Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com captures all the action at the Indian Sports Honours 2023 event in Mumbai on Thursday night.
Boxer-cum-politician Vijender Singh has said he has no qualms about admitting that he has paid an emotional price for the decision to make a political switch from the Congress to the BJP, but insisted that he had his reasons to do so.
Amidst controversies, the National Sports Awards were presented by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday.
Decorated para-athlete and India's lone woman Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik has been elected as president of Paralympic Committee of India though the results of the elections are subject to a pending case in the Delhi High Court. The 49-year-old Deepa, who won a silver in shot put F-53 event in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, was elected unopposed as president in the PCI polls held in Bengaluru on Friday.
'Till the time my body allows, I will continue to do so, and by God's grace after that as well'
The Delhi High Court Monday sought the Centre's stand on a petition by Manika Batra, who was left out of the Indian contingent for the upcoming Asian Table Tennis Championships, assailing Table Tennis Federation of India's (TTFI) mandate of compulsory attendance at the National Coaching Camp in order to be selected.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.
India's table tennis star Manika Batra alleged that national coach Soumyadeep Roy asked her to throw a match during the Olympic qualifiers in March and that was the main reason she refused his help during the Tokyo Games.
Former recipients of the Arjuna award on Tuesday lamented that its dignity has been lowered and the government is now 'throwing' the honour away.
Mountaineer Bachendri Pal was, on Friday, conferred with the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, while Gautam Gambhir, BajranG Punia and Sunil Chhetri, among others, received the Padma Shri.
Not content with bringing home sporting laurels, one of India's most accomplished shooters Jitu Rai has taken to serving the nation as a newly-promoted Subedar Major in the Indian Army in Manipur.
Sharad Kumar smashes continental record for gold in men's high jump
It's been seven years since a chess player got the Arjuna award and the iconic Viswanathan Anand is hoping that India's triumphant campaign at the online Chess Olympiad will change this when the national sporting honours are announced next year.
An Olympic medal finally around her neck, star Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu on Saturday said she can finally take a break at home without worrying about training after managing just five trips to her place in Manipur in the last five years.
Justice Rekha Palli, who was hearing Batra's petition alleging that the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) was carrying out its selection processes in a non-transparent manner and targeting certain individuals such as herself, said that based on the committee's report, she would consider the issue of appointing an administrator to run the national sports body.
Over the last few years, National Sports Awards have been in the news for creating controversies, but Sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said there is no need to review the selection policy for them.
The National Rifle Association of India on Sunday welcomed the appointment of Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore as sports minister, saying the Olympics silver medallist would "add immense value to the development and growth of sports".
Hundreds of junior wrestlers assembled at Jantar Mantar for a symbolic three-hour protest against Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat.
The high court had on September 23 stayed the TTFI's rule mandating compulsory attendance at the National Coaching Camp for selection in international events and had asked the Centre to conduct an inquiry into Batra's complaint against the sports body. On Friday, the court was informed by the Centre's counsel Apoorv Kurup that the enquiry report was ready and the judge asked them to file it in a sealed cover before it.
'It is Bajrang Punia's personal decision to return the Padma Shri. The WFI polls were held in fair and democratic manner. We will still try to persuade Bajrang to reverse his decision to return Padma Shri.'
It has been reported that Kataria, nominated by the selection panel for his contribution in kabaddi, is a joint secretary of the Wushu Association of India and the kabaddi players and coaches have expressed surprise over his selection.
Women dominated this year's Padma awards for sports with tennis star Sania Mirza and ace shuttler Saina Nehwal getting the nod for the Padma Bhushan, while archer Deepika Kumari was chosen for the Padma Shri in New Delhi, on Monday.
Tennis star Leander Paes and badminton player-turned-coach Pullela Gopichand were selected for the prestigious Padma Bhushan awards while cricketer Yuvraj Singh was among the seven sportspersons chosen for this year's Padma Shri award.
Dipa Karmakar has been struggling with injuries ever since she underwent a surgery to treat an ACL injury in 2017.
Viswanathan Anand says one factor that has contributed immensely to this has been his habit of 'forgetting' achievements.
MS Dhoni all set for new innings.
Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, ace cueist Pankaj Advani believes politics should not be mixed with games and Indo-Pak sporting ties should go on.
'Sport is cruel, as is life, which is why winning becomes sweet.'
At 14 she represented India for the first time and scored a scintillating goal. Since then there has been no looking back for this striker with electric speed and agility.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.