Mary Kom's winning start and Manika Batra's brilliant come-from-behind victory were the only bright spots in an otherwise gloomy day for India at Tokyo, observes Raj Kishore Mishra.
The national championship silver and junior world championship bronze-medallist, however, could not replicate her qualification form in the final, only managing a sixth-place finish with a score of 116.
With the year sprinting to a close, we bring you, in pictures, some of the best action from the sports world.
'In AAP, those who are in charge of a particular state provide information to Arvind Kejriwal. 'In the BJP, several organisations convey what is happening on the ground to the top leadership.' 'There are so many channels through which issues are being understood.'
Tennis star Novak Djokovic's bid to win a record-breaking 21 men's Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open ended on Sunday with a court decision to uphold the government's cancellation of his visa.
Andy Murray may have been the forgotten man at the US Open but gave the crowd and Stefanos Tsitsipas a match to remember, forcing the third seed to grind out a 2-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win on Monday and avoid the opening round shocker.
Patrik Schick scored his fourth goal of the tournament as the Czech Republic stunned 10-man Netherlands
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
Venus Williams accused Wimbledon officials of discriminating against its women champions and wants "equality" when it comes to scheduling matches on its two biggest showcourts.
Stand-in White Ferns captain Amy Satterthwaite was named the women's ODI Player of the Year, after taking some time off to have a baby and returning to the fold to score 304 runs at 38, including a top score of 119 not-out against England in Dunedin.
The events on Day 1 and Day 2 of the Games were well captured and here we document all the action from Day 3, in pictures...
India sign off Paralympics with an unparalleled 19 medals: 5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze.
As the curtains come down at the Tokyo Olympics, here's a glance at the medallists and those who came within touching distance of glory.
Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh took some time off from their busy schedule to catch the action at the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament, in Melbourne, on Thursday.
World number one Novak Djokovic had enough on his plate already on Wednesday without marauding Russian Daniil Medvedev pummelling him to a shock 6-3, 6-3 defeat at the ATP Finals.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Six-time World champion M C Mary Kom's pursuit of a second Olympic medal ended in the pre-quarter-finals of the Tokyo Games after she went down to Colombia's Ingrit Valencia, the 2016 edition's bronze-medallist, in a fiercely-fought 51kg showdown on Thursday.
All the gold medallists from Saturday's action at the Tokyo Olympics.
Having lost the third ODI to Sri Lanka, Shikhar Dhawan's men will be looking to go one better against Sri Lanka with a T20 team that is ahead in almost all departments.
Images from the action on Day 2 at the Australian Open.
Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the five best matches of the final round.
The events on Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5 of the Games were well captured and here we document all the action from Day 6, in pictures...
Images from Tuesday's action at the Australian Open.
Stefanos Tsitsipas confirmed his meteoric rise into the highest echelon of men's tennis by battling back to beat Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-7(6) 6-2 7-6(4) in a compelling title duel at the ATP Finals on Sunday.
Spain are the first nation to join exempted France, Australia, Czech Republic and hosts Hungary in the revamped finals taking place in April.
Tennis: Felix Auger-Aliassime toppled in Morocco
Defending champion and world number one Novak Djokovic won his third-straight Australian Open crown, his ninth in total.
A round-up of Saturday's action in Serie A, La Liga and Bundesliga.
Japan's Kei Nishikori made a stunning start to what will surely be the first of many appearances at the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over home favourite Andy Murray on Sunday.
Six times a men's singles champion Down Under, the Serbian will be joined in making a return at MelbournePark by 2008 women's champion Maria Sharapova, who missed last year's tournament because of a doping ban.
Balbir Sr's three Olympic gold medals came in London (1948), Helsinki (1952) as vice-captain, and Melbourne (1956) as captain.
The aftermath of Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan has led to an argument that there was no religion as Hinduism in Chola times.
Instead, there was only Saivism, Vaishnavism, etc, and that the Cholas were Saivites, and hence not Hindus, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rediff.com presents the attire of the Indian Contingent for the Opening Ceremony at the Rio Olympics 2016.
Organisers played a wrong national anthem for Moldova ahead of their tie against Belgium in Sydney. Denis Shapovalov won the battle of the next generation against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to help Canada to an emphatic 3-0 victory in the inaugural ATP Cup men's team event in Brisbane on Friday.
Images from Wednesday's action in the Champions League.
Rafael Nadal's hopes of winning the year-ending ATP Finals for the first time live on after the Spaniard beat defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Thursday.
Simona Halep finds the prospect of 14 days of quarantine ahead of the Australian Open daunting
Veteran Indian tennis star Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek have been forced to exit the Australian Open after losing their men's doubles quarterfinals on Wednesday at Melbourne Park.
Play at the Australian Open continued amid the lockdown, but fans were banned through Wednesday. Thousands were forced to leave mid-matches before midnight on Friday.
French gymnast Samir Ait Said discovered the perils of pursuing his Olympic dreams when he suffered a broken leg that was left dangling from below his knee following a crash landing from the vault during men's qualifying at the Rio Games 2016, in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.
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