The Wrestling Federation of India is likely to pardon temporarily suspended Babita Kumari for forfeiting her bout in a recent qualifying event and allow her to compete at the Rio Games, as she secured an Olympic berth after her rival failed a dope test.
The ancient Jordanian city and its immense faades were lost for almost 1,000 years!
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.
The path to the Olympics is paved with potholes for many athletes but few can claim to have overcome hardship like wrestler Vinod Kumar, who was thrown from a speeding train by a rival's family in India before landing on his feet in Australia.
'It's not my choice to be back home. They approved everything before I left as I filled out the forms. I received my March salary and it was only half. When I inquired, they said they are holding my pay'
India record best-ever show at World Wrestling Championships with five medals
Proving her mettle yet again, young Sonam Malik downed Sakshi Malik for the second time in a row, this time by pinning the Olympic medallist, to make it to the Indian team for next month's Olympic Qualifiers, in Lucknow, on Wednesday. She first got past Radhika and then caring little for reputations, Sonam beat the Asian Championship 59kg gold medallist Sarita Mor (3-1) in the semi-finals before register a victory by fall against Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi in the final.
A torchbearer died of a heart attack after carrying the Olympic flame as part of Russia's torch relay leading up to the Sochi 2014 Winter Games in February, an official said on Monday. Vadim Gorbenko, 73, a sports school director and Greco-Roman wrestling coach, felt ill after walking 150 metres (500 feet) with the torch in his home city of Kurgan in western Siberia, said Roman Osin, spokesman for the Sochi 2014 torch relay.
Shuttler PV Sindhu raised serious hopes of breaking India's long-awaited medal quest in the Rio Olympics by storming into the semifinals of the women's singles event with a stunning straight games win over London Games silver medallist Wang Yihan of China.
Bajrang staged a remarkable comeback to secure a 4-3 win against USA's Jordan Michael Oliver in the summit showdown of the 65kg freestyle category.
Australian wrestler Vinod Kumar failed a doping test during an Olympic qualification event in Algeria in April and is set to be dropped from the team for the Rio Games.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
In hockey, the women's team continued its inspiring run with a silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
India's Vinesh Phogat had to be contend with a silver medal in the Asian Wrestling Championship after losing 2-3 to China's a Chun Lei in the summit clash of the women's 50kg freestyle event in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
A recap of the performance by Indian athletes on Day 10 at the Rio Olympics on Monday
It was a second consecutive defeat for Vinesh against the Japanese this season after losing to the two-time world champion at the Asian Championship in China.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
'We have spoken to all the foreign coaches and they have assured us that they are all committed to their jobs till Tokyo Games'
Wrestler Sandeep Tomar secured an Olympic quota place for India in the men's 57kg freestyle category with a bronze-medal finish on the final day of the 1st World Olympic Qualifying tournament in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Terming Yogeshwar Dutt's historic gold at the Asian Games as an "exceptional achievement", seasoned campaigner Sushil Kumar said the country's wrestlers have done justice to the sport by improving their medal count at the Asian Games. He was particularly impressed with Yogeshwar's semi-final performance against China's Katai Yerlanbieke at the Incheon Games. Yogeshwar Dutt's historic gold at the Asian Games as a "exceptional achievement", seasoned campaigner Sushil Kumar said that wrestlers have done justice to the sport by improving their medal count from the sport.
Indian wrestling is well and truly on an all-time high as the country, in what turned out to be a double delight, on Friday earned a maiden World Cup berth on the back of its best-ever sixth-place finish in men's free-style at the World Championships in Budapest.
Sports Minister Jitendra Singh was far from impressed as he took stock of India's preparations for next year's Commonwealth and Asian Games in a meeting with SAI officials here and expressed dissatisfaction with the progress made so far.
A fit-again Irfan Pathan feels that he is close to bowling at his best and it's just a matter of time before he is again back in contention for the seam bowling all-rounder's slot in the Indian cricket team that has been up for grabs for some time.
'The WFI has taken a decision in principle to let these wrestlers prepare on their own and not disturb them. On their requests, we have decided to let them skip the trials as they are best bets in their weight categories and hardly face any competition'
The Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh blamed the organisers for the country's dismal show at the World Championships, saying the lack of facilities in Paris resulted in wrestlers losing out on 15 days of training ahead of the mega-event.
Bahrain's Ruth Jebet blew away the competition to win the women's 3,000 metres steeplechase gold on Sunday, but narrowly missed out on the world record. Jebet ran a bold race, bursting into the lead after a few laps and setting a blistering pace to win in 8 minutes, 59.75 seconds, just shy of the 8:58.81 world record set by Russia's Gulnara Galkina at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Wrestler Bajrang Kumar's scuttled trip to the USA for a crucial competition was brought back on track by Olympic bronze-medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, who convinced SAI officials in New Delhi to sanction his expenses for the Dave Schultz Memorial International Tournament in Colorado Springs.
Rahi Sarnobat beat all expectations to become India's first woman shooter with an Asian Games gold and the low-profile wushu players delivered their best ever performance even in defeat on another high-yielding day for the country at the regional showpiece.
Ankita Raina and top seeds men's doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan assured India of at least a couple of bronze medals in the tennis competition by progressing to the semifinals at the Asian Games, in Palembang, on Wednesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Indian freestyle wrestlers claim Asian team title in U-17 category
The Wrestling Federation of India issued show cause notice to four wrestlers, including the Phogat sisters - Babita Kumari and Geeta - and handed them temporary suspension for indiscipline.
Its quiet, whitewashed elegance and colourful vibrancy make the erstwhile colonial town of Puducherry an ambler's delight.
Sania ousted from Qatar Total Open.
The World Photography Organisation has announced the overall winners of the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards 2022.
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