India's Test cricket captain Virat Kohli has been recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the nation's biggest sporting honour, by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Kidambi Srikanth, the centre of attention in the Rio Olympics on Wednesday, can take heart from Hyderabad city mate P V Sindhu for his men's singles quarter-final clash against Chinese badminton icon Lin Dan.
The Indian 4x400m women's relay team, led by Jauna Murmu, Ashwini Akkunji, Anilda Thomas and MR Poovamma, clocked 3.31.39sec to win the gold medal at the PTS Athletics Meeting in Samorin, Slovakia. Only 16 countries are eligible to compete in the relay events of track and field at the Rio Olympics, and as a result of their performance in Slovakia last night, India has improved its 4x400m women quartet's world ranking to 15th position which is a step towards that goal. As per the IAAF regulations, the 2016 OG qualification standards has to be attained between the period, January 1, 2016 to July 11, 2016. The Samorin performance is the Indian relay quartet's second fastest timing and improves its average from two-fastest races to 3:30.24sec.
The Indian women 4x400m relay quartet of Jauna Murmu, Ashwini Akkunji, Anilda Thomas and M R Poovamma enhanced its Rio Olympic Games qualification chances by winning a gold medal at the PTS athletics Grand Prix with an impressive timing of 3:31.39.
National record holder Sudha Singh of Railways bettered her own meet mark while winning gold in the women's 3000m steeplechase on the third and penultimate day of the 53rd National Open Athletics Championships in Ranchi on Monday.
Vikas Gowda gave its first athletics gold medal of the 20th Commonwealth Games by winning the men's discuss throw on Thursday.
Double Asian Games gold-medallist Ashwini Akkunji was on Saturday named in the Indian women's 4x400m relay squad for next month's World Championships in Moscow just days after completing a two-year ban for a dope offence.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) put in place 14 high-level expert committees, which have been mandated to identify the country's medal prospects and provide them with specialised training in the run up to the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games to be held later this year.
India clinched a gold medal in women's 4x 400m relay in a sensational race to finish sixth overall as the curtains were drawn on the 20th Asian Athletics Championships in Pune on Sunday.
Amidst controversies, the National Sports Awards were presented by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday.
Quartermiler Ashwini Akkunji, who early this month completed her two-year ban period for a doping offence, is contemplating to run in the women's 4x400m relay trials on July 20 for a place in the Indian quartet for next month's World Athletics Championships in Moscow.
Tamil Nadu's S Dhanalakshmi, who had stunned Dutee Chand in the 100 metres final, beat Hima Das, another star athlete, in the 200 metres semi-final heats, clocking a new meet record time of 23.26 seconds, in the Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships, in Patiala, on Thursday.
Lalita Babar feels she could have bettered her timing after the long distance Indian runner capped her fairy-tale journey in the Rio Olympics with a top-10 finish in the 3000m steeplechase final on Monday. "I'm satisfied with the finish but not with the timing. Overall, I'm happy with a top-10 finish but could have bettered my timing. The target was to go below nine minutes 15 seconds," Lalita said after her event.
Sakshi Malik ended India's frustrating medal drought with a dramatic bronze-winning effort on Day 12 of the Rio Olympic Games on Wednesday.
Triple jumper Renjith Maheswary finished sixth in the heats and the women's 4x400m relay team last as India's campaign in the World Athletics Championships ended in Moscow on Friday.
Sania Mirza's was officially named for the coveted Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Friday. The Hyderabadi lady is only the second tennis player to be nominated for the country's highest sport honour.
World University Games silver medallist shot putter Inderjeet Singh achieved the qualification mark for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 with a throw of 20.65m on the second day of the 19th Federation Cup at Mangala Stadium, in Mangalore, on Saturday.
P V Sindhu became the country's first-ever woman silver medal winner in the Olympic Games after coming second best against world champion Carolina Marin of Spain in a pulsating clash for the gold in the badminton singles on Day 14 of competition.
For a discipline that has given Indian athletes only the Olympian's tag, the country's track and field participants will begin their campaign in the Rio Olympics on Thursday, with little hope to break the 116-year-old medal jinx.
Indian sports had a lot to celebrate despite a decrease in the medal count at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
The absence of top stars took some sheen away but India's record-breaking medal haul and a maiden top-of-the-table finish made the just-concluded 22nd Asian Athletics Championship here a memorable one.
An overview of India's underwhelming performance in athletics
The haul of 64 medals at the Commonwealth Games, in July-August, which included 15 gold, should act as the ideal springboard for the Indian contingent to better its medal tally at Guangzhou, China, four years ago.
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