The Hong Kong Open finalist, Sameer reached the quarter-finals with a shocking 21-17, 21-15 win in a 40-minute match.
India's squash players wrapped up a historic performance at the Asian Games, clinching an unprecedented men's team gold after the women's side settled for its first ever silver in Incheon on Saturday.
Parupalli Kashyap etched his name firmly in the history books by becoming the first Indian male shuttler in 32 years to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.
Anand Pawar was the lone Indian survivor in the singles, advancing to the quarter-finals, while nine doubles pairs entered the pre-quarterfinals in the New Zealand Open Grand Prix badminton tournament in Auckland on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
The third-seeded Indian defeated World No. 39 Saena Kawakami of Japan 21-15, 21-13 in the opening round at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium.
India's best hope in the women's singles, Saina Nehwal bowed out of the Yonex Sunrise India Open Grand Prix badminton tournament, though Chetan Anand and Anand Pawar kept hopes alive by defeating their rivals in the men's pre-quarterfinal matches in Hyderabad on Thursday.
The London Olympic bronze medallist will face either Denmark's Line Christophersen or compatriot Ira Sharma for a place in the finals at the Super 100 event, which is a part of BWF's revised Olympic qualification events.
Tara Iyer advanced to the quarterfinals while the rest of the Indians crashed out of the Asian Tennis Championships.
The Indo-Belgian pair beat Yves Allegro and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-3, 6-1
Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar advanced in the badminton doubles after India's challenge ended in the singles events at the Asian Games.
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.
Defending champion and top seed Stanislas Wawrinka scored a clinical 6-1, 6-4 win over Borna Coric of Croatia to progress to the men's singles quarter-finals at the ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
P V Sindhu cemented her position as a dominant force on the world stage with an Olympic silver medal while Saina Nehwal continued to battle with injuries in a year, which saw Indian badminton take giant strides at the global platform. It turned out to be a watershed year for Sindhu, who reached the upper echelons of world badminton with a silver medal at Rio Games -- an achievement also for her mentor and chief coach Pullela Gopichand, who became the only Indian coach to produce two Olympic medallists. On the other hand, for the first part of the year, it was Saina's battle with injuries which dominated the headlines even though she was considered to be the best bet for India at Rio. The Indian ace fought against time to recover from an Achilles tendons and went on to win the Australian Super Series.
Images from Tuesday's action at the Australian Open.
The haul of 64 medals at the Commonwealth Games, in July-August, which included 15 gold, should act as the ideal springboard for the Indian contingent to better its medal tally at Guangzhou, China, four years ago.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
The Indian women's table tennis team won gold
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Olympic champion, Spain's Carolina Marin turned out to be the costliest buy of the second edition of the Premier Badminton League (PBL), while Kidambi Srikanth fetched the highest amount by an Indian at the players' auction, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Heptathlete Swapna Barman added a dash of heroism to her historic gold medal
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
An important factor in India's stupendous success in 2021 was the way the government opened its coffers to support athletes.
Leander Paes and Martina Hingis eased into the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals of the Wimbledon championships but it was curtains for Rohan Bopanna and his Spanish partner Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
Sports Ministry formally recognises yogasana as competitive sport.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
India's campaign in the Asian Games gymnastics ended, on Friday, without a medal after Dipa Karmakar finished fifth in the women's balance beam event final in Jakarta.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Young men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too entered the quarter-finals after getting past Chinese Taipei's Liao Min Chun and Su Ching Heng 21-17, 21-16 in the second round.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Images from Day 10 of the 2021 US Open in New York on Thursday.
Manjit Singh came from nowhere to snatch the men's 800m gold for the biggest medal of his life but finals continued to be a riddle for P V Sindhu
India's gold haul from track-and-field continued at the Asian Games on Thursday, culminating in its best showing at the continental showpiece in close to seven decades. However, there was heartbreak in the hockey arena as its men's team was beaten by Malaysia in the semi-finals.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Four years after a bronze at London Games made her the toast of the nation, Saina Nehwal will once again carry a billion hopes when she along with the other six shuttlers, including doubles exponent Jwala Gutta, begin their campaign at the Rio Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday.
