After a year's delay due to COVID-19, the 19th Asian Games officially opens in Hangzhou on Saturday with hosts China eager to lift a country mired in economic gloom.
India put up a fighting performance but could not avert a defeat, going down 0-1 to Australia in the last round-robin league match of the first phase of a four-nation women's hockey tournament in Auckland on Sunday.
The Tokyo Games are scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8.
India blanked arch-rivals Pakistan 4-0 to open its campaign on a rousing note in the final edition of the Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
Germany won the four-nation hockey tournament in Dusseldorf on goal difference after a 3-3 draw.
Harmanpreet Singh won the men's Player of the Year award and Gurjit Kaur was recognised as the best player in the women's section. Veteran P R Sreejesh and Savita Punia won the best goalkeeper awards in the men's and women's section, while young striker Sharmila Devi (women) and Vivek Sagar Prasad (men) were adjudged best rising stars.
India registered a comfortable 4-0 win in their last league match of the four-nation hockey tournament.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
The singer got engaged to longtime girlfriend Cherry Seaborn this weekend.
Defender Gurinder Singh, midfielders Sumit and Manpreet who were part of the Junior World Cup-winning squad are slated to make their debut at the tournament.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
India suffered an embarrassing 0-7 drubbing at the hands of defending champions Australia to settle for a silver medal
India hockey coach Roeland Oltmans is delighted at his team's outstanding performance at the Champions Trophy and said it will boost their confidence to produce a better show at the Rio Olympic Games.
'If we want to ensure this isn't a once-in-four-decade phenomenon, then we have to produce 1,800 players all the time, create infrastructure, so that we are constantly challenging at the top of the ladder.'
'No opponent takes us lightly anymore and they talk about us as a team that does well in knockouts' 'We not only focus on improving individually but also encourage each other and tell ourselves that we need to perform as a unit to leave a mark at the Olympics this time'
The view is that the attention on the national team is fleeting, incidental and dependent on the results they produce.
The BCCI has retired the No 10 jersey in Tendulkar's honour. But in football, number 10 signifies the legend. After Pele and Diego Maradona, the two great strikers of the ball, Lionel Messi has made the number priceless, notes Veer Arjun Singh.
Former India captain Dhanraj Pillay has expressed a desire to be the coach of the national hockey team. He claims that if given a free hand he can deliver results within a year.
Neeraj Chopra's rise to stardom from a Haryana village has been nothing short of spectacular.
Uttar Pradesh Wizards held last year's runners-up Delhi Waveriders 1-1 in the third drawn encounter of the second edition of Hero Hockey India League at the floodlit Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.
Mired in controversies since its very inception, the multi-crore World Series Hockey was, on Monday, postponed until after the Olympic Qualifiers to be held, in New Delhi, in February next year.
Olympic officials have showered praise on South Korea's Winter Games organisers for staging a successful event against the odds, but they have also left it with a warning: don't leave any white elephants behind.
Fewer than half of Americans plan to go to sports events, concerts, movies and amusement parks when they reopen to the public until there is a proven coronavirus vaccine. That includes those who have attended such events in the past, an ominous sign for the sports and entertainment industries hoping to return to the spotlight after being shut down by the pandemic.
In hockey, the women's team continued its inspiring run with a silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
A week ago, cricket was considered one of the safest games in the world, a sport that anyone can play without any real fear for their safety.
India have won eight Olympic gold medals in the past, but their last top finish came way back in 1980 Moscow Games.
World Cup bronze medallists Argentina stunned Olympic champions Germany 3-0 in their concluding Pool B match to end their league engagements in the Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament, in Bhubaneswar, on a high note.
Kyrgios did not face a single break point and hit 18 aces, including two to close out the final.
India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 3-2 in an intense match of the Asian Champions Trophy on Sunday.
Soon after the new dates were announced, IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta said, "Indian Olympic Association along with the National Sports Federations welcome and support the new dates for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will be held from 23 July to 8 August, 2021."
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand started his campaign at the Bilbao Final Masters with a crushing win over former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in Bilbao, Spain.
And no, the commercial sporting leagues didn't cause the drought, says Shekhar Gupta.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Goalkeeper P R Sreejesh could feature in his first competitive event in eight months after being named in India's 20-member squad for a four-nation tournament in New Zealand. India will compete with Belgium, Japan and hosts New Zealand at Tauranga and Hamilton in the tournament, beginning January 17.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Bengaluru centre back Gursimrat Singh Gill choreographs and stars in a bhangra video.
With professional soccer at a virtual standstill around the globe, fans in need of their weekly fix are turning to the Belarusian Premier League to fill the void as it carries on with matches despite the coronavirus outbreak.
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