Qatar returns to the spotlight on Friday little more than a year after the first World Cup held in the Arab world when the relocated and delayed 2023 Asian Cup gets underway amid a seismic shift in football's global order.
Sindhu joins senior country-mate Anish Bhanwala in securing a Paris berth in the 25m rapid fire.
Young shooters Varun Tomar and Esha Singh secured two Olympic quota places for India with gold medals.
In a year marred by disappointments, shooter Akhil Sheoran redeemed himself by winning the men's 50m rifle 3-positions bronze medal even as the other Indian participants failed to make a mark in the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The extension of qualifying period gives, at least half a dozen others among Indian men and possibly one woman, a chance to bid for a place in the Games.
Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick as defending champions India defeated South Korea 4-1 in their final round robin match to keep a clean slate and storm into the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy.
The top eight finishers in the World Relays on May 1 and 2 at Chorzow in Selisia will get automatic berths in the Tokyo Games, scheduled to begin on July 23.
The team of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Gopichand Swami and Parneet Kaur, who qualified as top seed, dropped just four points from 24 arrows to down the sixth seeds by a handsome margin and open their account in the season-opening global showpiece.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Olympian Deepak Punia skipped the national trials, in Patiala on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Indian women's team totalled 337 to take home the silver medal behind China's Qingnian Li, Cuicui Wu and Xinqiu Zhang, who combined to shoot a world and games record score of 357 to finish on top of the podium.
India will seek inspiration from their impressive show against Qatar in the Asian Games last year when they face the same opponents in the Olympic football qualifiers second round match in Doha on Sunday.
Pranati Nayak finished at the bottom half in all the events.
India men's hockey team striker Lalit Upadhyay has worked hard to rebuild his career and considers all the setbacks as blessings in disguise.
The 2023 World Championships is one of the two compulsory qualifying events for the Paris Olympics.
It's a downfall for the powerhouse that produced some iconic names such as PT Usha, Shiny Wilson, Anju Bobby George, Rosa Kutty, Mercy Kuttan and Bobby Aloysius among others."
C A Bhavani Devi created history by securing India's first-ever medal in the women's sabre event at the Asian Fencing Championships
Nikhat Zareen described her pre-quarterfinal defeat at the Paris Games as the most excruciating loss of her career and the Indian boxing star vowed to return with renewed passion to achieve her dream of winning an Olympic medal
Tamil Nadu's Praveen Chitravel produced the third longest-ever jump by an Indian with a stunning effort of 17.18m to clinch gold in the triple jump and qualify for the World Championships
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of French Open Super 750 badminton tournament.
Teen boxers Shiva Thapa and Sumit Sangwan struck gold on Thursday, rounding off a brilliant performance by India at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan. The country bagged three berths to the London Games from the tournament to make it an unprecedented seven-strong contingent for the quadrennial extravaganza.
The 19-year-old Panghal put up a dominant show in the 53kg category, winning all her bouts without much fuss.
Olympic bronze-medallist Vijender Singh stood just one win away from securing a berth in the London Games after clinching his pre-quarterfinal bout, along with Manpreet Singh, on a second successive triumphant day for India at the Asian Boxing Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan on Friday.
Indian football team's head coach Igor Stimac said his second-string men's team "ran out of gas" in the second half against China.
With the qualifying tournament offering four quota places in the men's 71kg weight class, Dev needs to win his quarter-final on Monday to seal his passage for Paris Games and earn the fifth 2024 Olympic quota for India and the first in the men's category in boxing.
Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri, who teamed up to grab a silver medal five years ago at the Asian Games in Doha, will come together again to try and grab a berth in the Omega Mission Hills Golf World Cup later this year.
Five Indian athletes have qualified for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games to be held in August in Singapore after their impressive performance in the Asian Area Qualification Championships.
After ending India's 24-year-old medal drought in the pool at the Asian Games, teen swimming sensation Virdhawal Khade topped his 100m freestyle heats but the effort was not good enough to fetch a place in the finals of the event, in Guangzhou, on Wednesday.
A look at how India's athletes fared on Day 4, Tuesday, July 30, 2024:
Neeraj emerged victorious with a season's best throw of 88.88 meters.
'Hockey India will not like its hockey athletes to peak 35 days before the Asian Games 2022 and would like the athletes to peak at the right time i.e. during the Asian Games 2022.'
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Weightlifter Venkat Rahul Ragala clinched a gold medal in the 77kg category while Shainki Nagar won a silver in the 10m air pistol as India swelled its medal tally to eight at the second Youth Asian Games, in Nanjing, China, on Wednesday.
Renowned South African mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, who played a role in India winning the 2011 Cricket World Cup, will be a part of the support staff of the country's men's hockey team in Paris.
Sarabjot Singh opened India's account at the ISSF World Cup in Munich with a gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol event.
Indian woman swimmer Maana Patel's participation in the Tokyo Olympics has been confirmed through 'Universality quota', the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) said.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.86m at the ACNE League meeting in Potchefstroom, South Africa, making an impressive return after recovering from an elbow injury. The 22-year-old Indian, who missed the entire 2019 season due to the injury, breached the Olympic qualification mark of 85m in his fourth attempt and secured the top place at the international event on Tuesday.
The IOA had announced her appointment on March 21.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 5, Wednesday, July 31, 2024:
Paris Games quota-winning women wrestlers on Friday pleaded with the national federation not to subject them to selection trials, saying that every single step they take and every little thing they do from now on will have a bearing on India's medal chances at the Olympics.
