Prakash Bhandari salutes the spirit of Abebe Bikila who twice won the Olympic Marathon in record times.
Archer Atanu Das and boxer Vikas Krishan entered the pre-quarterfinals, while the men's hockey team stood up to the challenge posed by Argentina to virtually sew up a last-eight spot on a reasonably successful day for Indian athletes in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Tokyo should remain the benchmark and source of inspiration till at least Paris 2024. In the shorter run, India's preparations for the Asian and Commonwealth Games next year must begin based on lessons learnt now, asserts Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry.
A strong Indian archery contingent will look to grab all the 10 gold medals on offer when they open their campaign with the qualification round in the 12th South Asian Games at the Jawaharlal Sports Complex Polo Ground on Friday. Former world No 1 and India's Olympic medal hope Deepika Kumari will lead the country's charge in the women's recurve section along with another Olympian in Laishram Bombayla Devi, who will be joined by Madhu Vedwan and Laxmirani Majhi who won the national ranking final last month. Asian Games silver medalist Tarundeep Rai will look to defend his title in the individual recurve section, which will also have the experience of Jayanta Talukdar besides the youngster duo of Binod Swansi and Gurucharan Besra.
Olympic bronze-winning Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was on Tuesday added to the list of Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awardees, taking the total number of this year's winners to an unparalleled 12.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
'My day starts off with Pranayam and visualisation practice for about 45 minutes. After breakfast, it's time to learn some cooking'
The Indian contingent was largely satisfied with the food and facilities provided at the Olympic Games Village, but a request has gone out to the Indian Embassy for 100 plus electric kettles to meet the athletes' requirement of warm water.
Mountaineer Bachendri Pal was, on Friday, conferred with the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, while Gautam Gambhir, BajranG Punia and Sunil Chhetri, among others, received the Padma Shri.
The historic cricket ground will play host to its first international archery competition on Monday.
In a country that is often focused on the ways in which it falls short, the start of a year is a good time to remind oneself of such positives, observes T N Ninan.
A look at the country's athletes' showing at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, July 30.
Verma wins compound individual gold, opens tally for India.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
'When I checked with the Chinese Embassy about the status of my visa application, I was told by embassy officials that since I belong to Arunachal Pradesh, an approval from Beijing is required' 'It has been 54 years since the Chinese aggression of 1962 and 70 years of India's Independence. The issue of Arunachal Pradesh remains unsettled because of the territorial dispute between India and China which has put the future of the Indigenous people of Arunachal in uncertainty'
Check out how Indian athletes fared on the second day of the 2016 Olympics.
HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma are the men's singles players who have decided to withdraw while doubles specialists Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy have also opted out. Leading Indian women's singles players PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal - both previous Olympic medallists - are making the trip to England, as are their male counterparts Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth.
Bhavinaben Patel scripted history on Friday, becoming the first Indian table tennis player to secure a medal in the Paralympics after entering the semi-finals with a stunning straight-game win over world No. 5 Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia in the women's singles Class 4 event, in Tokyo. The 34-year-old won her quarter-final 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 in 18 minutes.
Deepika shot 668 out of a possible 720 points at the 72-arrow 70-metre round to qualify for the knock-out round while Atanu Das was ranked 19th in the men's section.
India's squash players wrapped up a historic performance at the Asian Games, clinching an unprecedented men's team gold after the women's side settled for its first ever silver in Incheon on Saturday.
One of India's strongest Olympic medal hopes, ace shooter Manu Bhaker feels preparations 'cannot get better' than the ongoing training-cum-competition tour of Croatia as she works on her consistency ahead of the Tokyo Games.
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Will India finally reach the elusive double-digit mark? Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry, for one, is willing to stick his neck out on the possibility.
This was due to the fact that they had already won the Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour.
Paralympic gold-winners Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Manish Narwal were also given the Khel Ratna at a dazzling awards ceremony on Saturday.
Indian archers would look to make amends for the flop-show in London when they take aim in the 31st Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Friday -- archery and football kick-start before the official opening ceremony of the Games.
The Indian markswoman started off well and went on to finish with 560 points, which was enough to earn her place in the final.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
'Blurred past evaporating from teardrops, Unending dreams carving an arc of smile, and a fleeting life, negotiating between the two...'
If you thought archery required a steady hand then American Paralympian Matt Stutzman is ready to shoot an arrow through your preconceptions.
The state government had announced the award for Jhanu Hansda after she created a world record at the National Ranking Archery Tournament.
First lady Jill Biden cheered her countrywomen to an upset victory over the French in the debut of 3x3 basketball at the Olympics as President Emmanuel Macron watched on from the sidelines.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju advised the Boxing Federation of India to be transparent and resolve the Nikhat Zareen-Mary Kom in the best possible manner.
The eight disciplines comprised archery, badminton, table tennis, hockey, judo, gymnastics, swimming and weightlifting.
Photos: Record breakers at the Games so far
South Korean Olympic archers will be hoping to avoid striking out in Rio after they announced plans to conduct open training sessions in a baseball dome to harden themselves for potentially hostile environments at the August 5 to 21 Games.
India, on Tuesday, clinched a maiden Asian Games medal in Sepaktakraw despite its men's regu team losing to defending champion Thailand in Pelambang.
Last year, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh, wanted the Indian government to boycott the 2022 Commonwealth Games if shooting was dropped from the programme.
India sign off Paralympics with an unparalleled 19 medals: 5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze.
Shah recently visited the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
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