Shot putter Manpreet Kaur smashed an 18-year-old national record to win gold and qualify for next year's Olympics as Railways dominated the show on the opening day of the 55th National Open Athletics Championships in Kolkata.
A summary of the country's athletes' showing at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday, August 3.
Star grappler Yogeshwar Dutt would seek to grab an Olympic quota place in his first opportunity when he spearheads a 17-member Indian campaign at the Asian Olympic Qualification wrestling championship, starting in Astana, Kazakhstan from Friday. It will be a tough three-day competition from March 18-20, considering that only the top two finishers in each weight category here will secure an Olympic berth for a country. This is the second qualifying event for the Rio Games. The first was held last year at the World Championship in Las Vegas, where just one Indian in Narsingh Yadav bagged a quota place for the country in Men's 74kg freestyle. With India's entry at Rio de Janeiro ensured in 74kg category, no one will be competing in this category. Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar also fights in the same weight division as Narsingh. Thus, the squad consists of five grapplers in men's freestyle, six in Greco-Roman and six in female wrestling. London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar, who pulled out of the 2015 World Championship due to an injury, has the best chance of grabbing an Olympic berth for India as well as a medal.
In a massive heartbreak for India, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt slumped to a shock defeat in the men's 65kg freestyle qualification round bout against Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia at the Rio Olympic Games.
The more experienced Heena Sidhu suffered a similar fate, as she was placed 25th with 571.
A summary of the country's athletes' showing at the Tokyo Games on Monday, August 2.
Bhavani Devi qualified for the Olympics through the Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) method.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Wrestler Sandeep Tomar secured an Olympic quota place for India in the men's 57kg freestyle category with a bronze-medal finish on the final day of the 1st World Olympic Qualifying tournament in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Indian equestrian Fouaad Mirza is yet to decide which one of his two horses will accompany him to the Tokyo Olympic Games and said he will pick the one carrying the best form leading up to the time of submitting the entry later this month.
Indian women's archery team endured a forgettable outing as they went down 0-6 to the Netherlands in the quarters.
India has been battling a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many countries to ban travellers from India.
Bindra praised Manu for patching up with coach Jaspal Rana and for working in tandem for her success.
In awe of the sensational Saurabh Chaudhary, former World championship silver-medallist shooter Jitu Rai feels the reticent youngster has it in him to humble one of the sport's all-time greats, South Korean Jin Jong-Oh, at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Both Balaji and Bhambri have got some decent results on clay in lead up to the Roland Garros, where the action will unfold during the Summer Olympics from July 27.
'This is just the beginning and I have a long long way to go. I am really excited to know what more I can do in 2028 and 2032.'
The one-day meet, an Olympic qualifying event, was held without electricity at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium which led to results being recorded manually. Hand timings are not considered valid for record purposes and hence will not be counted for Olympic qualifications.
Simone Biles won the vault final on Saturday to clinch her third gold medal of the Paris Games, dominating the competition with her signature Biles II vault to beat Brazilian silver medallist Rebeca Andrade with American Jade Carey taking bronze.
The 40-year-old Rai has won medals in every championships at the global and continental level but not the Olympics.
A summary of the country's athletes performed at the Tokyo Games on Wednesday, August 4.
'It is what athletes want and we believe this decision will give all athletes, technical officials and volunteers some respite and certainty in these unprecedented and uncertain times'
Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg) stormed into the quarter-finals, while the experienced Manoj Kumar (64kg) entered the last-16 stage in the International Boxing Association's World Olympic Qualification tournament after notching comprehensive victories in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Pranati Nayak is only the third Indian woman to win a medal at the GymWorld Cup after Aruna Budda Reddy (2018) and Dipa (2018).
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Achinta Sheuli and fellow Indian lifter N Ajith are both ready to leave the disappointment of missing out on Asian Games selection.
Philem Dipak Singh traces Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's rise to Olympic glory.
A look at Indian athletes' showing at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, July 27.
Chaudhary did not get off to the best of starts and, with a score of 47.7, was placed eighth in the standings after the first five shots.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) might have allowed professional boxers to compete in the Olympics but India's biggest pro star Vijender Singh will not be seen in the Rio de Janeiro Games as he hasn't been left with any time or chance to make the cut. In a landmark decision, AIBA today threw the Olympic doors open for professional boxers after an extraordinary congress in Lausanne, Switzerland voted overwhelmingly in favour of the move. The decision has, however, been met with a mixed response with some like Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis calling it "foolish" and "preposterous" while others like Amir Khan welcoming the step. In India, AIBA's decision brought the focus on Olympic medallist Vijender, who turned professional last year. The 30-year-old, a former amateur world No.1 in middleweight, is enjoying an unbeaten run in his pro career and is scheduled to fight for the WBO Asia title belt on July 16 in the national capital.
Here are some shots of top-class action from the Winter Games...
The European, American and final world qualifying boxing tournaments for the Tokyo Olympic Games were suspended on Monday due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the International Olympic Committee said. The IOC said the European qualifier in London, which was already under way and due to run to March 24, would end after Tuesday's evening session. It said it would provide details on the qualification process for the other regions at a later date.
Jena found it difficult to get the big throws in and thought of quitting the sport in July last year just before the World Championships.
It was the meeting of two superstars as World champion PV Sindhu caught up with Tamil movie superstar Kamal Haasan in Chennai on Thursday.
Asian Games bronze-medallist Satish Kumar (+91kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) notched up facile wins to enter the second round of the International Boxing Association's World Olympic Qualification tournament in Baku.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Chopra opened the competition with an effort of 83.03m before having two foul throws. After a fourth throw of 83.36m, Chopra sent the javelin to 88.07m amid loud cheers from a sizeable audience at the NIS Patiala.
Elavanil finished 16th while the more experienced Apurvi settled for the 36th place
Nethra had left the sport of sailing for one year after failing to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
India's table-tennis ace Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das booked their tickets to the Rio Olympics after winning their respective final rounds in Stage 2 of the Asia Olympic Qualification tournament in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Boxer-cum-politician Vijender Singh has said he has no qualms about admitting that he has paid an emotional price for the decision to make a political switch from the Congress to the BJP, but insisted that he had his reasons to do so.
India's top-ranked tennis player Sumit Nagal officially qualified for the Paris Olympics and advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the ATP 125 Perugia Challenger
