London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and newly-crowned world No 1 Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the final in women's and men's singles badminton respectively at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Saturday.
The number of Indian teenagers winning medals at the big stage has gone up exponentially
Vijender Singh (75kg) became the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games for a third successive time after reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday.
Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza will carry India's gold medal hopes in the tennis event of the Commonwealth Games as both progressed to the singles final even as the star pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi bit the dust in a big upset on Friday.
Sakshi Chaudhary prevailed in a split verdict against the Asian Games bronze-medallist in an engrossing second-round bout after both the boxers got opening-round byes.
It's a dip that India can probably relate to given that the country went from two gold, three silver and four bronze in Guangzhou 2010 to a mere two bronze at Incheon 2014.
Women formed the core of India's stupendous day four at the 21st Commonwealth Games where a 16-year-old Manu Bhaker delivered a record-shattering shooting gold medal and the table tennis team shocked fancied defending champions Singapore to clinch the top honours for the first time in the event.
Indian shooter Vijay Kumar won the silver medal in the 25m Rapid Fire pistol event at the London Olympics on Friday.
The overall tally of six gold, five silver and 14 bronze medals at the end of day six put the country in 8th spot in the table with China leading the pack by quite a distance, having already crossed the 100-mark.
On Wednesday, the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) wrote to the sports ministry to comply with the High Court order.
Sonam Malik,19, is the youngest Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Olympic Games.
It was a day when India counted the silvers, a total of five, even though there was no gold in the tally.
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.
P V Sindhu hoped to regain peak fitness before the start of individual events and assured India will return with multiple medals.
In the medal standings, India were placed eighth with a compilation of seven gold, five silver and 17 bronze.
Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh maintained his rampaging form to sail into the semi-finals and join six other Indians who have booked a medal each for themselves in the Asian Boxing Championships in Zhuhai, China, on Thursday. Vijender out-punched Kyrgyzstan's Karipov Ruslan for a 19-4 victory in the middleweight quarter-finals and assured himself at least a bronze in the event, in which he clinched a silver medal in the previous edition.
Pooja Ghatkar overcame technical issues to clinch the women's 10m air rifle bronze medal as hosts India opened their account on a positive note in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in New Delhi.
Chad le Clos completed a sweep of butterfly titles at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on Monday to cap a three-gold performance for South Africa on a penultimate day of the swimming programme that produced several upsets.
Debutant boxer Amit Panghal (49kg) continued his sensational run to make the final with a hard-fought win but an injured Vikas Krishan (75kg) had to settle for bronze after being declared medically unfit for his semifinal at the 18th Asian Games, in Jakarta, on Friday.
Mary Kom defeated Chinese Taipei's Meng-Chieh Pin in a split verdict in the quarter-finals to make the last four stage of the light flyweight (48kg) category.
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.
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore says the corporate sector is very much willing to support development of sports and athletes in India but it needs to be given the assurance that the money is going in right hands.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
India's focus on day eight will be centered around tennis mixed doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna who are to take on the US pair of Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram, on Saturday night, in the semi-finals at the Rio Olympics.
India won two bronze medals from track and field through Abitha Mary Manuel and Anamika Das on the third day of competition at the fifth Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia, Samoa, on Wednesday. Manuel and Das placed third in the girls' 800 metres and shot put respectively.
The 16-year-old claimed the top honours in the men's 10m air pistol event at the season-opening ISSF World Cup.
India's good run in cue sports continued for the second day in a row after thrashing arch-rivals Pakistan in the men's snooker team semi-finals. Now, India is assured of at least a silver medal in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou on Monday.
Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom entered the final in the 48 kg classs at the Commonwealth Games, beating Sri Lanka's Anusha Dilrukshi , on Wednesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
India dominated the range and the ring as Shreyasi Singh's double trap gold shored up the medal tally while the entire men's Indian boxing contingent made the semi-finals to be assured of podium finishes in an unprecedented performance on Day 7 of the 21st Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast on Wednesday.
India's young assured themselves a medal by entering the semi-finals of the Junior Asian Table Tennis Championships in Bangkok for the first time in the history of the game. The entry to the last-four stage has not only assured the four-member Indian team a bronze medal but also a straight entry into the World Junior Championships, to be held in Slovakia in December.
Indian pugilist Sonia Lather was assured of a medal in the 57kgs at the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championship, only the colour had to be decided on Friday in a thrilling final in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Cricket was the first to hit the restart button in Indian sports with the IPL, albeit on foreign shores of UAE, in a strict bio-secure bubble.
Asian champion Vikas Krishan (60kg) and Shiva Thapa (54kg) assured themselves of not just a medal but also a berth in the Youth Olympic Games after qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Youth Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday.
Jonatan Christie gifted Indonesia the Asian Games gold medal they most yearned for when he beat Taiwan's Chou Tienchen in an exciting men's singles badminton final in front of a vociferous home crowd on Tuesday.
India 'A' men's quartet clinched the gold medal at the Tata Steel Asian Chess Championship in Kolkata on Monday.
Addressing a press conference, farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadoni said if the Centre does not accept their demands during Saturday's talks, they will intensify their agitation against the new farm laws.
'An unsung hero is fine, but an insulted one is not.'
Bajrang Punia met Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and said he has been assured that his case will be looked into.
18-year old Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra had recently scripted history by becoming the first Indian athlete to become a world champion at any level when he won a gold medal at the U-20 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland on July 23. His 86.48m effort brought India's first World record and the country's first-ever gold in any World athletics championships. An attempt at a wild card entry into 2016 Rio Olympics didn't materialize and Chopra will now be one of India's top medal hopes at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
