To avoid any controversy on the criteria for the Arjuna award, the Sports Ministry on Friday granted 90 per cent weightage to medal winners at various international championships and sports disciplines covered in the Olympics (Summer, Winter and Paralympics), Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. The guidelines, released by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, will be applicable from 2014.
Summary of all that made news on Monday
Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt believes Indian coaches live in the past and lack the hunger to learn new techniques, necessitating the involvement of foreign coaches for the benefit of grapplers.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
When record Olympic champion Michael Phelps and the king of sprinting Usain Bolt resume their hunt for world records and gold medals at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next month they will not be the only big stories in town.
A true global superstar, the depth of Kobe Bryant's popularity quickly surfaced as reports were confirmed that the Los Angeles Lakers great had been killed along with his daughter Gianna and seven others when his helicopter crashed in a remote field near the city of Calabasas.
Amputee long jumper Markus Rehm is running out of time to make the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August as the world athletics body has not yet set the criteria for ruling if he can compete with his prosthetic leg. Nicknamed "Blade Jumper", the 2012 Paralympics gold medalist and 2014 German long jump champion hopes to become the second athlete with a carbon fibre running blade to compete in the Olympics after South Africa's Oscar Pistorius in 2012. But a new rule by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) requires amputee competitors to prove their prosthesis gives them no added advantage over other athletes. Competition Rule 144.3(d) bans 'the use of any mechanical aid, unless the athlete can establish on the balance of probabilities that the use of such an aid would not provide him with an overall competitive advantage over an athlete not using such aid.' In order to present his case to the IAAF, Rehm, who beat able-bodied athletes with a jump of 8.10 metres at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix in February, has asked for the criteria for this regulation but still not received a reply.
Feeling 'insulted' after his name was not added to this year's list of Arjuna awardees, boxer Manoj Kumar on Wednesday said he would sue the Sports Ministry for the 'injustice' meted out to him.
'He was not the hit and run kind of a boxer, but a very intelligent boxer.' 'His presence of mind in the ring brought him glory in many international tournaments.'
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.
Bajrang Punia says men's camp should start on schedule.
While NRAI has said it has been postponed, SAI says it has been 'principally approved'.
Triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary and shot putter Om Prakash Karhana were on Monday rendered doubtful for the upcoming Asian Games though the Athletics Federation of India is yet to take a final call on the matter.
Two-time Olympic champion fencer Mariel Zagunis was selected on Wednesday as the flag-bearer to lead the 529-member US team at Friday's opening ceremony of the London Games.
Facing criticism for packing 22 tournaments in five months in its revised calendar, the Badminton World Federation on Wednesday said the disrupted Olympic qualification process will restart only next year with players having the benefit of holding on to the ranking points they have already secured.
Fans return to English grounds, but told not to celebrate goals too much.
In a surprise decision, Ankita was left out of the financial assistance scheme despite being India's top-ranked player. The Sports Ministry included second-highest ranked player Karman Kaur Thandi and Prarthana Thombare apart from seasoned Sania Mirza for Rs 50,000 monthly allowance.
Naomi Osaka is hogging the headlines for all the right reasons in her native land after she became the first Japanese player to reach a Grand Slam singles final, with one major newspaper hailing her as "a new heroine Japan can be proud of".
Prannoy took to Twitter to express his displeasure.
"I am many things: a son, a brother, and uncle, a friend, an athlete, a cook, an author, and being gay is just one part of who I am," said Boitano, the 1988 Olympic gold medallist in a statement. "First and foremost I am an American athlete and I am proud to live in a country that encourages diversity, openness and tolerance.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Olympic gold medallist swimmer Park Tae-hwan, who completed an 18-month doping ban in March, will be unable to compete at the Rio Games after the Korean Olympic Committee opted against amending a rule that tacks three more years onto doping suspensions.
Presenting six new faces who will make their debut this season.
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
Sindhu was "angry and sad" after being criticised for not finishing on top in the last two World Championship finals and the gold medal in the 2019 edition was her answer to all her critics.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) put in place 14 high-level expert committees, which have been mandated to identify the country's medal prospects and provide them with specialised training in the run up to the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games to be held later this year.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
The development comes a day after the world body de-listed the Archery Association of India for violating the constitution by unanimously electing two parallel bodies in Chandigarh and New Delhi.
Nirmala Sheoran produced a forgettable performance in the women's 400m semi-finals to finish among the bottom trio as India's disappointing show in the World Athletics Championships continued on the fourth day on Monday.
The spot-fixing and betting scandal in the Indian Premier League has prompted the government to push for introduction of Sports Fraud Bill in the Parliament in the ongoing monsoon session, Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday.
Robbed of some sheen due to selection controversies this year, the National Sports Awards were presented to the country's top athletes and coaches with shooter Ronjan Sodhi getting the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- the country's highest sporting honour -- while cricketer Virat Kohli was among the Arjuna awardees.
Asian Games gold medallist Manjit Singh, who doesn't have a regular job, on Tuesday requested the sports ministry to include him in the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme to prepare for the upcoming big events like the 2020 Tokyo Games
The team for the ninth SAF Games in Islamabad has been selected on the basis of the performance in the recently concluded Federation Cup.
10 achievers who made the cut in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list.
Asian Games will be a reality check for India's athletes after the Commonwealth Games high
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has cleared the way for former Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan to compete at the Rio Games after upholding his appeal against a Korean Olympic Committee doping ban, Yonhap news reported on Friday.
Australia's number one tennis player Nick Kyrgios has blamed "unfair and unjust treatment" at the hands of his country's Olympic Committee for his decision not take part in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Amidst controversies, the National Sports Awards were presented by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday.
Suspension, internal mudslinging and factionalism overshadowed some stellar performances by Indian archers as the sport went from bad to worse with just a few months left for Tokyo Olympics in an eventful 2019. The biggest blow to Indian archery came in August when World Archery suspended the national federation after two warring groups conducted parallel elections in Delhi and Chandigarh in a clear defiance of the international body's guidelines.
A Kerala-based organisation moved the Delhi high court on Friday against the Centre's last-minute decision to deny triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary the prestigious Arjuna award in 2013.
