Faced with severe criticism from various quarters on the composition of Indian contingent for the Asian Games, the government is set to make a U-turn and name managers in 23 disciplines out of 28 the country will compete in the multi-sporting event.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has recommended slashing the country's proposed Asian Games delegation by a third and sending only medal hopefuls to South Korea's Incheon later this month.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Indian boxing's biggest names are demanding an all systems reboot to halt the sport's decline after a medal-less Olympic campaign in Rio and their roadmap goes beyond having the much-delayed national federation.
The Bollywood actor said he opted for cricket because it is commercially viable for him and not because he favoured the popular sport over other disciplines.
American Ashton Eaton retained the decathlon world title on Saturday and broke his own world record with a score of 9,045 points.
Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi urged the government to reinstate hockey and football in the priority list after the recent success of the two teams in international tournaments.
Quaison fires Sweden to extra-time World Cup playoff win over Czechs
India's top discus thrower Vikas Gowda has retired, the Athletics Federation of India confirmed on Wednesday.
India's total medal count stood at 252 (132 gold, 79 silver, 41 bronze), leaving behind hosts Nepal and Sri Lanka behind. Nepal has won 165 medals (45 gold, 44 silver, 76 bronze) while Sri Lanka have collected 197 medals (36 gold, 68 silver, 93 bronze).
Two Pakistani athletes and one each from Sri Lanka and Nepal tested positive for banned substances.
India's hopes of winning a medal in badminton team events at the 18th Asian Games went up in smoke after the men's and women's sides bowed out of the competition following identical 1-3 defeats in the quarter-finals in Jakarta on Monday.
Japan have sent home four players from their Asian Games basketball team for spending the night with women in a Jakarta hotel, the head of the delegation Yasuhiro Yamashita said on Monday.
Deputy Chef de Mission Balbir Singh Kushwaha said that facilities at the Games Village were good.
Seven decades after Adolf Hitler sought to stop Jews from competing in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, more than 2,500 Jewish competitors will take part in the 14th European Maccabi Games from Wednesday.
The IOA said it will foot the bill of the axed athletes if the government refuses to do so.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar showered praise on Deepa Malik, who created history by becoming the first-ever Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics.
A round-up of all the results from the 16th World Athletic Championships in London
'I think for the next generation to come up, we need to put a system in place which actually identifies and nurtures talent. We have grown exponentially but there is lot more which needs to be done' 'It's not only my academy, all academies across the country are running full. There are many, many parents who want their kids to give up everything and concentrate on badminton'
India will send a 17-member team to represent Asia in the second Afro-Asian Games, to be held in Algiers from July 28 to August 6.
'It was a great response. We have our responsibilities in place, 'said IOA president Suresh Kalmadi after his presentation.
Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra defended football's exclusion from the Asian Games contingent and justified the decision of including lesser known sports like pencak silat, saying they are potential medal winners and there is no place for "also rans" in the squad.
>There's still hope and plenty to play for, says Rediff.com's Aruneel Sadadekar.
A large number of Indian athletes are in the dark about their participation at the Asian Games as the country's sports officials debate sending only medal hopefuls to Incheon.
The new Da da ding Nike ad, featuring actor Deepika Padukone, has gone viral. It has been appreciated by most but panned by some, and despite the mixed reviews it has nearly crashed the internet.
His participation at the Rio Olympics still shrouded in suspense, veteran Indian tennis star Leander Paes does not want another acrimonious build up to the Games, hoping that India will send its "best" team to the quadrennial extravaganza.
We present our alphabet of 2020, pulling in everything you'll remember about this year we'd rather forget.
The Olympic Council of Asia decided to drop cricket because of their tight schedule.
The committee also picked 19 sportspersons for the Arjuna Award, including the likes of cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav, track and field stars Tejinder Pal Singh Toor, Mohammed Anas and Swapna Barman.
Usain Bolt returns to the site of his first global triumph this week for a world championships showdown with a convicted dope cheat that has ramifications for athletics beyond just establishing who is the fastest man in the world.
India added 26 gold, 18 silver and 6 bronze on Thursday.
The boxers hardly broke a sweat while scooping all the seven gold medals up for grabs, while the shooters ended their campaign with an outstanding tally of 25 gold medals to ensure India's reign at the top remained unchecked in the 12th South Asian Games in Guwahati on Monday. On the penultimate day of competition, the Indian was perched at the top with 289 medals (173 gold, 86 silver and 30 bronze).
Indian sportspersons will be seen in action in 14 disciplines at the August 13-29 Games.
Manavaditya Rathore, son of former Olympic Silver medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, won the gold medal at 8th International Junior Shotgun Cup in Finland, on Sunday.
The governing body of amateur boxing (AIBA) has given recognition to a newly-elected national federation in India, paving the way for fighters to compete under their national flag at the Asian Games which starts this week.
India will participate in all the 15 disciplines of the Games, in Islamabad from March 29 to April 7.
China announced a record 407-member team to compete in 26 disciplines at the Athens Olympics Games.
A record 40 disciplines, including chess, will feature at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
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