Sachin Tendulkar marvelled at India's rise in newer disciplines, while Abhinav Bindra paid tribute to all those who "silently carry the athletes forward" as the two icons offered their views on India's sporting growth on National Sports Day.
The Indian women's junior hockey team crashed out of the 7th Asia Cup after suffering a 2-3 defeat in penalty shootout against Japan in a nail-biting semi-final in Changzhou, China on Saturday.
India had seven points from four matches, ahead of hosts Australia on goal difference, with New Zealand finishing third with only three points from their four matches.
In a surprise move on Tuesday, India's women's hockey coach Harendra Singh was named chief coach of the men's team while incumbent men's in-charge Sjoerd Marijne was sent back to the women's camp -- a fallout of the poor show by Manpreet Singh and Co. in the Commonwealth Games.
A veterans' cricket match involving India and Pakistan in the World Championship of Legends in London on Sunday has been cancelled after Indian players, including Shikhar Dhawan, refused to be a part of it citing the Pahalgam terror attack in April.
The Indian Women's Hockey Team midfielder Salima Tete was honoured with the AHF Emerging Player of the Year Award.
India clubbed with Egypt, Switzerland, Jamaica in inaugural Men's Hockey5s World Cup
Hockey India League's (HIL) next edition will be held at three venues instead of two in January 2026, Federation president Dilip Tirkey said on Sunday.
India rallied from a goal down to beat Malaysia 2-1 in their final league match and make it to the semi-finals in the sixth Junior Women's Asia Cup Hockey Championship in Bangkok on Tuesday. India finished second in Group A, behind China.
India lost 2-5 to China in a Group A league match of the sixth Junior Women's Asia Cup hockey tournament in Bangkok on Monday.
Britain's world number three Andy Murray stressed the importance of gender equality in tennis, saying the work ethic required to succeed is the same for both men and women.
Seeking the services of American psychologist and mental conditioning coach Peter Harberl, following a disappointing Asian Games, has played a significant role in the Indian women's hockey team's turnaround in the ongoing FIH Olympic Qualifiers.
India women claim hockey CWG medal after 16 years
Indian hockey had something to cheer about. Poonam Rani struck twice as India scored an upset victory over higher-ranked China 4-2 in their opening match of the third Asian Women Champions Trophy hockey tournament at Kakamigahara, Japan on Saturday.
Hockey India said it has drawn up a list of competitions both for the senior men and women's teams in the run-up to next year's Tokyo Olympics. The detailed plan involves playing a number of matches against top teams in the world.
Women's national hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne was on Friday named chief coach of the Indian men's team -- a stunning decision given that the Dutchman has no prior experience of handling a senior men's side.
Ritu Rani-led Indian junior women's hockey team today left for Bangkok to participate in the sixth Junior Women Asia Cup to be held from June 27 to July 7.
The Indian hockey team that won a second successive Olympic bronze for the country here on Thursday featured 11 players, who will come back as two-time medallists from the quadrennial showpiece.
Nidhi made back-to-back saves in the second quarter to keep the scores level after 25 minutes.
Indian women's hockey team forward Rani Rampal is set to become an assistant coach with the Sports Authority of India after SAI relaxed its recruitment norms owing to her fine brilliant record.
Besides Rampal, the others who have been infected are Savita Punia, Sharmila Devi, Rajani, Navjot Kaur, Navneet Kaur and Sushila.
Mumtaz edged Belgium's Charlotte Englebert for the Player of the Year award by a margin of just three points after votes cast by experts (40%), teams (20%), fans (20%) and media (20%) were tallied finishing with a total of 32.9 points.
Goalkeeper Nidhi stole the spotlight in the final, with three clutch saves in the shootout against Lihang Wang, Jingyi Li, and Dandan Zuo, helping her side prevail over the Chinese.
India women had to settle the for silver at the 6th Junior Women's Asia Cup hockey championship after losing to China 5-2 in the final.
'Huge disappointment that we did not qualify for our third consecutive Olympics'
Indian women's team midfielder Salima Tete was appointed as the AHF Athletes Ambassador from India for a term of two years
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
The Government of India is set to appoint Hockey India's Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans as Chief Coordinator and High Performance Director for Indian Hockey.
They have snapped ties with cricket but the Sahara Group has renewed its association with Indian hockey signing a five-year sponsorship deal with Hockey India.
It was a battle India had to fight hard against a strong Argentinian forwardline as they earned two more PCs in the 43rd and 51st minutes. But India's PC defence held sway to ensure the lead was not further extended.
A historic bronze-winning show by the men's team and an outstanding fourth place finish for the women's team infused fresh life into the game which was in danger of slipping into oblivion.
Harendra said a medal will be fitting farewell gift for long-serving goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who will quit the sport after the Paris Games.
While all her teammates left for home after the junior camp ended on March 19, Suman decided to stay back at the SAI centre in Bengaluru with the senior sides and was stuck there for more than two and half months because of the nationwide lockdown.
'The athletes who are there in SAI Bengaluru and Patiala will continue to remain there'
The Indian women's junior hockey team got off to a sensational start in the 7th Asia Cup as they hammered Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) 13-0 in their opening match at Changzhou on Saturday.
Rani Rampal led the team to historic victories in the Women's Asia Cup in 2017, silver at the 2018 Asian Games and played a critical role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped India qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
The Indian team will begin its campaign in Pool D against Wales on Saturday before taking on formidable Germany on Sunday following the final tie against Malaysia.
Even as the euphoria over India's bronze medal win in the junior women's hockey World Cup is yet to die down, former senior men's team chief coach Michael Nobbs has claimed that seven of the players were anaemic.
Hockey India (HI) secretary general Bhola Nath Singh on Saturday claimed that India will definitely win gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they miss out on the yellow metal in Paris next year.
The Birmingham Commonwealth Games is scheduled from July 28 to August 8, while the Asian Games will be held from September 10 to 25 this year.
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