Commonwealth Games gold medalist Manika Batra said reading books, meditation, and watching TV series are some of the activities which is helping her spend time during the coronavirus enforced nationwide lockdown. The Indian table tennis star also stressed the importance of working on physical fitness and staying positive as the country continues to reel under the pandemic.
India's table tennis star Manika Batra alleged that national coach Soumyadeep Roy asked her to throw a match during the Olympic qualifiers in March and that was the main reason she refused his help during the Tokyo Games.
With just a month left for the London Games, Olympic-bound Indian paddlers Soumyajit Ghosh and Ankita Das will leave for Zhengding, China on Sunday for a 16-day long training camp.
Indian badminton team's chief coach Pullela Gopichand, multiple world title holder cueist Pankaj Advani, former hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay were some of the prominent names who made financial contribution in country's fight against coronavirus pandemic.
Day 1 witnessed a lot of action across events at Gold Coast. Here are some highlights -- in pictures -- from the opening day's events...
While national champion Anthony Amalraj defeated world number 49 Emmanuel Lebesson of France, Sharath Kamal got the better of Slovakian Jan Zibrat 4-2, in Doha on Thursday.
Ace Indian paddler Achantha Sharath Kamal lost to Germany's Timo Boll 1-4 in the second round to crash out of the World Table Tennis Championships in Paris.
India's Mouma Das, K Shamini and Madhurika Patkar have entered the main draw of the women's singles event while Soumyajit Ghosh too made the cut in the men's competition at the World Table Tennis Championships in Paris.
India's foreign table tennis coach Leszek Kucharski feels Olympic-bound paddlers Soumyajit Ghosh and Ankita Das can spring a few surprises but they are not among the favourites to win a medal in the London Games.
Paralympic gold-winners Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Manish Narwal were also given the Khel Ratna at a dazzling awards ceremony on Saturday.
A summary of Indian athletes' performances on Sunday, August 7, Day 10 of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
India's representation in the singles events of the World Table Tennis Championship was reduced to just four players, three of them women, after six others failed to qualify for the main draw.
Both the men's and women's table tennis teams of India were on Saturday handed easy draws for the Commonwealth Games commencing in New Delhi on Sunday.
Soumyajit Ghosh's qualification for the London Olympics has taken everyone by surprise. But the Siliguri paddler knows that it will not be a stroll in the park when it comes down to facing European and Chinese giants in London.
Sathiyan rose four spots to be placed 24th in the latest ITTF rankings, following his impressive sixth place finish in the Asia Cup in Yokohama earlier this month. Last week, he was the sole Indian to reach the round of 32 in the World Championships in Hungary.
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.
After conceding the first leg, Pakistan hit back strongly to go 1-0 up against India in the bilateral tennis series.
India's campaign at the China Open Super Series Table Tennis ended after Neha Aggarwal lost to Viktoria Pavlovich 0-4 in the women's singles in Changchun, on Friday.
Following is the schedule of the Indian contingent on the 11th day of the Asian Games in Jakarta on Wednesday.
India endured another disappointing day in table tennis competitions at the Asian Games with only the men's doubles pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Subhajit Saha progressing to the pre-quarters stage at the Guangzhou Gymnasium in Guangzhou on Tuesday.
Two more Australian athletes have pulled out of the Commonwealth Games in India citing security and health concerns, adding to the growing list of withdrawals from next month's showpiece event.
India's national table tennis coach Massimo Constantini expects his wards to do well in next month's Asian Championship in Lucknow to boost their confidence ahead of next year's Commonwealth Games.
Sharath along with G Sathiyan has been handed a tough draw in the men's singles competition.
India's 572 athletes hope to return home with an overflowing treasure chest of medals.
India's Ankita Das fought valiantly and stretched World No 10 China's Ruochen Gu to six games before losing in the quarter-finals of the Volkswagen World Junior Table Tennis Championships, in Bahrain on Sunday.
India's Achanta Sharath Kamal came up with a splendid performance to shock top seed Li Ching of Hong Kong and win the Egypt Open Table Tennis Championships in Cairo on Sunday. The sixth seeded Indian Olympian won 11-5,11-6,14-16,12-10,11-9 to claim his second successive title in as many weeks, having won the US Open last Sunday, beating Keineth Thomas of Slovakia in Michigan.
Diya Chitale and Manush Shah had also sought the HC's intervention in the matter.
India cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were on Monday recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna by the awards selection committee.
Renowned Italian coach Massimo Constantini will groom Indian paddlers for the 2010 Commonwealth Games scheduled in the capital.
With a three-stage plan in place, Indian paddlers would be fully prepared for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi next year, feels national coach Bhawani Mukherjee.
Following the criticism of the newly-introduced two-tier format for team events at the ongoing Asian Championships, Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) has decided to review the new system.
Modi on Saturday hosted the Indian contingent at his residence to felicitate the players in New Delhi.
Neeraj Chopra launches outreach programme, interacts with students from 75 schools
'In one case, she wasn't even there in the scene, but she just kept watching it and cheering me on.'
The Indian men maintained their winning spree despite their spearhead Achanta Sharath Kamal losing a tie, while the women suffered their third successive defeat in the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Moscow on Tuesday. India defeated Argentina 3-1 to register their third win on the trot in the men's section while their women, after losing to Denmark and Malaysia earlier, went down to group leaders Turkey 1-3.
Coaches Jayanta Pushilal and S Raman have been nominated for the Dronacharya honour.
IOA wants flexibility with calendars
Leander Paes is just three shy of completing a century of Grand Slam appearances but is now unsure whether uncertainty caused by coronavirus pandemic will allow him to complete the coveted milestone or for that matter compete at the next year's Tokyo Olympics. Paes had announced that 2020 would be his last season as a professional player but his plan to bid adieu on a high with a record eight appearance at the Olympics, was stalled by the COVID-19 outbreak, which has wrecked the sporting calendar around the world.
All these male politicians are unlikely to risk their sinecures to speak up in support of a bunch of women wrestlers who have chosen to challenge a politician who appears to have the ruling regime in a stranglehold, points out Kanika Datta.
Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who is competing in his fifth Games, led the Indian contingent at the parade of nations during the Open Ceremony of the Rio Olympics on Friday night.
