A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Mick Schumacher is now expected to move up to Formula One with Red Bull's Honda-powered AlphaTauri team
The Dutchman stopped Hamilton from winning an eighth title with a gutsy turn in the final lap.
Vinesh Phogat created history, becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in wrestling at the Asian Games in Jakarta.
Rohan Bopanna gained three places to be world number 21, and is now country's top ranked player in the ATP doubles chart.
Ramkumar, who recently created ripples by scalping top-10 player Dominic Thiem, lost 3-6, 7-6(5), 2-6 to Mahut in two hours and 29 minutes.
India's tennis player Yuki Bhambri was handed a tough draw at the Australian Open when he found himself pitted against World No. 6 Tomas Berdych in the opening round of the men's singles event.
Mahesh Bhupathi, who is making a comeback to competitive tennis after an injury lay-off, won his first title in three years as he combined with Yuki Bhambri to clinch the Delhi Open while Saketh Myneni reached the singles final, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
India's Davis Cup Captain Mahesh Bhupathi picked Rohan Bopanna for the Davis Cup match against Uzbekistan in Bengaluru.
'If it is a World Cup then yes, doing away with home and away format, is okay'
The Indian challenge in the men's singles at the Chennai Open came to an end on Tuesday when home favourite Somdev Devvarman was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Belgian qualifier David Goffin. Earlier in the day, India's two other entries in the singles -- Rohan Bopanna and Yuki Bhambri (both wild cards) suffered similar fate.
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
With Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman still recovering from their respective injuries, India is set to field same set to players in the upcoming Davis Cup World Group Play-off against Spain, that beat South Korea 4-1 in July.
Bopanna also in reserves while four single specialists named in squad
India's Prajnesh Gunnesweran won his encounter while Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal lost their respective men's singles opening round matches at the French Open Qualifiers.
Senior pro Leander Paes's place in the Indian Davis Cup team will be up for discussion when the AITA Selection Committee meets on Monday to pick the squad for the upcoming Asia/Oceania Zone tie against Uzbekistan.
The Olympics will take place without spectators in host city Tokyo, organisers said on Thursday, as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the event.
Lewis Hamilton is on course for his most successful campaign yet and can become only the third driver after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel to win 13 times in a season.
Yuki Bhambri won the Australian Open Junior boys singles title defeating Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas of Germany in straight sets in the final in Melbourne on Saturday. Top seed Bhambri registered a comprehensive 6-3, 6-1 victory to become only the fourth Indian to win a Junior Grand Slam title.
Somdev Devvarman fought like a true warrior to lock the tie with his stunning victory in the fourth rubber while Yuki Bhambri was locked in an engrossing battle in the decider, halted by rain mid-way, as India's hopes were still hanging by thread in the David Cup World Group play-off tie against Serbia in Bangalore.
World No 10 Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni suffered a shock straight set mauling at the hands of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell as India were left trailing 1-2 against New Zealand.
World No.4 Stan Wawrinka will look to win his third successive Chennai Open title, while the Indian challenge will be spearheaded by rising star Yuki Bhambri
Indian wrestlers have been highly impressive at the global level in run up to the Tokyo Olympics and at least three of them are genuine medal contenders at the Games.
Bajrang Punia lost his semi-final bout against home wrestler Daulet Niyazbekov under controversial circumstances after he secured his place in the Tokyo Olympics along with debutant Ravi Dahiya at the World Wrestling Championships.
Indian junior team finished fourth in the Junior Davis Cup competition after losing 1-2 to Russia in the World Finals in Mexico.
Indian team's hopes of annexing its first junior Davis Cup title win went up in smoke after it was blanked 0-3 by the United States in the semifinals.
The 23-year-old champion wrestler's Asian gold medal tells us that tough times don't last, tough people do.
Indian contingent has an opportunity to go deep in the draw and recapture the trophy which has been won by just two Indians so far -- the legendary Prakash Padukone (1980) and P Gopichand (2001).
India's non-playing captain Anand Amritraj was upbeat ahead of the Asia Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie against New Zealand, to be played in Pune from February 3 to 5, but cautioned the Kiwis should not be taken lightly.
India stormed into the final of Junior Davis Cup's World Group playoff after stunning top seeds Australia 3-0 in New Delhi on Friday.
India's Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali on Sunday said it was good for home team players to have got the chance to test themselves in the tie against Chinese Taipei but felt that Saketh Myneni needs to develop fast as a big player if they are to win matches against tough opponents.
Indian Davis Cupper Prajnesh Gunnewaran, on Wednesday, earned the biggest win of his career by stunning world number 23 Denis Shapovalov in the opening round of the ATP Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.
Career best rank of 168 in singles for Ramkumar
He has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after knocking off some established global stars in the 57kg but hardly shows any emotion.
Leander Paes regained his place in the top-50, courtesy a Challenger title win at the Newport Beach event. The triumph took the veteran Indian tennis star 14 places up, to 47 in the latest rankings, issued on Monday.
Apollo Tyres Ltd on Tuesday signed up the doubles team of India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic for the ATP and Gland Slam tours of 2007.
India's tennis legend Vijay Amritraj said that the country needs to develop quality singles players if it wants to be in the elite group in the world.
How the 22-year-old Indian reached the Show Court at US Open, finding himself against 20-time Grand Slam Champion Roger Federer after beginning the year outside 350.
Japan beat China 3-1 in the final of the women's team event to secure the country's first badminton gold medal at an Asian Games since 1998.
India's Ankita Raina crashed out of the the French Open qualifiers with a 3-6, 6-7 defeat at the hands of Evgeniya Rodina of Russia in the women's singles first round in Paris.
