It was a great day for Indian wrestlers, who won seven medals, including three gold in the recently-concluded Junior Asian Wrestling Championships at Jakarta, Indonesia.
Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik are best friends, thanks to a timely truce called by their parents and coaches.
India's fledgling Olympic campaign on Wednesday received a sensational boost with unheralded grappler Sushil Kumar clinching a bronze medal and boxer Vijender Kumar assuring himself of at least a bronze to give the country a record three medals for the first time ever.
India needs people like Rahul Dravid and Pullela Gopichand, who have done an excellent job in producing young talent in their respective disciplines, for tennis to develop in the country, says eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion Leander Paes.
In an unprecedented move, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting award, will be conferred on four athletes this year. The Sports Ministry announced on Monday that Olympic medalists P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik will be honoured alongside trail-blazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar and ace shooter Jitu Rai.
India's Manika Batra and Mouma Das lost 3-0 to Tianwei Feng and Mengyu Yu of Singapore in the women's sinlges final.
Shooter Ronjan Sodhi picked for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award by the selection committee.
The 36-year-old Jhajharia, who is the first Indian to win two Paralympic gold medals, was the first choice of the awards selection committee.
Former coaches say that it will be a tough call. The WFI faces the tedious dilemma of youth versus experience, rising star up against the country's most celebrated athlete.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Amidst the dilemma of double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and Narsingh Yadav fighting each other for a place in the World Championships, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has decided to hold selection trials of the senior grapplers on July 6-7.
As Parineeti Chopra brings Saina Nehwal's story on screen, Joginder Tuteja takes a look at how well Bollywood's sports movies have done at the box office.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
'I didn't go for the World Championships to see someone else take my place at the Olympics.'
Star grappler Yogeshwar Dutt would seek to grab an Olympic quota place in his first opportunity when he spearheads a 17-member Indian campaign at the Asian Olympic Qualification wrestling championship, starting in Astana, Kazakhstan from Friday. It will be a tough three-day competition from March 18-20, considering that only the top two finishers in each weight category here will secure an Olympic berth for a country. This is the second qualifying event for the Rio Games. The first was held last year at the World Championship in Las Vegas, where just one Indian in Narsingh Yadav bagged a quota place for the country in Men's 74kg freestyle. With India's entry at Rio de Janeiro ensured in 74kg category, no one will be competing in this category. Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar also fights in the same weight division as Narsingh. Thus, the squad consists of five grapplers in men's freestyle, six in Greco-Roman and six in female wrestling. London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar, who pulled out of the 2015 World Championship due to an injury, has the best chance of grabbing an Olympic berth for India as well as a medal.
These athletes made India proud four years ago.
There was ecstasy and agony in equal measure for the Indian contingent on Friday.
Virat Kohli? M C Mary Kom? Neeraj Chopra?
With only one Asian Games gold to show after four days of competition, India's hopes of improving on their medal tally in China four years ago are diminishing fast.
It was gold rush for India on the opening day of the South Asian Games with the country's wrestlers, swimmers and weightlifters showing their regional dominance by making a near clean sweep of top honours on Saturday. India clinched 14 gold and five silver medals on a highly productive day to top the medals tally with an overall count of 19.Sri Lanka, despite having a higher overall medal count of 21, occupied the second spot in the table owing to alesser tally of gold medals (4). Wrestlers were the stars for India, grabbing as many as five gold medals followed by the swimmers who clinched four gold and three silver medals. The weightlifters added three gold medals to the tally after the cyclists had opened India's account with two gold and an equal number of silver medals in the morning. Three women and two male grapplers finished on top of the podium as the proceedings went on expected lines on the opening day of the competitions.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
'Somehow the Flying Sikh has endured in people's memory.'
Phogat sisters will have to explain their absence for any chance of a comeback, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) said
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
A turbulent run-up to the Rio Games behind him, Narsingh Yadav will be eyeing a fairytale climax while old warhorse Yogeshwar Dutt would look to bid adieu with a second straight medal when India begin their Olympic wrestling campaign on Monday.
The haul of 64 medals at the Commonwealth Games, in July-August, which included 15 gold, should act as the ideal springboard for the Indian contingent to better its medal tally at Guangzhou, China, four years ago.
'Everyone has to recalibrate their plans, preparations, peaking, meaning the tournaments they will play in in the lead-up to the Olympics.'
India's 572 athletes hope to return home with an overflowing treasure chest of medals.
Devendra Jhajharia, on Tuesday became the first para athlete to receive India's highest sporting honour -- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- along with hockey star Sardar Singh, who has endured trying times off the field in the last one year.
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.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
"Admirable preparation by wrestler Sakshi Malik for the Rio Olympics. My best wishes are with her," Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate her.
The Indian duo of Thanackal Gopi and Kheta Ram put up an inspired show and clock their personal best timings to finish 25th and 26th respectively in the men's marathon at the Rio Olympics on Sunday.
What a year Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, Saina Nehwal, Vijender Singh and Anirban Lahiri had!
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
The 23-year-old champion wrestler's Asian gold medal tells us that tough times don't last, tough people do.
Will the fans rush back to the stadium once sport resumes? Will training abroad be as hassle-free as it used to be? What about contact sports where social distancing can't really be practised? Some of India's biggest sportspersons -- current and former -- gave their views on future of sports once the action resumes.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
