National record holder in women's javelin throw, Annu Rani would consider herself to be lucky to make it to the squad as she has been struggling for some time to reach the 60m mark.
The quota winners at the 2023 World Championship will not be eligible to participate in the continental qualifiers unless they participate in a different style.
She couldn't make the cut through qualifiers but star woman boxer M C Mary Kom's Olympic dream is not quite over yet as India has decided to seek a wildcard entry for her in the Games scheduled from August 5 this year. Mary Kom (51kg) had missed out on qualifying for the Olympics after bowing out in the second round of last month's World Championships -- the second and final qualifying tournament for women for the Games. The 33-year-old was required to make at least the semifinals to be assured of an Olympic berth in the mega-event in Astana, Kazakhstan. "She has been a phenomenal athlete and looking at her overall contribution to the sport, we have decided to request for a wildcard for her. However, her application will be among the many that the International Boxing Association (AIBA) will examine before taking a final decision," Chairman of the ad-hoc committee currently running boxing in India, Kishen Narsi, told PTI. Mary Kom, who is called 'Magnificent Mary' by AIBA, is a five-time world champion besides being a bronze-medallist from the London Olympics. The multiple-time Asian champion could not get an Olympic quota place in either of the two qualifying events for women boxers and is keeping her fingers crossed for a wildcard.
The National Anti-Doping Agency's Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) on Monday revoked the provisional suspension imposed on Bajrang Punia till NADA issues a Notice of Charge to the wrestler, who had refused to provide his sample for dope test after the selection trials in March.
Indian rowers Swarn Singh Virk along with Manjeet Singh and Sandeep Kumar booked their berths in the upcoming London Olympics after winning their individual events in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers at Chung Ju, Korea.
Along with Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Jena, Rohit Yadav and D P Manu have also qualified for the August 19-27 World Championships in Budapest.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that the government will keep in close touch with all relevant groups to ensure a virus outbreak does not have affect the Summer Olympics. Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organisers are not considering cancelling the Olympics, which start on July 24.
Rhythm Sangwan emerged victorious in the women's 25m pistol event at the Rifle/Pistol National Selection Trials in New Delhi, defeating double Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker in a shoot-off.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Butterfly swimmer Sajan Prakash's journey from injury to Olympics 'A' cut.
A resolute Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Simranjit Kaur (60kg) advanced to the finals with impressive victories but the legendary M C Mary Kom (51kg) and world number one Amit Panghal (52kg) settled for bronze medals at the Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers, in Amman, on Tuesday. Also ending with bronze medals were Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg). All the six boxers have already secured their tickets to the Olympic Games by making the semi-finals but Krishan and Kaur will come back with at least silver medals after entering the finals.
India's first world badminton champion P V Sindhu said her next aim is to bag the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Indian shot-putter Om Prakash Karhana on Friday qualified for the 2012 London Olympics as well as next month's World Championships after clinching gold in an IAAF meet at Szombathely in Hungary.
India then went on to clinch the Jharkhand Women's Asian Champions Trophy Ranchi 2023 with a dominant 4-0 win over Japan in the Final and achieved their best-ever FIH World Rankings (No. 6 with 2368.83 points) in November.
Gold rush: Yarraji, Sable, women's 4x400m relay finish on top to extend India's Asian C'ship dominance
With Vikas Krishan making the cut for Olympics in the 75kg category, the door is shut on the much celebrated Vijender Singh, who was eyeing qualification to the Rio Games ever since the International Boxing Association (AIBA) allowed professional boxers to compete in the quadrennial showpiece.
Asian Games gold-medallist Indian heptathlete Swapna Burman said she will leave no stone unturned to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but achieving the qualification standard will be a tough task.
The discus thrower made the grade after finishing third with a throw of 63.29 meters in an IAAF meeting, in Szombathely, Hungary, recently.
Bhat is the youngest among the probables shortlisted by the AIFF for the India under-23 squad.
An unprecedented seven Indian shuttlers are set to qualify for the Olympics Games at Rio de Janeiro when the official BWF rankings are released on Thursday.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jitender Kumar (51kg) became the fifth Indian pugilist to make the cut for Beijing Olympics after winning the third-place playoff in the Asian Boxing Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan on Sunday.
Five Indian athletes have qualified for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games to be held in August in Singapore after their impressive performance in the Asian Area Qualification Championships.
Golfer Siddikur Rahman has become Bangladesh's first athlete to qualify for Olympics after finishing 56th in the final eligibility rankings for the Rio Games.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra's Paris Games preparations will be put through a stern test when he begins his season in the first leg of the prestigious Diamond League one-day meet series against a star-studded but familiar field, in Doha on Friday.
The Indian shooting team finished second at the ISSF World Cup in Buenos Aires, winning eight medals including four gold, two silver, and two bronze.
Both made sure of semi-final berths in the 12-nation men's Olympic hockey qualifying tournament.
In other results, Vishal Thennarasu Kayalvizhi ran a personal best of 45.57s in the men's 400m but that could only fetch him a fourth-place finish.
Asian Games gold medallist Sudha Singh qualified for the upcoming London Olympics in the 3000m steeplechase by breaking her own National record in the VIII meeting Iberoamericano de Atletismo championship in Huelva, Spain.
Asian champion Vikas Krishan (60kg) and Shiva Thapa (54kg) assured themselves of not just a medal but also a berth in the Youth Olympic Games after qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Youth Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday.
The 26-year-old Avinash Sable, who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 3000m steeplechase event during the World Athletics Championships last year, became the first Indian to run a half marathon under sixty one minutes.
Having missed the World Championships in Belgium in October, Karmakar has a tough road ahead of her to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024, but she wanted to stay positive and focus on her training.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will go ahead with the trials in the men's freestyle 74kg category despite a postponement request from the injured Sushil Kumar. Sushil, who has been struggling to revive his career, has pulled out of Friday's trials citing a hand injury and had requested trials in his category to be postponed.
India will have an unprecedented seven boxers in the Olympic Games after teen sensations Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) earned their London tickets by advancing to the finals in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan.
'Vinesh wants an assurance from the government. Probably she fears that if WFI gets back the control, the federation may change the selection policy. But how can the government give assurance on this. The government can't interfere in selection matters.'
Shankar has trained his eyes on a Paris Olympics berth but for that he will have to achieve a qualifying standard of 2.33 metres.
In pursuit of an elusive Olympic medal for India in archery, power couple Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das have left their 11-month-old daughter behind to find lost form and hone their skills under the legendary coach Kim Hyung-Tak, at a South Korean countryside.
The shortlisted players will attend a series of coaching camps at SAI Centre Bangalore from March 5.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year suspended AIBA, the International Boxing Association, over issues surrounding its finances and governance and took over the boxing competition and qualification for the 2020 Olympics.
Set for their fourth Olympics in a row, the Indian rowers face a tough test but would look to show that they do not just make up the numbers in the London Games beginning July 27.
