Manika Batra Crashes Out of Olympic Qualifying Event
Manika Batra's run at the World Singles Qualification Tournament, an Olympic qualification event in table tennis, came to an end after she suffered a 4-1 defeat to Monaco's Xiaoxin Yang in the women's singles knockout stage-I semi-final match in Doha.
Achanta Sharath Kamal and Gnanasekaran Sathiyan also exited after suffering losses in their respective men's singles second round matches.
The Indian paddlers will now shift their focus to the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament, which is scheduled from March 18-20 in Doha.
Mar 15, 2021
Bhavani Devi First Indian Fencer to Qualify for Olympics
Tamil Nadu's CA Bhavani Devi has become the first-ever Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympic Games.
The sabre fencer secured a spot in the World Cup in Hungary after the hosts lost in the quarter finals of the team event, allowing South Korea to progress to the semifinal.
This enabled Bhavani Devi to qualify for the Olympics through the Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) Method, due to her world ranking.
In the 2010 Asian Championship in the Philippines, she bagged a bronze medal.
Her first international gold medal came in Tuscany Cup in Italy in 2014.
Bhavani became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the senior Commonwealth Fencing Championship, in Canberra, in 2018.
Mar 14, 2021
Goa to Host 2021 AFC Champions League Group E Matches
Group E matches of the AFC Champions League (ACL) will be hosted in Goa, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Group E includes FC Goa, who became the first Indian club to directly qualify for the group stage of Asia's premier club competition by virtue of finishing at the top of the table in the Indian Super League (ISL).
Goa will be competing against Iranian club Persepolis, who finished runners-up in 2018, and Qatar's Al Rayyan SC along with a qualifier from the playoff matches. The matches will be held from April 14 to 30. However, specific stadiums for the matches are yet to be announced.
The West Region matches, which are scheduled to take place between April 14-30, will see Saudi Arabia host Groups A and D in Riyadh as well as Group C in Jeddah, with the matches in Group B to be staged in the United Arab Emirates city of Sharjah, while India, whose representative FC Goa are poised to mark the nation's debut in Asia's premier club competition, will host Group E.
Mar 13, 2021
Tokyo My Olympics Farewell: Mary Kom
Indian boxing great Mary Kom said that the Tokyo Olympic Games will be her final Olympics.
Six-time world champion Kom has been boxing for 20 years but it was only at the London Olympics in 2012 that women were allowed to compete for the first time. That was her first shot at an Olympics medal after she had secured several world crowns, and she came back with a bronze medal from London after losing in the semifinals.
"Tokyo will be my last Olympics, age matters here. I'm 38 now, going on 39," Kom told the Olympic Channel. "Four (actually three) more years is a long time. Pretty sure I won't be allowed to even if I'm willing to carry on till Paris 2024."
Mithali Raj Become the First Indian Batswoman to Cross 10,000 International Runs
Indian captain Mithali Raj has become the first Indian batswoman to cross 10,000 international runs and only the second in history of women's cricket. The leading run-scorer across all formats continues to be Charlotte Edwards from England with 10,273 runs in 309 games.
Mithali achieved the feat with a boundary off Anne Bosch in the 28th over of India's innings during the ongoing third ODI against South Africa.
Mar 12, 2021
Vivo Back as IPL Title Sponsor
Chinese smartphone company Vivo is back as the title sponsor of the Indian Premium League cricket tournament, almost a year after the sponsorship deal with the BCCI was suspended.
Vivo's sponsorship deal with the BCCI, worth Rs. 440 crore per year, was suspended last season due to the India-China border stand off. Vivo had won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs. 2,190 crore. It will now be the title sponsor till 2023.
Dream11 had been the IPL title sponsors for the 2020 edition, winning the rights for Rs. 222 crore.