Two unassuming young women saved India the humiliation of returning empty-handed from the Olympics for the first time since Barcelona in 1992 with awe-inspiring performances at Rio.
Olympic-bound wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Anshu Malik won their maiden Asian Championship titles after comfortable triumphs in their respective summit clashes in Almaty on Friday.
Prominent wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, have been holding protests since April 23 accusing Singh of sexual exploitation.
A land-owning class, the Jats are a powerful community and account for 28 per cent of Haryana's population. The time, they believe, has now come for them to take revenge.
The leader from Rajasthan arrived at the Jantar Mantar in the morning to extend his support to the agitating wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat.
Aiming to improve its standing as a sporting nation globally, India is trying to adopt the models followed by Australia and United Kingdom.
Rio Paralympcs silver medallist remains upset over being ignored for Khel Ratna this year and feels exception should have been made by the awards committee, like it had done in 2016.
Top Indian grapplers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Satyawart Kaidyan and Jitender Kinha all tied black bands on their forehead.
Wrestlers Ravinder Khatri and Babita Kumari have secured spots at the upcoming Rio Olympics after their rivals failed a dope test, taking the total number of quota places from India to eight. Khatri was awarded the berth in the Greco-Roman 85 kg after Kenzheev Zhanarbek of Kyrgystan tested positive at the Asian Olympic qualifier. Babita gets a shot at competing in Rio with Mongolian wrestler Sumiya Erdenechimeg failing the dope test in 53 kg freestyle, also at the Asian qualifier. Last week, Vinesh Phogat clinched a gold as she and Sakshi Malik secured Rio berths in 48 and 58kg respectively at the second World Olympic Qualifying tournament in a historic feat of two Indian women wrestlers qualifying for Olympics for the first time.
WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh urged that the national championships and camps should be conducted as all activities have come to a standstill.
The protesting wrestlers on Sunday accused the media of supporting Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh more than the players.
Several women wrestlers wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the IOA and the ad-hoc panel running the WFI, requesting "fair trials" for Asian Games.
The former Haryana chief minister also reiterated his demand for an impartial inquiry into the allegations levelled against the head of the Wrestling Federation of India.
The IOA ad-hoc committee on Wednesday decided to hold much-awaited Asian Games wrestling trials on July 22-23.
India's top grapplers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik are reportedly making a last-ditch effort to ensure Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's close aide, Sanjay Singh, does not become the Wrestling Federation of India chief.
India's champion athletes returned to a rousing reception when they landed home on Tuesday after their spectacular showing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said they planned to meet President Droupadi Murmu and will hold another mahapanchayat in Haryana's Kurukshetra on Friday to discuss the next steps in the agitation.
To lend his support, Former Indian footballer Mehtab joined Mamata Banerjee's march for the protesting wrestler's.
The Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh blamed the organisers for the country's dismal show at the World Championships, saying the lack of facilities in Paris resulted in wrestlers losing out on 15 days of training ahead of the mega-event.
Virender Sehwag on Tuesday evaded questions on the controversial selection of the Indian team's head coach after being pipped by Ravi Shastri for the high-profile job.
"Take it (medals) all away. We have been humiliated so much. We are fighting for our respect but we are being crushing under their feet. Do all men have the right to abuse women?"
Games are well-captured and here we document all the action from Day 10, in pictures...
Vinesh claimed that twice in the past sexual harassment cases were reported during the national camp but the WFI succeeded in sweeping the matter under the carpet.
India women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj shared an inspiring thought on Twitter, writing: "Here's to strong women! May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them. #HappyWomensDay2019."
India's total medal count stood at 252 (132 gold, 79 silver, 41 bronze), leaving behind hosts Nepal and Sri Lanka behind. Nepal has won 165 medals (45 gold, 44 silver, 76 bronze) while Sri Lanka have collected 197 medals (36 gold, 68 silver, 93 bronze).
Here's a recap of the events from the past 48 hours.
British journalist and television show host was heavily criticised on social media after he made fun of India's performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics. While India's medal winners, shuttler PV Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik were felicitated, Morgan took to Twitter to call India's celebrations 'embarrassing' and 'exaggerated'.
They shut up the naysers with sheer success.
Sachin Tendulkar will travel to the Rio Olympics after being invited by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach along with other eminent global personalities.
Dipa Karmakar says the roads in Agartala are too narrow for a BMW and also the city does not have a single BMW showroom or service centre.
Defending champion Bajrang Punia settled for a bronze in men's 65kg freestyle as Indian grapplers bagged two medals on the penultimate day of the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships
Elite wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, who are staging a sit-in protest at Jantar, will not be stopped from competing in the trials for this year's Asian Games.
A large number of people from different walks of life, including farmers from neighbouring states of Delhi and DU students, reached Jantar Mantar on Thursday and expressed solidarity with the wrestlers protesting there demanding the arrest of WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The denial of visa to Pakistani shooters had led to the International Olympic Committee suspending discussions with India for hosting future global events.
'We should not underestimate the power of Hindutva.'
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan was the centre of attraction as stars descended at the wedding ceremony of Olympian wrestlers Geeta Phogat and fellow wrestler Pawan Kumar, on Sunday.
Wrestler Divya Kakran defends WFI chief Brij Bhushan
The Sports Ministry on Saturday suspended Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) assistant secretary Vinod Tomar, a fallout of the grapplers' allegations of sexual harassment and corruption against the sports body's chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
While skill is not an issue with Vinesh, holding off strong candidates for six minutes is a big challenge, she herself had admitted recently.
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