Divya Kakran shrugged off a crushing quarter-final defeat to bag the bronze, ensuring that medals continued to come from the wrestling arena even as three other Indians crashed out early at the Asian Games.
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.
Top Indian grapplers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Satyawart Kaidyan and Jitender Kinha all tied black bands on their forehead.
Pitted against heavyweights in their respective first round, both Sonam and Anshu cared little for reputations, fighting fearlessly.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will go ahead with the trials in the men's freestyle 74kg category despite a postponement request from the injured Sushil Kumar. Sushil, who has been struggling to revive his career, has pulled out of Friday's trials citing a hand injury and had requested trials in his category to be postponed.
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 Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday clinched a stunning hat-trick win in Haryana overcoming anti-incumbency and dashing Congress' hopes of a comeback while the National Conference-Congress combine pulled off a spectacular victory in maiden elections in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
However, the WFI decided to give Ritu, who competes in the 50kg category, a chance to compete in the 53kg since she had missed out on the Asian Games trials due to a flight issue.
Virat Kohli? M C Mary Kom? Neeraj Chopra?
In the 57kg competition, much was expected from talented Anshu Malik but the 2021 world championship silver medallist struggled to score against Nanjo, the reigning U23 world champion.
Anshu Malik created history on Wednesday, becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the World Championships final. She outclassed junior European champion Solomiia Vynnyk, even as Sarita Mor lost her semi-final after shocking World champion Linda Morais of Canada earlier in the day.
The World Championships will be held in Budapest from October 20-28.
A record contingent of 121 athletes, including 54 women, will represent India at the Rio Olympics.
The women's national wrestling camp will finally begin at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre in Lucknow from October 10, the Wrestling Federation of India said on Tuesday, with a warning that the grapplers who miss it will not be considered for selection to the Indian team.
Hardeep sprung a surprise by booking an Olympic quota place for India in Greco-Roman wrestling, which is not the country's forte, after making the 98kg category final on the last day of the Asian Olympic Qualification championship, in Astana, on Sunday.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday insisted that they have not withdrawn their support to the wrestlers and they have postponed the June 9 demonstration against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh only on the request of grapplers.
Was it badminton sensation PV Sindhu, who became the first Indian to win the World Championships gold medal? Or is it the young shooting progidy Saurabh Chaudhary? Or his India colleague Elavenil Valarivan, who recently took over as World No 1? What about India's heroes on the cricketing field -- Virat Kohli? Rohit Sharma?
Table tennis player Manika Batra, who will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award this year, said that the accolade would spur her to bring more laurels for the country.
Humpy bagged the award after receiving the highest number of votes from the fans.
Through their triumphs and struggles, these athletes have not only rewritten the narrative of women in sports but have also ignited a flame of empowerment and inspiration, asserts Laxmi Negi.
The 27-year-old wrestler, who made his Olympics debut at the ongoing Games, outwitted Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov in the play-off round.
All these male politicians are unlikely to risk their sinecures to speak up in support of a bunch of women wrestlers who have chosen to challenge a politician who appears to have the ruling regime in a stranglehold, points out Kanika Datta.
'Laluji is like my father and I am like his son.'
Indian contingent would be aiming to make it all good with strong medal-winning performances when the acutely-low-on-buzz Commonwealth Games start
Former India football captain Baichung Bhutia was given the Lifetime Achievement award, while hockey legend and three-time Olympic gold medallist Balbir Singh Sr was honoured with the Icon of the Century award.
Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra has been selected as one of the six nominees for the 2022 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award.
Ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand said the Arjuna Award will motivate her to win a prestigious Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games next year.
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.
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.
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.
Veteran wrestler Geeta Phogat feels 'lack of training' is the reason behind India's poor show at the recently-concluded World Championships, which she terms as the 'toughest competition' to win a medal.
India's sports fraternity joined the nation on Sunday in saluting its essential services providers engaged in the fight against COVID-19 by clapping for them and sharing messages and videos of gratitude on social media.
You don't prep for 2028 but for 2040, or even 2044. Sustained sporting excellence is based on mass support, grassroots development, and funding - and it is this trifecta India needs to work on, systematically, asserts Prem Panicker.
The counsel also submitted before Rouse Avenue Court on the point of jurisdiction and limitations in the matter. He said the allegations are time barred.
'The law is neither able nor willing to function the way the legal machinery is envisaged.'
Olympic-bound Ravi Dahiya could not take advantage of a tiring Gulomjon Abdullaev in the final after outclassing the same Uzbek wrestler in his opening round and settled for a silver medal at the Poland Open in Warsaw on Wednesday.
Following is India's schedule on Day 2 of competitions at the 18th Asian Games on Monday.
'It is Bajrang Punia's personal decision to return the Padma Shri. The WFI polls were held in fair and democratic manner. We will still try to persuade Bajrang to reverse his decision to return Padma Shri.'
Barely 10 days left for the extended deadline to expire for picking the Indian wrestling team, the IOA ad-hoc panel has yet again failed to set a date for the Asian Games trials.
Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt on Thursday termed the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India by the international body as "very distressing".
