A cash bonanza awaits Indian boxers if they notch up medals at the London Olympics.
It was a perfect start to the proceedings for India at the Asian Olympic Boxing Qualifiers with the experienced M Suranjoy Singh (52kg) and young gun Sumit Sangwan (81kg) notching up contrasting wins in their opening bouts in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday.
Competing for the first time in what has been mostly an all-European event, a four-member Indian boxing team gave a good account of itself, clinching two silver and a bronze medal at the 32nd International Tammer Invitational Tournament in Tampere, Finland.
Debutants Gujarat Titans capped a fairytale season by beating inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets to win the IPL title in their first season in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg) stormed into the semi-finals, while Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) entered the quarters to be just one win away from clinching Olympic berths at the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament in Baku on Tuesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Jats demanding quota in government jobs occupied 14 railway tracks in Haryana on Wednesday as part of their agitation badly disrupting train services in the region.
The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League will commence, on Saturday, April 7 and will end on 27th May
The Haryana Janhit Congress, founded by former chief minister Bhajan Lal, on Wednesday moved the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking the disqualification of five Members of Legislative Assembly who were elected on party tickets but subsequently joined the ruling Congress.HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi filed a writ petition seeking the disqualification of the MLAs under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.Justice Kohli also issued a notice to the Election Commission.
Mumbai bowlers restricted Delhi to 211/7 and then cantered to the target in 31.5 overs, as Prithvi Shaw tore into the Delhi attack.
Vikas Krishan (75kg) became the third Indian boxer to enter the quarter-finals of the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Baku and be just one win away from booking a berth in the Rio Games this August.
Here's how the heavyweights are faring.
Shiva Thapa and Vikas Krishan will be among India's best bets to better both the colour and number of medals at the 19th World Boxing Championships, starting in Hamburg on Friday.
Third seed Satish Kumar (+91kg) and sixth seed Manoj Kumar (69kg) were among the three Indian boxers who qualified for the World Championships after winning their respective box-offs at the Asian Championships in Tashkent, on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
The family members of Garud Commando Gursewak Singh were in a state of shock on receiving the news about his martyrdom in Pathankot terror attack even as his father expressed pride that he laid down his life for the country.
A roundup of the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day matches played on Saturday.
The secret to Virat Kohli's phenomenal success, says Dhruv Munjal, lies in his fitness and a tenacious urge to be the best.
An inspirational catch at first slip by Anushtup Majumdar off Ranadeb Bose's bowling enabled Bengal earn three points against Delhi by virtue of 14-run first innings lead in a Group A Super League match of the Ranji Trophy at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in New Delhi on Thursday.
'In modern cricket, many batsmen play innovative strokes which I think are not enough to score runs in T20 format.'
A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
The decision was taken at a meeting of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions protesting at various Delhi border points against three farm laws.
Vikas Krishnan (60kg) and Naveen Kumar (81kg) fetched gold medals, while three others settled for silver as the Indian boxing team finished runners-up at the Asian Youth Boxing Championships in Tehran, Iran.
The selection process will begin after acceptance of Roy's resignation.
On a mixed day for Indian boxers, five of the nine in action advanced to the finals of the Asian Youth Championships in Tehran, Iran.
An infiltration bid was foiled by the Border Security Force troops, who killed two intruders near Indo-Pak border fencing at Mangral, located 35 km from Jammu, after an exchange of fire for over an hour.
A round-up of Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
Summary of all Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday
Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath was on Monday named captain of the Indian team for the Emerging Players' tournament in Australia. Virat Kohli will be his deputy.
Mumbai, who scored 488 in the first innings, riding on captain Aditya Tare's 154, enforced the follow-on and the match was called off with Tamil Nadu 48 for one in 22 overs at the tea break.
Besides Kohli, who led India to a historic Test series triumph in Sri Lanka recently, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra were also named among the probables.
The mountain of runs that he has plundered so far in first-class cricket has ensured that the focus will be firmly on Delhi youngster Rishabh Pant as India 'A' take on the visiting England XI, in the second and final warm-up match in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir is all set to be released by the Indian team management as the Delhi and District Cricket Association's selection committee has named him in the 16-member Delhi squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan.
Shiva, a World Championships bronze-medallist and a two-time medallist at the Asian meet, edged past Kyrgyzstan's Omurbek Malabekov in a split verdict to make the last-eight stage, where he will face Chinese Taipei's Chu-En Lai in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Cheteshwar Pujara's brilliant century (148) rescued Saurashtra, as the the Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match against Delhi ended in a tame draw in Delhi on Sunday. Delhi shares the top slot in Group A with Mumbai on eight points from two matches.
This was Mumbai's second successive win after they had beaten Delhi in the lung-opener.
Anustup Mazumdar's impressive knock of 109 helped East Zone beat North Zone by 56 runs in the limited overs match of the Deodhar Trophy in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
Olympian Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Vikash Malik (60kg) fought through intense bouts to enter the pre-quarterfinals but Mandeep Jangra (69kg) bowed out after a stiff second-round contest on a mixed day for India in the World Boxing Championships in Almaty on Sunday.
Two players, one from Delhi and the other from Uttar Pradesh, who were part of the India under-19 team on tour in South Africa and not quite certain to play the Ranji Trophy final, stole the limelight on the opening day of the final.
Opener Tanmay Srivastav scored 105 as Uttar Pradesh posted 292 for 7 on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy final against Delhi.