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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore hopes the stupendous success of FIFA Under-17 World Cup would motivate the country's budding footballers to improve their game and eye a World Cup qualification in near future.
Kavitha Kuruganti has been fighting for decades to ensure farmers are respected and get their due from the Indian nation. In order to ensure they don't struggle for a living, she works to ensure sustainable farm livelihoods and farmers' rights.
Dejected by the four-year ban imposed on Narsingh Yadav by CAS, the Indian Olympic Association has said that the embattled wrestler has been 'defeated by compatriots' rather than opponents.
He will serve out five-month ban on Sunday but WADA says his case a pending one
Just a few days after wrestler Narshing Yadav was caught for doping, another Rio Olympics qualified athlete Inderjeet Singh, a shot putter, has failed a dope test.
Nikhat from Telengana was handed the fourth spot in the 51 kg category which already has the six-time World Champion MC Mary Kom, RSPB's Jyoti Gulia and Haryana's Ritu Grewal as other contenders.
Mirabai Chanu was the historic success story of Indian weightlifting in a blemish-free 2017 in which the sport managed to stay clear of the dope scandals that have destroyed its credibility in the past.
A former official tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian why Shaw deserved a lighter sentence, and why BCCI's anti-doping programme is the best in the country.
While handing down a four-year ban on Narsingh Yadav, the Court of Arbitration for Sports has ruled that the wrestler failed to produce any 'real evidence' regarding the sabotage theory he had advanced and the balance of probabilities was that he orally took the banned substance intentionally in tablet form on more than one occasion.
Nine young British medics, including four women, who had been studying medicine in Sudan may have travelled to strife-torn Syria to work in areas controlled by dreaded Islamic State terrorists.
'We have ensured that whatever he eats or drinks comes in a packaged form and is thoroughly checked.'
The alleged conspiracy in the Narsingh Yadav dope scandal began to unravel, on Wednesday, with the wrestler identifying two fellow grapplers as the saboteurs, who contaminated his food with a banned steroid, in a formal police complaint.
His Olympic dream in jeopardy after a failed dope test, wrestler Narsingh Yadav claimed innocence, saying that the scandal is a conspiracy against him.
"All the review petitions along with all pending applications will be heard in open court on 22nd January, 2019, before the appropriate Bench. We make it clear that there is no stay of the judgment and order of this Court dated 28th September, 2018 passed in Writ Petition (Civil) No.373 of 2006 (Indian Young Lawyers Association & Ors. vs. The State of Kerala & Ors)," the order said.
Shuttler P V Sindhu scripted a new chapter in Indian Olympic history with unprecedented feat but the embattled Narsingh Yadav's dreams lay in tatters after being slapped with a four-year doping ban on a bitter-sweet day for the country at the Rio Games.
In what could be one of the biggest doping scandals in recent years, as many as 21 weightlifters have been provisionally suspended by the Indian Weightlifting Federation after testing positive for banned substances.
Coming into the tournament 21st in the WTA rankings, the Czech won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 16 minutes to add to her triumph in St Petersburg earlier this month.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Kolkata Knight Riders left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan has failed a random dope test in the Indian Premier League, it was reported on Thursday.
Laggards in international rankings, India finally made their presence felt by pulling off an impressive under-17 World Cup that drew all-round praise even though the country was eliminated in the very first round.
Dope-tainted Narsingh Yadav admitted that his career would be over if the four-year ban imposed on him by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) is not reviewed and said that the country should take up his case as India lost out on an Olympic medal in wrestling.
Livid with detractors for casting aspersions on her achievements because of a dope-tainted past, Asian Games gold medallist discus thrower Seema Punia said she has been 'ill-treated' by authorities, including the national federation, for many years now.
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An Olympic campaign saved by the fortitude of three women, a cricket team that rediscovered itself under a bold and zealous Virat Kohli -- Indian sports in 2016 was a dramatic mix of highs and lows wherein athletes mostly raised the bar but administrators found new ways to embarrass the country.
Shubir Rishi/Rediff.com continues his jungle adventure and narrates his day at the Kanha National Park.
"They would say, 'Look at these modern women. If someone puts a hand on their shoulder, they cry sexual harassment'. I became the butt of everybody's jokes." Read on to find out more
'We keep climbing one step and slipping three. In 2004, our relay team was 7th in the world. Then we slipped from there. Otherwise, today our 4x400 metres relay team would have been gearing for a medal at the Rio Games.' 'If we need to compete at the world level, our thinking needs to be at world level. You can't have akhada thinking.'
