World Athletics, the sport's governing body, limited the number of Russians eligible to compete internationally this year to 10 in response to doping offences by senior staff at Russia's suspended athletics federation.
Set to return after an injury-induced break, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is aware the road to Paris will be "challenging" and she needs to be "smarter" in her pursuit of coveted gold medal in the French capital.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion is struggling with an unidentified lower-back problem since May and is yet to begin full-fledged weight training.
The midfield will be spearheaded by Olympic bronze medal-winning former skipper Manpreet Singh, current vice-captain Hardik Singh and young Vivek Sagar Prasad, while India also boasts of a strong, attacking forwardline in Shamsher Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.
Sift Kaur Samra gave ample proof of her immense potential, earning India its sixth Paris Olympic quota place.
Wrestler Sandeep Tomar secured an Olympic quota place for India in the men's 57kg freestyle category with a bronze-medal finish on the final day of the 1st World Olympic Qualifying tournament in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said the academic training at the National Centre of Excellence and Sports Auhtority of India Training Centres will also be suspended.
The two wrestlers, who have accused Sharan Singh of sexually harassing women grapplers, called on the PM to intervene.
With three of the four Indian paddlers already through to the next stage of the final World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Doha, national coach Bhawini Muhherji says his wards are "motivated enough" to make it to the Olympics.
India's chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand believes the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed given the unprecedented crisis that the world is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
D P Manu, who finished sixth at the World Championships last year, is yet to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The Paris Games will be his second stint in the Olympics, having also qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Games, where he made it to the second round.
Reetika Hooda blew away a 6-2 lead, conceding four points in the last 10 seconds of the women's 76kg final, to settle for a silver medal at the the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship 2025.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has affected their Olympic preparations but India's top athletes like P V Sindhu and Bajrang Punia say they are optimistic about the quadrennial event going ahead as scheduled despite the current health crisis. Olympic silver-medallist Sindhu says she can understand the apprehensions of fellow shuttlers, including compatriot Sania Nehwal, who is racing against time to qualify for the Games due to the cancellation of tournaments in the wake of the outbreak. The Olympic Games are scheduled to start in Tokyo, from July 24.
Sachin Sarjerao Khilari defended his gold medal in the men's shot put F46 category with an Asian record at the World Para Athletics Championship.
Professional boxing in India is all set to get a massive fillip as the national capital will host an AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) fight night on June 11 featuring former World Championship bronze-medallist Vikas Krishan, who would be assured of an extra shot at Olympic qualification through this.
The Indian women's team came from behind to beat Spain 3-2 in its final group game and progressed to the knockout phase.
Mary Kom (51kg) claimed her eighth world medal at the recently-concluded championships in Russia and BFI now plans to send the Manipuri boxer for the Olympic qualifiers in China
Shot putter Manpreet Kaur smashed an 18-year-old national record to win gold and qualify for next year's Olympics as Railways dominated the show on the opening day of the 55th National Open Athletics Championships in Kolkata.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has prompted India to withdraw from next month's shooting World Cup in Cyprus, the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) revealed on Friday.
'I've been working hard for this for the past 18 months and away from home for a long time...and it is good to know that it all paid off and the event is done and we've got what we came for'
Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Parneet Kaur and Aditi Swami stunned defending champions Colombia 220-216 to enter the final of the Archery World Championships
Sreeshankar was expected to at least qualify for the final round but form deserted him when it mattered the most on Wednesday.
India can be among top five nations in table tennis, feels G Sathiyan
Nikhat Zareen secured a Paris Olympics berth and assured herself of a medal as she cantered to the 50kg semi-finals of the Asian Games.
Gold rush: Yarraji, Sable, women's 4x400m relay finish on top to extend India's Asian C'ship dominance
Winning an elusive Olympic gold in Tokyo next year is PV Sindhu's top priority but reigning world champion's immediate target is to do well in the coming tournaments as this is the qualifying year for the quadrennial extravaganza.
The former national champion won a berth following the withdrawal of players in the qualification list.
Neeraj has won gold medals in Olympics (Tokyo in 2021), Asian Games (2018) and Commonwealth Games (2018), besides becoming the Diamond League champion last year.
At 29, Chanu faced an uphill battle against an injury-ravaged body, sub-optimal preparation, and an intensely competitive field.
A country can win a maximum of two quota places in a particular shooting event.
India's No 1 shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded fifth and compatriot P V Sindhu ninth in the women's singles at the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the men's draw, Kidambi Srikanth, who is ranked world No 11, is seeded ninth.
Ace Indian discus thrower Vikas Gowda has qualified for the Rio Olympics after the world athletics governing body, the IAAF lowered the entry standards "to have more athletes" taking part in the track and field events in the 2016 Games.
Denmark is opposed to Russian athletes participating in the Paris Olympics next year even under a neutral flag
The 16-year-old claimed the top honours in the men's 10m air pistol event at the season-opening ISSF World Cup.
Indian javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena's participation in the World Championships in Budapest was on Wednesday rendered doubtful after his one-month visa was cancelled by the Hungarian embassy in New Delhi.
Former champion Mirabai Chanu bettered her own national record but missed out on a podium, finishing a creditable fourth, in the women's 49kg event at the Weightlifting World Championships.
Uttarakhand's Gurmeet Singh turned out to be the winner as a record number of seven Indian 20km race walkers bettered the Rio Olympics qualifying standards on a fast Jaipur course in the National Championships, in Jaipur, on Saturday.
Rhythm Sangwan staged a fantastic comeback at the back-end of the women's 10m air pistol final to clinch a bronze medal at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Baku.
The Indian Olympic Association on Thursday backed the International Olympic Committee's assertion that the upcoming Tokyo Olympics will weather the coronavirus pandemic and be held on time without a glitch. The IOC and the Tokyo Games organisers are adamant that the Games will start on July 24 as scheduled despite the coronavirus pandemic crippling health care systems and destroying economies across the world.
