USA withdrew from Russian-led International Boxing Association and is set to join the breakaway federation.
Elavenil Valarivan and Anish Bhanwala, two of India's finest young shooters, were on Friday named in a 34-member core group for the Tokyo Olympics. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) released the list of shooters who will be training separately for the quadrennial sporting extravaganza, scheduled to be held next summer after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the Games back by a year.
On Sunday the Ukrainian Tennis Federation urged the sport's governing body the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to immediately expel Russia and Belarus from the organisation and ban Russia from team and individual tournaments. Also, athletes from Ukraine and other nations have called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to suspend Russia and Belarus and ban their athletes from events immediately.
A reputed national coach has been accused of tampering with rifles of some shooters by their parents, a charge that has been vehemently denied by the national federation, which has urged the aggrieved individuals to file a complaint.
A Sports Ministry source said that 'the minister (Kiren Rijiju) is set to start an inquiry.'
Newly-appointed Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh on Saturday lashed out at the protesting grapplers for "engaging in politics" and asserted that he is not a dummy candidate of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's top brass is not overtly perturbed by Law Commission's recommendation of bringing the richest sporting body of the country under the Right To Information (RTI) ambit.
The upcoming combined shooting World Cup in New Delhi was on Friday postponed, while an Olympic test event in Tokyo stood cancelled due to the global novel Coronavirus outbreak. The decision comes after the government imposed several restrictions on the entry of travellers from affected countries such as China, Italy, South Korea, Japan and Iran, in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
In the backdrop of the developments surrounding cricket in India, sixteen-time world champion in cuesports Pankaj Advani feels that any sports code would only yield results if athletes and measures to support them are given primacy. "The world's sports policy needs to be centred on the athletes and their requirements. Only then will it be successful," he said on the sidelines of the 3rd Kolkata Open National Invitation Snooker Championship 2017 organised by the West Bengal Billiards Association which kicked off today at the Bengal Rowing Club.
Announces tentative calendar; defers elections
Obed Hrangchal, a 28-year-old Indian Jew from Mizoram who immigrated to Israel in 2020, has won the Jewish state's kickboxing championship and is likely to represent the country in international competitions.
After bringing home just two medals from the Rio Olympics, India needs to be realistic in its preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Games and should narrow its focus to a handful of sports, says former All England badminton champion Prakash Padukone. P.V. Sindhu's silver medal in the badminton women's singles and a bronze from wrestler Sakshi Malik at the Rio Games was considered a sorry return for a nation of 1.3 billion people. India have won a total of 28 medals since first competing at the Olympics in 1900 but a government think tank has come up with a strategy it hopes will help the country to 50 medals in 2024, including prioritising 10 sports.
'Indian hockey will lose out on one of its most important nurseries of good hockey talent.'
The Indian Olympic Association presented cash rewards worth Rs 20 lakh, 10 lakh, and 7.5 lakh to the gold, silver and bronze medallists respectively.
Furious with the current logjam in the suspended Indian Boxing Federation, the International Boxing Association has terminated the IBF from its fold stating that the current set of office-bearers are "damaging the image, reputation and interest" of the sport.
Stung by International Olympic Committee's directive to bar charge-sheeted persons from contesting elections, the Indian Olympic Association on Friday wrote to its parent body, saying that it cannot implement the provisions as it has to follow the law of the land.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Earlier on Friday, the IOC voiced serious concerns over the amateur boxing world body IBA's ban of the Ukraine National Federation, saying it would conduct a full review at its next meeting in December.
Former Sports Minister Ajay Maken termed IOA's decision 'sad and painful', and urged the ministry to take act against the move.
The Brij Bhushan camp, who claim to have the support of 22 of the 25 state units, expressed 'confidence' of winning all 15 posts during the WFI elections on August 12.
Olympic Association is yet to get an official confirmation about shooting being scrapped from the programme of 2022 Commonwealth Games but said it will ask the organisers to reconsider its decision.
Here are some reactions from the world of sport on of widespread state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
However, with the Munich World Cup being cancelled, sources close to the NRAI said the sport's apex body in India is also under pressure to follow suit, considering the uncertainty arising out of the unprecedented health crisis.
The administrators are busy thrashing out resumption plans but with the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, India's sportsperson are pleading for caution as discussion rages on whether competitions can resume by August. Top stars from various disciplines want the waiting period to continue, while others pointed out at the loss it would cause in terms of fitness and readiness.
The Games' Sport-Specific Regulations (SSR) has been developed jointly by IOC and the IFs to determine the impact of a confirmed positive COVID-19 case and its management in competition formats and structures.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee praised the government for the wrestling and boxing facilities at the Sports Authority of India's Sonepat Center but pointed out that "excellence needs to be replicated for other sports disciplines".
Russia will not boycott the Rio Olympics after being suspended from the International Association of Athletics Federations over a doping scandal, RIA news agency cited Russian Olympic Committee head Alexander Zhukov as saying on Monday.
India sprinter Dutee Chand has tested positive for prohibited anabolic steroids during an out-of-competition testing and has been provisionally suspended.
Vinesh, a world championship medallist and Olympian, also claimed that several coaches at the national camp in Lucknow have also exploited women wrestlers, adding that there are a few women at the camp who approach wresters at the behest of the WFI President.
Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt on Thursday termed the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India by the international body as "very distressing".
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".
From her battle against the IAAF gender testing rules to coming out as a lesbian in what is still a highly conservative country, Chand is used to making headlines but she hopes over the next year they will mainly be about her sporting prowess.
Croatian wunderkind Borna Coric offered emphatic proof of his potential when he crushed Rafael Nadal in the Swiss Indoor tournament on Friday before local hero Roger Federer cruised into the last four.
Demand disbanding of WFI
The coveted Olympic medal eluded him yet again, but, far from being bogged down, boxer Vikas Krishan says he is now aiming to become the first Indian to clinch two medals at the World Championships irrespective of whether a national federation takes shape or not.
Shooting's international federation (ISSF) has also confirmed complete support to India for hosting the proposed Commonwealth championships.
Chopra expressed his disappointment a day after Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha came down heavily on the wrestlers for hitting the streets to resume their protests instead of approaching its athletes' commission to lodge their complaints against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) on Wednesday washed its hands off the incident of the organisers of a state-level sub-junior girls' tournament allegedly serving food from a toilet in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, saying the national body was not in any way involved in the staging of the event.
It was an extraordinary turnaround for an Olympics that was expected to be held without major issues by a country known for public safety and economic stability. It also revealed a fatal miscalculation by Japanese and IOC officials of public sentiment at a time of heightened fears over the coronavirus.
The Delhi Police have registered an FIR against organisers of the wrestlers' protest and their supporters for violating law and order in connection with the scuffle that broke out at Jantar Mantar on Sunday.