A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla on Wednesday said star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's historic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics has helped in removing a 'huge mental block' from the country's track and field athletes.
In hockey, the women's team continued its inspiring run with a silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
ISL reallocates prize money, league stage winners to get Rs 3 crore more from this season.
While there is no imminent threat to the AFC Asian Cup participation by the senior men's team in late 2023 or early 2024, some of the games slated for clubs and age-group national teams in the next few months could well be a tricky terrain.
Shaili Singh announced her arrival on the big stage by winning a silver in the Under-20 World Athletics Championships, missing out on a historic gold by a mere 1 cm with a 6.59m effort, in the long jump final in Nairobi on Sunday.
Sonam Malik (65kg) and Kiran (76kg) also lost their respective semi-finals in the women's competition to go out of the gold medal race as four of the five Indians in action fell at the last-four stage.
Bhaichung Bhutia will have a straight fight with former Mohun Bagan and East Bengal goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey.
New Zealand are placed in Group B along with Turkey, Paraguay and Mali.
England beat Spain 5-2 to win FIFA U-17 World Cup
China's Lu Shanglei and Wei Yi emphatically exhibited their rising chess prowess with convincing victories over Russians Vladimir Fedoseev, the top seed, and Mikhail Antipov, in the 10th round of the World Junior Chess Championships at Hotel Hyatt, in Pune, on Thursday. The victories ensured that the Chinese maintained joint-leader status with eight points each.
India stun Argentina in U-20 COTIF Cup football tourney
Lu Shanglei of China defeated Aleksander Indjic of Serbia and was crowned World junior chess champion at Hotel Hyatt, in Pune, on Sunday. In the girls' section, 16-year-old Alexandra Goryachkina successfully defended her title with a round to spare on Saturday.
The 18-year-old from Assam was among 20 sportspersons recommended for the Arjuna Award, which is subject to approval by Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Padmini Rout's unbeaten run was halted by top seed Aleksandra Goryachkina in the eighth round of the LIC World Junior Chess Championships, at the Hotel Hyatt, in Pune, on Tuesday. After a day's rest, the girls' section was dominated by the higher-rated Russians in the fray, with Daria Pustovoitova defeating Anna Iwanow of Poland. Both the Russian girls and Anna Iwanow of Peru jointly lead the girls' section in the 77-player event with 6.5 points each.
S L Narayanan, a regular visitor to Pune for the Maharashtra Chess League, has a reputation for shocking seeded players. On Thursday, in the fourth round of the LIC World Junior Chess championships, at the Hotel Hyatt, the teenager from Kerala played true to his reputation and stunned Polish Grandmaster Kamil Dragun.
Adjudged the best goalkeeper at the South American U-17 Championship in March, Borquez had a clean slate in four games to help his side secure a FIFA U-17 World Cup qualification for the first time since 1997.
Disappointed but not disheartened to miss out on a Rio Olympic berth, sensational javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, on Wednesday, said he is looking to put in the hard yards to earn India a medal at 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Indian U-17 team's performance was more of hype than actual achievement on the field.
'My role model was Sachin Tendulkar as a kid. I feel very proud that I have been able to follow his footsteps and become a UNICEF ambassador like him. I want for every child, regardless of their background, gender, caste etc to be able to access schools that are safe and supportive so that they can learn and thrive'
A star-studded England will take on unpredictable Chile in a Group F match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup at the refurbished Salt Lake Stadium, in Kolkata, on Sunday.
From Neeraj Chopra to Harbhajan Singh to Saina Mirza, India's top sportsperson mourned the passing away of one of the country's biggest sporting icons.
India qualified automatically for the event as hosts. They have prepared well with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) sending the players for training tours in Europe and a tournament in Mexico but the home side are the clear underdogs.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Rank-outsiders India may have a 'small percentage' of winning their tournament opener in the FIFA U-17 World Cup against what he expects to be an attacking USA team, coach Luis Norton de Matos said on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
