Former recipients of the Arjuna award on Tuesday lamented that its dignity has been lowered and the government is now 'throwing' the honour away.
'There were many experts around me,' A Ganesh Nadar discovers at the India-Pakistan hockey game. 'One of them was explaining to his neighbour, that fellow is a good dragger and flicker, that fellow is a penalty corner specialist, that fellow is a penalty specialist, that fellow is a very good defender, etc, freely dispensing with his expert knowledge.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
The committee also picked 19 sportspersons for the Arjuna Award, including the likes of cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav, track and field stars Tejinder Pal Singh Toor, Mohammed Anas and Swapna Barman.
Germany might be the twice Olympic champions defending their title in men's field hockey but top-ranked Australia will be the team to beat at next month's Rio Games.
Asian Games gold medallist Pakistan and South Korea were on Friday handed wildcard entries for next year's Champions Trophy hockey tournament, scheduled to be held in India.
Viren Rasquinha said it was up to the hockey federation to decide when to select him in the Indian team.
The Indian men's hockey team will have to guard against complacency when it takes on lower-ranked Russia, while a tricky contest awaits their female counterparts against United States in the two-legged Olympic qualifiers.
The Indians started brightly and earned a couple of penalty corners and from one such situation, Sharmila Devi gave her side the lead in the 13th minute, scoring from a rebound after Gurjit Kaur's initial flick was saved by the Chinese defence.
India's lone Olympic individual gold medallist Abhinav Bindra on Saturday criticised the selection panel for not nominating seasoned coach Jaspal Rana for the Dronacharya Award.
Yesterday, women's coach Harendra Singh was made in-charge of the men's side, while men's coach Sjoerd Marijne was re-designated the women's coach in a rejigging of roles by the Hockey India following the medalless show of the teams at last month's Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Meet first-time Indian athletes hoping to make an impression in Rio.
Vinesh, Dutee, Bhaker also among nominees for 'BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year'.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Sachin Tendulkar inspired me to make comeback after CWG snub, says Sardar
The experienced midfielder was a surprise omission from the 16-member Indian men's hockey team for the Doha Asian Games.
Former captain Dhanraj Pillay said the Indian hockey team was lacking on all fronts.
The young Indian hockey team began its Asian Champions Trophy campaign in style as it spanked hosts China 5-0, displaying flashes of brilliance and dictating the pace of the game Ordos on Saturday.
Ramandeep Singh scored two fine goals as the showpiece subcontinental hockey encounter between arch-rivals India and Pakistan ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw in the World League semi-finals at the KHC Dragons Stadium in Antwerp.
Virat Kohli? M C Mary Kom? Neeraj Chopra?
Iconic cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar has advocated "systemic changes" in Indian sports so that "12 medals in next Olympics in Rio or 20 in 2020 is not a pipe dream".
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
The 17th Asian Games came to a close on Saturday, bringing an end to two weeks of intense competition, drama and controversy that shone a light on the best and worst of a region that will host the world's biggest events for the next decade.
Indian women's team captain Ritu Rani and senior's men's team drag-flicker V R Raghunath were on Wednesday recommended by Hockey India for the Arjuna Award.
Tennis great Leander Paes says it is "humbling" to be the first Indian tennis player and the first Asian male tennis player to be nominated for the prestigious International Tennis Hall of Fame.
'To the youth, I will say work hard. One minute of work will not get you anything. I have worked hard for the past 20 years, 2002 was the first time I won a gold medal.'
With eight gold medals, Indian men's hockey team has been the most successful side in Olympic history but since the 1980 Moscow Games, the country has not had a podium finish.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
The India hockey captain said it will provide younger players an opportunity to showcase their skills at the highest level.
The Manipur girl will captain the women's hockey team for the Afro-Asian Games and Asia Cup.
Hockey legend Ashok Kumar reckons India would have won a medal had the Olympics been held this year but the break in momentum will make a big difference now that the Games are pushed to 2021.
The Railway player has been named captain of the Indian women;s hockey team for the Test series against Russia.
Iconic public buildings, parks and railway stations dazzled with lights on the night of January 26, 1950 turning the capital city into a "fairyland".
'We have to convert our penalty corners successfully and aim at having at least two or three goals through the corner, besides creating the same amount of chances in every quarter.'
The Indian kabaddi contingent made an impressive start to its campaign at the 18th Asian Games with the women's team mauling Japan and the men's side beating Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Jakarta on Sunday.
In its third year, the PHL will comprise of seven teams in a single division rather than two levels of five teams each as in the earlier editions.
The ace midfielder rubbished reports that he was dropped from the Asian Games squad for lack of fitness.
Gagan Ajit Singh and Vikram Pillay failed to find a place in the list of probables for the Doha Asian Games.
Koreans decided to give a miss to the tournament, to be held in December, in the wake of Tuesday's twin blasts in Rawalpindi.
Some stellar performances by seasoned veterans and promising youngsters continued to raise the bar in Olympic sports but there was heartbreak in equal measure when corruption scandals blighted India's favourite obsession, cricket, in a see-saw year for the country's sportspersons.
