A second straight knockout victory under his belt, star Indian boxer Vijender Singh said he is improving rapidly in the professional arena even though he still has a long way to go before realising his dream of becoming a world champion in the circuit
Paralympic gold-winners Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Manish Narwal were also given the Khel Ratna at a dazzling awards ceremony on Saturday.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has lavished praise on Indian pugilists for their unprecedented haul of three gold and four bronze medals at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games, saying the performance was "absolutely outstanding".
Shiva Thapa became only the third Indian boxer ever to assure himself of a World Championships medal besides inching closer to an Olympic berth as he advanced to the semifinals with a dominating victory, in Doha, on Saturday.
India's sporting fraternity on Monday led by cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir congratulated the Central Government for abolishing Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
'The first time I entered the WWE I wore a salwar suit.' 'I am proud of our rich culture and I am glad I get the opportunity to represent it.'
Meet Sri Lankan Nuwan Senaviratne, Dayanand Garani and Raghavendra aka Raghu, who are integral to Team India's preparations.
Olympic bronze-winning Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was on Tuesday added to the list of Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awardees, taking the total number of this year's winners to an unparalleled 12.
The government decided to form an oversight committee which will investigate the allegations of sexual harassment of women wresters by WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Batra said athletes and officials travelling abroad for training and competitions should be careful and restrict their movements. India's own COVID-19 daily case count surpassed the 3 lakh mark on Thursday with more than 2,000 deaths.
Indian athletes are undergoing rigorous training sessions to acclimatise themselves to the conditions in this historic city.
Celebrated boxer M C Mary Kom will aim for a historic sixth gold at the AIBA Women' World Championships, the build up of which has been marred by a row over lone Kosovan boxer's participation and poor quality air in the national capital.
Indian badminton star Pusarla V Sindhu won badminton's women's bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, beating China's He Bing Jao 21-13, 21-15 in third-place play-off on Sunday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
The 32-year-old Indian eased into the quarter-finals of the Olympics men's +91kg boxing in his debut Olympic Games, defeating Jamaica's Ricardo Brown in his opening bout, in Tokyo, on Thursday.
Led by reigning World champion M C Marykom, the won five gold, four silver and a bronze medal at the Venus Cup International.
Manish Kaushik has announced his arrival on the senior scene in grand fashion.
Amit Panghal (52kg) and Kavinder Singh Bisht (56kg) remained on course for their second successive international gold medals this year and India looked good to notch up its best ever performance in the Asian Boxing Championships.
Nieva said boxers in all the five Olympic categories for women will be picked after selection bouts over two days.
Well aware of their preparations and formative years, Modi's conversations touched upon the making of their success stories and also some fun queries like the one posed to world champion P V Sindhu.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded India's athletes for their spectacular showing at the Tokyo Olympics, saying their tremendous show has inspired the youth of the country.
Former World Champion Abbos Atoyev and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Patrick Gallagher were among the five international pugilists that the World Series of Boxing's Indian franchise -- Mumbai Fighters -- picked up in a draft order conducted by the sport's governing body AIBA.
Sarita (60kg), who was banned for a year due to her emotional outburst at the Asian Games medal ceremony after losing a controversial semi-final bout, returned to the country from the Chinese city of Qian'an on Friday. The Manipuri fought three bouts and won two of them during the competition which featured rivals from hosts China, Korea, Mongolia and Thailand.
Harmanpreet Kaur got back among the runs with a 63-run knock in the fifth ODI against New Zealand and followed that up with a century (104) in the World Cup warm-up match against South Africa.
Varinder had to pull out of his 60kg category bout due to high fever but he tested negative for COVID-19.
'I would urge my Indian friends to look at how significant the overall support was.'
'I really enjoyed boxing - I still do. This is a sport that really puts you through a lot of hard training, and you can always reap the benefits of that, even as a footballer.'
Vaibhav Patil, team physiotherapist of the Indian boxing team, tells Harish Kotian how he is able to keep the pugilists in shape.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has been named goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro - an unprecedented appointment in the run-up to the quadrennial extravaganza. The announcement was made in the presence of Olympic medallists and Rio star athletes such as boxer M C Mary Kom, hockey captain Sardar Singh, and shooter Apurvi Chandela, among others. Speaking on this new association with IOA Salman said, "I am honoured that Indian Olympic Association has chosen me as the goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
At a colourful ceremony, which included a presentation of India's indigenous martial art forms, dances and sports, Modi said technology has contributed to a sedentary lifestyle.
'If a person whom Vijender had thrashed earlier is now a World champion, why can't Vijender be champion now too?'
Grim police procedurals, dark superheroes, ghostly encounters, things get pretty intense on OTT this week. Sukanya Verma offers some suggestions.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
She is the first black woman elected to the upper chamber in more than two decades.
He has already scripted history but Indian boxing ace Amit Panghal (52kg) says he isn't quite done yet as he aims for the gold medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
As the curtains come down at the Tokyo Olympics, here's a glance at the medallists and those who came within touching distance of glory.
Competing in his maiden world championship, Negi, a former national champion, lost 1-4 to the sixth seed.
Unbeaten with demolishing victories in the previous three contests, star Indian boxer Vijender Singh will take on a slightly more experienced Hungarian Alexander Horvath in his fourth professional bout on March 12 in Liverpool. Vijender is preparing for a homecoming to India in June when he will fight maiden title bout -- the WBO Asia belt. The in-form middleweight has been unbeaten in the circuit, having clinched all his three wins by knockouts in only six rounds of action since his pro debut last October. Vijender will have no time to rest as he has another big fight lined up just three weeks' later at the Harrow Sports Centre, London, as he builds towards his ground-breaking title opportunity in India. Horvath comes into the fight against Vijender with a record of five wins from seven fights. The 20-year-old has the edge in experience over Singh with 31 rounds under his belt and has no fear of fighting abroad, taking bouts in Slovakia and France. "It's my absolute dream to fight back home in India in front of my countrymen and women so I won't let Horvath get in my way of that at all," stated Vijender Singh. "I need to continue my unbeaten record and it's important that I put on a commanding performance against Horvath and then next at Harrow to keep on course for my title shot and my homecoming," he said. Speaking about his opponent, Vijender said he does not consider Hungarian a major threat. "Horvath is a good solid opponent, maybe he will give me a few new tests, he has done more rounds than me and has a bit more experience, but will that compete with the power that I have and when I start landing my shots. "I don't believe that he'll be standing around for too long," he said. "I'm really excited as this is my first fight of the year and there are big plans ahead so I aim to make a very big statement of intent in Liverpool against Horvath that will show that I'm ready to fight for a title later this year."
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances