P V Sindhu became the country's first-ever woman silver medal winner in the Olympic Games after coming second best against world champion Carolina Marin of Spain in a pulsating clash for the gold in the badminton singles on Day 14 of competition.
India's total medal count stood at 252 (132 gold, 79 silver, 41 bronze), leaving behind hosts Nepal and Sri Lanka behind. Nepal has won 165 medals (45 gold, 44 silver, 76 bronze) while Sri Lanka have collected 197 medals (36 gold, 68 silver, 93 bronze).
Star grapplers Bajrang and Babita Kumari qualified for next month's World Wrestling Championship after emerging victorious in their respective weight categories in the final selection trials at the SAI training centre in Sonepat.
India's 572 athletes hope to return home with an overflowing treasure chest of medals.
Ravi, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, conceded early lead in all his bouts, but bounced back in tremendous fashion to outsmart his rivals in the men's freestyle event
Such was Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang's dominance in the 65kg competition that he won three of his four bouts inside first rounds.
Sanjivani Jadhav, one of the rising stars of Indian athletics, clinched the silver medal in the women's 10,000 metres at the 29th World University Games in Taipei City.
P Anitha, Madhavan Nambiar, Sudha Hari Narayan Singh, Virender Singh, and KY Venkatesh have also been awarded the prestigious award.
If a keen tussle for a ticket to Rio Games between double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and rising star Narsingh Yadav grabbed headlines off the mat, the youngsters showed the sport's bench strength in a country that gave the world the much-touted Pro Wrestling League this year.
Four years of blood, sweat and tears culminated into a historic Olympic performance as Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt did the country proud with lion-hearted performances in a truly memorable 2012 for Indian wrestling.
Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian threw down his greco-roman bronze medal in protest on Thursday after his bid for Olympic gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as "politics". Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the wrestling mat then walked off.
India's Manika Batra and Mouma Das lost 3-0 to Tianwei Feng and Mengyu Yu of Singapore in the women's sinlges final.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Ravi Dahiya became only the second Indian wrestler to qualify for the final at the Olympic Games, when he sensationally turned around the 57kg semi-final bout by pinning Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev, in Tokyo.
The haul of 64 medals at the Commonwealth Games, in July-August, which included 15 gold, should act as the ideal springboard for the Indian contingent to better its medal tally at Guangzhou, China, four years ago.
Divya Kakran led the pack with a stunning performance before Sarita Mor and Pinki grabbed gold in their respective categories as India dominated the opening day of women's competition at the Asian Wrestling Championships, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
The women's team comprising Joshana Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Sunayana Kuruvilla and Tanvi Khanna continued its unbeaten run, defeating China 3-0 in penultimate pool match.
Vinesh wins bronze, Pooja in line for second medal
The excitement has been palpable as relatives, neighbours and friends of Olympic medal winner Sushil Kumar, who won Silver medal in the 66 kg men's freestyle wrestling on the final day at London Olympics.
'Sakshi's medal will do to women's wrestling what Sushil's 2008 Olympic medal did to wrestling in general.' 'It will make more and more families put their daughters into wrestling.' 'More and more young girls will fall in love with the sport and demand that they be taken to akhadas.'
Also seen interacting with Prime Minister Modi was Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra over a bowl of choorma.
The exclusion of shooting, wrestling and archery from the initial programme of 2026 Commonwealth Games as "grave injustice" to the country
Bajrang Punia's bid to become only the second Indian to win a gold medal at the World Championship fell flat, as a tactically superior Takuto Otoguro stunned the Indian in the 65kg final, in Budapest, on Monday.
Indian origin wrestler Vinod Kumar Dahiya is all set to represent Australia at the Rio Olympics after he qualified in the 66kg weight category in the Greco-Roman event.
There was no disgruntled coach to lock him out as shown in the Bollywood blockbuster movie Dangal but Mahavir Phogat still missed watching daughter Babita Phogat's silver-winning campaign at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast on Thursday after he could not lay his hands on tickets to get inside the venue.
Sushil Kumar's wife Savi is delighted that he continued his medal-winning run at the Games and etched his name in history as the greatest Indian Olympian.
A bitter court battle, followed by an embarrassing dope scandal, before some redemption through an Olympic medal -- Indian wrestling in 2016 mirrored the script of a Bollywood potboiler in which Sakshi Malik emerged as the new star on the horizon. For most part of the year, wrestling hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, making it a tumultuous Olympic build-up after two-time medallist Sushil Kumar found himself ousted from contention just a couple of months before the Games in Rio. The chain of events that set in ended up disgracing the sport before Sakshi emerged an unlikely saviour in the Brazillian city.
The CWG will be important not only for Vinesh and Sakshi but also for Bajrang Punia, who has been a bit iffy about his attacking prowess
Sushil took a minute and 20 seconds to defeat Johannes Botha of South Africa on technical superiority to claim his third successive gold medal at the Games.
Ramdev heaped praise on Sushil Kumar's CWG feat
Here's a look at some Indian-origin athletes who will be representing their adopted countries at the Paris Games
There was ecstasy and agony in equal measure for the Indian contingent on Friday.
India has huge expectations from these champions. Rediff.com's Laxmi Negi and Norma Godinho glance at their chances at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Yogeshwar Dutt provided a late boost to India's medal collection at the 30th Olympic Games by claiming a memorable bronze in the men's freestyle 60 kg category, thus becoming the second Indian to achieve the feat in the country's Olympics history.
You don't prep for 2028 but for 2040, or even 2044. Sustained sporting excellence is based on mass support, grassroots development, and funding - and it is this trifecta India needs to work on, systematically, asserts Prem Panicker.
India's impressive show at the World Wrestling Championships continued as Bajrang bagged a bronze medal in the 60kg freestyle category with an overwhelming 9-2 win over Mangolia's Nyam-Ochir Enkhsaikhan, in Budapest on Tuesday.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled that athletes will have to ensure that they remain below their weight limit and no exception can be provided under any circumstance
India's Vinesh defeated Mongolian wrestler in the women's freestyle 48kg category 10-0 to win bronze at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on Saturday.
The suspended WFI, despite being warned of legal action by the Sports Ministry for organising the 'nationals', went ahead with the tournament in Pune from January 29-31.
The tournament will conclude on June 26.
