly through the Americas since last year. "I want to reassure you that the government is working very closely with the international Olympic movement, with the local organizing committee, supported by the WHO, to make sure we have a very good work plan to target the mosquito, and to make sure that people who will come here either as visitors or athletes will get the maximum protection they need," Chan said. "I am confident the government can do it," she told reporters after meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
Shiva Thapa became only the third Indian boxer ever to assure himself of a World Championships medal besides inching closer to an Olympic berth as he advanced to the semifinals with a dominating victory, in Doha, on Saturday.
For India to reach its ambiguous economic growth targets, it needs to be integrated into global trade pacts.
IAAF chief Sebastian Coe has reportedly made the comment because Kenya, which topped the medals table at the 2015 world championships in Beijing, has had more than 40 athletes banned for doping in the past three years
he days of turmoil in Indian boxing are over and the newly-elected federation will be welcomed into international fold this year itself, said International Boxing Association (AIBA) vice-president Edgar Tanner expressing confidence that the country's administrative revival will stand the test of time.
Defiant Brazil manager Dunga brushed off suggestions that early elimination from the Copa America would cost him his job on Sunday, telling reporters that he feared 'only death' and not unemployment.
Rafa Nadal's bid to get back to top form before the French Open suffered a setback when he crashed to a 6-4, 7-6(6) defeat to 13th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini in the third round of the Barcelona Open on Thursday.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's wife Nita Ambani has been nominated for membership in the International Olympic Committee and will become the first Indian woman to be on the apex sporting body if she gets elected at the IOC Session scheduled from August 2 to 4.
A small Australian maker of bug sprays became an unlikely beneficiary of the mosquito-borne Zika virus outbreak this week when the country's Olympic team signed it up as its first official insect repellent sponsor.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
The water quality at the Olympic sailing venue in Rio de Janeiro is a serious issue but will be resolved by the time the Games begin next year, Rio Organising Committee president Carlos Nuzman said on Tuesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
The Indian women's hockey team will return to the Olympics after a long gap of 36 years as it qualified for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, on Saturday, after England made it to the final of the ongoing EuroHockey Championships in London.
Former England captain John Terry will not be brought of international retirement to play at this year's World Cup finals in Brazil, manager Roy Hodgson said on Wednesday
Brazilian police are considering charging a group of US Olympic swimmers with vandalism and giving false testimony, Rio's police chief said on Thursday, accusing them of lying about an incident that has marred South America's first Games.
Brazilian police arrested Europe's top Olympic official in an early morning raid of his beachfront hotel in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, in connection with an investigation into ticket touting at the Olympics. The police said they had discovered evidence linking 71-year-old Irishman Pat Hickey to an international scheme to illegally pass Olympic tickets to touts who were reselling them at well above their original price.
Rafael Nadal had taken anti-inflammatories and undergone intensive physiotherapy to alleviate a lower back problem and still planned to compete in Buenos Aires next month, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
Lalita Babar qualified for the women's 3000m steeplechase final after finishing fourth in the qualifying Heat 2 with a national record time, while compatriot Sudha Singh was eliminated in the Olympic Games on Saturday.
The Indian women's hockey team yet again produced a lacklustre performance as they were thrashed 3-0 by the United States to suffer their third successive loss in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday.
Usain Bolt has somewhat skewed the picture by making it look so easy but when it comes to retaining an Olympic athletics title, history shows that it is an extraordinarily difficult thing to achieve.
Rugby powerhouse New Zealand were knocked out of the inaugural Olympic sevens tournament in the quarter-finals on Wednesday after a 12-7 loss to top seeds Fiji.
When Congolese refugee Popole Misenga stepped out to face the defending world champion in Wednesday's under 90-kilogram Judo competition he figured he'd be on the floor immediately.
A US-raised Saudi Arabian princess freshly appointed to increase female participation in sport plans to help licence gyms and modify outdoor spaces for women in the ultra-conservative Gulf Kingdom, she said in an interview on Monday.
Indian shooters Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Kynan Chenai were placed at the 17th and 19th spots after the first day of the Men's Trap qualification event at Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
All 11 Russian boxers who qualified for the Rio Olympics have been given the all clear to compete at the Games, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) said on Thursday.
Zico has been promised the backing of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) for his bid to run for the FIFA presidency if he can show he has the support of four other federations.
