Rhythm Sangwan staged a fantastic comeback at the back-end of the women's 10m air pistol final to clinch a bronze medal at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Baku.
The 24-year-old, who finished 72nd in the giant slalom at the Sochi Winter Olympics four years ago, needs a score of 140 points or below in five races to qualify for the Winter Games in Pyeongchang from February 9 to 29.
The celebration of this historic feat was not yet over when Indian shuttlers scripted yet another jaw-dropping show in Birmingham, returning with six medals, including three golds, a silver and two bronze medals in August.
The former national champion won a berth following the withdrawal of players in the qualification list.
Two-time world champion Zareen defeated the two-time Asian Champion Nguyen by unanimous decision.
Punia is planning to skip the trials for the World Championships on August 25 and 26 and instead wants to train at a foreign location to prepare for the Asian Games
'Jaan hai to jahaan hai' 'It's a good decision because everyone is disturbed. Athletes' health is paramount'
Gymnastics officials said that Dipa's feat was the first time an Indian woman clinched a gold in a global gymnastic competition.
Lakshya Sen dished out a badminton masterpiece to notch up his second BWF Super 500 title with a straight-game win over Li Shi Feng of China in the final.
'I would say cut down another 0.5 seconds and it's possible in this case and that will take me 1:55:8, something that will surely get me into the semi-finals, and maybe towards the final as well.'
Mary Kom (51kg) claimed her eighth world medal at the recently-concluded championships in Russia. She was selected for the event ahead of Zareen, who was refused a trial by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), which decided to go by Mary Kom's consistent performances while making the choice.
Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75 kg) and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91 kg) are among the Indian elite men boxers selected for the Asian Continental Olympics Boxing Qualification tournament to be held at Astana, Kazakhstan from April 5-12.
Mane, who qualified third for the final, shot 247.5 to win the silver while Grigorii Shamakov took the gold with 249.2. Aleksa Mitrovic of Serbia won the bronze with a score of 227.9.
The frustration for aspirant Olympians has been palpable and athletes like table tennis player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran have been forced to innovate to stay sharp during the lengthy lockdowns.
Dipa Karmakar produced a strong show, finishing ninth in the first of the four subdivisions of the women's artistic category, at the Final Qualifier and Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.
Indian shooters ended their Olympic campaign on a dismal note as medal contender Gagan Narang and Sanjeev Rajput crashed out of men's 50m rifle 3 positions event in the qualifying stage, while Manavjit Singh Sandhu also failed enter the final in the men's trap on Monday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
ESU coach Ngampao Kipgen, a member of the Kuki tribe, told Reuters he was forced to flee to the hills with his family after his house was burned down.
Newly-crowned world champion Neeraj Chopra will look to maintain his unbeaten streak in the prestigious Diamond League meet when he competes in a star-studded men's javelin throw field in Zurich on Thursday.
Promising India forward Yuvraj Walmiki has been ruled out of the remainder of the men's Olympic hockey qualification tournament due to a hamstring injury. He sustained the injury during India's third round-robin match against France on Tuesday and did not play in the hard-fought 3-2 win over Canada on Wednesday night.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships.
Palak, Esha gold-silver feat makes it a historic day for India
The Indian duo ran-up a 7-2 lead early on, before entering the break at 11-7. Satwik and Chirag continued to move ahead and eventually grabbed the opening game.
Badminton players P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth carry India's medal hopes on Day 11 of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Punjab athlete Baljinder Singh has earned a berth for the London Olympics after finishing fifth in the Asian 20 Km Race Walking championships with a timing of 1:22:12.
Jitender lost 1-3 to Kaisanov in the summit clash at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium.
India's chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand says the draw hardly matters if the shuttlers are focused on gunning for a medal at the Olympics. He believes that it will boil down to two good back-to-back matches under pressure to earn a medal at the Rio Games, starting August 5.
Neeraj will be competing in his first Olympics and he has already qualified for the Tokyo Games early last year before the COVID-19 pandemic began
In an embarrassment for India, ace female wrestler Vinesh Phogat was, on Saturday, disqualified from the 1st World Olympic Qualifying event for being overweight on a day when other women grapplers also failed to book Rio Games berth.
Annu became the first Indian woman javelin thrower to qualify for the final round
The gymnast from Odisha has had a run of fourth place finishes at major international competitions.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up an upset win over the World No 8 and second-seeded Indonesian pair of Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the opening round.
How India's athletes fared at the Paris Paralympic Games on Friday.
The Indian girl finished eighth in the 10m Air Rifle event at the ISSF World Shooting Championships, but snatched a berth at the Beijing Games.
Rajiv Tomar became the third Indian grappler to qualify for the Beijing Olympics during a qualification tournament in Martigny, Switzerland. The Indian won silver in the 120 kg freestyle category in the event, held from April 18 to 20, and joined two other compatriots in the quadrennial mega extravaganza, a Wrestling Federation of India statement said.
Elavenil took gold in the women's 10m air rifle event to clinch her second gold at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol competition
Nieva said boxers in all the five Olympic categories for women will be picked after selection bouts over two days.
The Indian contingent was left red-faced for the second time in 15 days after Gurpreet Singh became the latest wrestler to be disqualified from an Olympic qualification event for being overweight.
