Rediff.com introduces you to the athletes who have brought India glory in Birmingham.
Weightlifter Sanket Sargar won India's first medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games when he claimed the silver medal in the men's 55kg event in Birmingham on Saturday.
Fighting for an Olympic ticket on the unfamiliar legal turf, Sushil Kumar's glorious wrestling career may meet an unceremonious end when the Delhi High Court pronounces its verdict on Monday on who gets to board the flight to Rio between him and Narsingh Yadav. An unfavourable verdict for Sushil may not be the end on the legal front as he can still challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court. But it could well signal the end of the road for perhaps the greatest Indian Olympian, who won two back-to-back medals. With less than two months left for the Olympics, starting August 5, future look bleak for the unassuming grappler from Haryana whose injuries played a part in the entire sequence of events leading up to Monday. The Delhi High Court, in its last hearing on Thursday, gave clear indications that it was likely to give a judgement in favour of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) in the tiff over selection trials in the men's 74kg freestyle category. The Delhi High court had observed that it did not find "any statutory mandate" to hold trials before the Olympics.
Competing for the first time in women's 60kg category after jumping up the weight division from 58kg, Sakshi hardly broke a sweat en route to the final.
'I could not do mat training for nearly 25 days. I was not able to run as well after the injury. Before a tournament like Olympics even missing one day's training is not good.'
In a shocking turn of events, 25 out of the 45 women grapplers, who train at the SAI centre in Lucknow, reported absent from the national camp without taking permission from the National Federation.
Despite winning the case in the Delhi High Court against the Wrestling Federation of India, Geetika Jakhar's Olympic dream is still hanging by a thread as she is yet to get her visa for Helsinki, Finland, where the last qualifying event for London Games is starting on Thursday.
India's weightlifters delivered the medals on Thursday, but the system seems to have let them down at the ongoing Commonwealth Games.
India are grappling with a dilemma over who to select between the logical candidate or a sentimental favourite as the country's representative in men's 74kg freestyle wrestling at the Rio Olympics. Since winning India's quota place by capturing a bronze medal at last year's World Championship in Las Vegas, Narsingh Yadav had more or less taken his ticket to Brazil for granted. With the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) also backing the 26-year-old, it seemed his place was certain until double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar approached the Delhi High Court on Monday demanding a match between the pair to determine who should compete in Rio. "As asked by the court, we heard Sushil and noted his point. We'd submit our observations and will wait for the court's instruction," WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar told Reuters on Thursday.
Uncertainty is so intrinsic to sports that elite athletes will not have much trouble coping up with a pandemic-forced lockdown, believe India's top sports psychologists as they become a part of their journey into an unchartered territory. Rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, which has impacted minds as much as health and productivity, sports pyshologists Dr Chaitanya Sridhar, Nanaki J Chadha, and Keerthana Swaminathan are dealing with athletes across disciplines and economic spectrum, being their "sounding board, friend" and enabling them to process the magnitude of the situation.
Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik and Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat won a bronze each as India's women ended their campaign without a gold medal in the Asian Wrestling Championships, in Xi'an, on Friday.
Kiren Rijiju replied to Phogat and stated that there was a fault in the transformer outside the centre and the power supply has been restored.
Divya won all four bouts in five-wrestler 68kg category, as the competition was fought in the round robin format.
The Commonwealth Games gold medallist wrestler's journey started in 2005 from a little known tehsil in Beed district called Patoda.
'He has two small children, think of the impact on them.' Mixed emotions in Indian sports fraternity after Sushil's arrest in murder case.
He will now clash with Switzerland's Stefan Reichmuth for a place in the gold medal match.
The who's who of India's sports fraternity was present under one roof to acknowledge the contribution of those who did the country proud in their respective fields. Our correspondent Harish Kotian too was there at the second Sahara India Sports Awards function in Mumbai.
The who's who of India's sports fraternity was present under one roof to acknowledge the contribution of those who did the country proud in their respective fields. Our correspondent Harish Kotian too was there at the second Sahara India Sports Awards function in Mumbai.
Vinesh shocked in final of Medved event in Belarus
What a year Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, Saina Nehwal, Vijender Singh and Anirban Lahiri had!
Some sportsstars kept celebrations simple while some ushered in the Festival of Lights in style.
Vinesh, Dutee, Bhaker also among nominees for 'BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year'.
Hitesh Harsinghani/Rediff.com captures glimpses from the Mallakhamb World Championship 2019 in Mumbai.
Young Indian golfer Arjun Bhati on Tuesday announced that he has donated Rs 3.3 lkah to PM-CARES fund by selling off his torn shoes with which he won the Junior Golf World Championship in 2018. The Indian golfer had earlier donated Rs 4.3 lakh after giving away his 102 trophies to help the country in its fight against the coronavirus.
The swimmers led India's charge on Saturday by winning 7 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze as they completely dominated the pool yet again.
Vinesh Phogat created history, becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in wrestling at the Asian Games in Jakarta.
Wrestler Bajrang Punia will be the flag bearer at closing ceremony at Tokyo Games on August 8.
Yogeshwar Dutt is aiming for a yellow metal at next year's World Championships and thereby earn an automatic berth in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
He might lack the experience of competing at the highest level, but Amit Kumar, the youngest member of the Indian wrestling contingent, believes that this can work in his favour at the London Olympics.
Wrestling's international governing body, FILA has announced a rejig in weight classes for its competitions, including those of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, a development which would lead to India's medallists Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt moving up to a higher weight category.
Indian grapplers finished their campaign at the Asian Wrestling Championship in Bangkok, Thailand with nine medals, including a gold, in the five-day event.
The 23-year-old champion wrestler's Asian gold medal tells us that tough times don't last, tough people do.
'Should the Kumbh Mela even be held while an infectious pandemic lays waste to India?'
Sajan Bhanwal became the first Indian to win back-to-back medals at the Junior World Wrestling Championship after he secured a silver in the 77kg Greco Roman category in Trnava, Slovakia.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and S K Kaul allowed the review plea filed by the victim's family on the issue of the sentence awarded to Sidhu.
Sagaliuk's defeat in quarterfinals shut the repechage door on the Indian.
Sandeep Singh said he will now serve the country in politics after doing so as a sportsperson.
In the twilight of his career and prone to injuries like never before, ace Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt is still eager to continue and insists that the thought of retirement has not even crossed his mind yet.
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.
