Over the moon: Jancarik is ecstatic after winning the men’s singles title in the WTT Star Contender in Chennai on Sunday, February 15, 2026. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Lubomir Jancarik was living a dream. At the WTT Star Contender here, the 38-year-old produced his best-ever career performance to win the men’s singles crown, defeating … Read more
India’s Pramod Bhagat captured the men’s SL3 gold medal with a commanding straight-game win over Muhammad Al Imran of Indonesia at the BWF Para World Championships in Manama on Saturday (February 14, 2026). The 37-year-old Bhagat outclassed his opponent 21-12, 21-18 in the final to claim his fourth consecutive singles gold at the world championships … Read more
For nearly one and a half years, it has been a tough grind for G. Sathiyan. After soaring to a career-high World No.24 in men’s singles in 2019, the two-time National champion saw his rankings dip. But true to his resilient nature, he kept refining, kept reflecting and working on his game under the guidance … Read more
Ganghyeon edged out Ovtcharov in a thriller. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement South Korea’s Park Ganghyeon ended German second seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov’s hopes in a thrilling men’s singles quarterfinal while Czechia’s Lubomir Jancarik routed India’s G. Sathiyan to reach his maiden WTT Star Contender semifinal at the TNPESU campus here on Saturday. Later, third seed … Read more
As many as 13 unexpected results rocked the draw in the WTT Star Contender at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University here on Friday. Those who tumbled out included India’s biggest medal hope — fourth seed and World No. 33 Manav Thakkar. He went down 6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 9-11 to World No. 174 … Read more
Manav Thakkar, India’s big hope, crashed out in the second round of the men’s singles at the WTT Star Contender table tennis tournament at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University on Friday (February 13, 2026). World No. 174 Lubomír Jancarik of Czechia stunned the 33rd-ranked Indian, seeded four, in four games (11-6, 11-7, … Read more
Ovtcharov. | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran At 37, Dimitrij Ovtcharov isn’t resting on his laurels and remains clear about one thing — he is here to compete. The German star, a six-time Olympic medallist with two silver and four bronze medals across five Olympic Games and a former World No. 1 (2017), put in more than … Read more
Indian sweep: Winner Aishwary with silver medallist Niraj, left, and Sheoran, right, the bronze winner.© Adimazes Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar hit a 10.7 in the final shot to clinch the 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) gold in the Asian Rifle/ Pistol Championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range here on Thursday. The 25-year-old pipped silver-medallist … Read more
France’s Flavien Coton (left) and Thibault Poret | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement France has a tradition of producing world-class men’s singles table tennis players. Among the major stars are Jean-Philippe Gatien, the Olympic silver and World Championship gold medalist, while Emmanuel Lebesson and Simon Gauzy have been European champions. Today, the spotlight is on the … Read more
Massimo Costantini. | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran Nithya Mani got the better of compatriot Pritha Vartikar 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8 during second round of qualifying at the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026 on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran Massimo Costantini, the National head coach of the Indian table tennis team, is quiet yet … Read more
On the podium: Manu, left, and Esha, right, bagged silver and bronze respectively as Vietnam’s Thuy Trang took gold in the women’s 25m pistol event on Monday. Manu Bhaker narrowly missed out on a gold as she went down to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Trang in the 25m women’s pistol, which was decided at the end of … Read more
Lindsey Vonn’s defiant bid to win the Winter Olympic downhill at the age of 41, on a rebuilt right knee and a badly injured left knee, ended Sunday in a frightening crash that left her with a broken leg and saw her taken to safety by a rescue helicopter for the second time in nine … Read more
Nirupama Devi scripted clean and jerk and total records on her way to win the elite women’s 63kg crown with an aggregate of 221kg at the National weightlifting championships in Modinagar on Sunday. Bidusmita Bhoi set three records (snatch 89kg, clean and jerk 117kg and total 206kg) while claiming the junior title. She also secured … Read more
On the podium: Elavenil and Meghana, right, the 10m air rifle gold and bronze medallists, with silver winner Misaki, left. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Elavenil Valarivan held off the challenge from Japan’s Misaki Nobata to clinch the women’s 10m air rifle gold in the Asian rifle/ pistol championships at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range … Read more
Final torchbearer Italian skier Sofia Goggia holds the torch of the Olympic flame to light the Olympic cauldron designed by Marco Balich during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on February 6, 2026 | Photo Credit: AP Sofia Goggia had a key role in securing the hosting … Read more
Featuring tributes to da Vinci and Dante, Puccini and Pausini, Armani and Fellini, pasta and vino, and other iconic tastes of Italian culture — plus Mariah Carey hitting all the high notes in “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” aka “Volare” — an unprecedented four-site, dual-cauldron opening ceremony got the Milan Cortina Olympics officially started on … Read more
Former world champion Nitu Ghanghas, Asian Games bronze medallist Preeti Pawar and Jadumani Singh punched their way into the semifinals, as Indian boxers assured themselves of 19 medals at the Boxam Elite International here. The Indian women’s team, under the guidance of new head coach Santiago Nieva, has confirmed 12 medals, while the seven male … Read more
The doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly put up a spirited fight before going down 22-24 18-21 to the world No.4 combination of Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, as China took a decisive 2-0 lead at the Badminton Asia Team Championship. | Photo Credit: PTI India’s title defence in the women’s … Read more
The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics officially open with a star-studded opening ceremony at the San Siro Stadium on Friday (February 6, 2026). The most geographically dispersed Games in history will start in Italy’s economic capital at 1900 GMT with a three-hour extravaganza that takes in the three other sites spread across the Alps and the Dolomites. … Read more
Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain started her campaign with a confident blanking of Ukraine’s Olha Pylypchuk, while Hitesh Gulia also rolled on as Indians extended their strong run in the BOXAM Elite International 2026 here. In the women’s 75kg category, Lovlina was in her commanding self, pipping Ukraine’s Olha Pylypchuk 5:0. She controlled the bout … Read more
Indian men overcame a strong challenge from Singapore, while the women dominated Myanmar in their opening group stage matches to secure quarterfinal berths in the Badminton Asia Team Championships here on Wednesday. The men’s Group C clash between India and Singapore went down to the wire, with former world number 1 Kidambi Srikanth coming up … Read more
Hitesh Gulia (70kg) and Preeti (54kg) registered commanding wins as India opened its campaign in emphatic fashion at the BOXAM Elite International 2026, delivering a string of dominant performances on the first day of the tournament here. The tournament has drawn 214 boxers from 21 nations. Headlining the Indian charge were World Boxing Cup Finals … Read more
Pankaj Advani’s hopes of retaining the title ended with a 1-4 loss to China’s Deng Haohui in the final of the Asian Snooker Championships here on Wednesday. Put under pressure by the attacking Haohui, the three-time champion’s safety, his forte, too took a hit. The Indian took the opening frame of the best-of-seven-frame contest with … Read more
Olympics and Worlds medallist Mirabai Chanu set three new National records as she totalled 205kg to win the women’s 48kg title on the opening day of the National weightlifting championships here on Wednesday. Ahead of this year’s Asian championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, 31-year-old Mirabai – who dropped down to 48kg following the rejig … Read more
Olympian Esha Singh carried her excellent form from last year into the new season, clinching the women’s individual 10m air pistol gold and helping the home team to another top-podium finish, even as world champion Samrat Rana settled for bronze on the opening day of the Asian Championship (pistol/rifle) on Wednesday (February 4, 2026). Also … Read more
Image used for representation purpose only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto India will host next year’s Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship in Delhi where eight quota places for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be up for grabs, marking a historic first for the country’s shooting calendar which already features an Olympic qualifier in the World Cup. … Read more
Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan clinched the Tata Steel Masters title with a black-piece victory against out-of-form Arjun Erigaisi while world chess champion D Gukesh emerged as the best Indian with a joint eighth finish as the tournament concluded here on Monday. Gukesh drew with Vincent Keymer of Germany in the final round to end as … Read more
India on Monday qualified for the Tent Pegging World Cup Championships to be held in Jordan in November 2026 after a strong showing in the qualifying competition, where they won a total of six medals, including four team medals and two individual honours. The Indian team comprised Dfr Sandeep Kumar, Dfr Dhanraj Sirsat, Dfr Bonge … Read more
Manush Shah is the defending champion. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: BISWARANJAN ROUT The 87th senior National table tennis championship will be held in Indore from March 14 to 21, with the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) making the official announcement on Monday. As per the tournament prospectus, signed by Yatin Tipnis, senior joint … Read more
