Manush Shah. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: BISWARANJAN ROUT He began 2025 by lifting his maiden senior National singles championship title in Surat, around 150 km from his hometown. As 2026 begins, Manush Shah is aiming to start the year on an even more productive note — this time on home turf. The bespectacled Manush, … Read more
As the new season dawned after a subdued BWF World Tour Finals episode, Indian badminton finds itself in limbo — neither in free fall nor on a golden high. The year 2025 did not deliver the sort of title count or sustained presence among the world’s best that once seemed routine. But India did not … Read more
Good showing: TN, with three wins, is unbeaten. | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran Defending men’s champion Tamil Nadu defeated Karnataka 71-63 to record its third win at the 75th senior National basketball championships at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. The win ensured TN remained unbeaten while Karnataka suffered its first defeat, with both sides … Read more
Viswanathan Anand with in his element on the opening day of Tata Steel Chess in Kolkata on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI He was the ‘Lightning Kid’ in the 80s with his rapid pace of play when the shorter formats of chess weren’t even in the works. Viswanathan Anand stunned the world with flamboyant methods and … Read more
Nikhat spent less than two minutes inside the ring as the referee stopped her contest against Banoo in the first round. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement While the top names continued to march ahead inside the ring, refereeing continued to raise questions on day four of the Elite men’s and women’s National boxing championships on … Read more
Senthil Kumar Mohan in action against Bodhisatva Chaudhury in the WTT Feeder table tennis tournament in Vadodara on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Senthil Kumar Mehan, a promising defensive specialist, saved three match points to keep his hopes alive of qualifying for the main draw of the men’s singles event at … Read more
Sixteen-year-old Maharashtra archer Kumkum Mohod, ranked 530th in the world, sprung a surprise by tying with the experienced Simranjeet Kaur at the top of the women’s recurve table after completion of three qualification rounds in the first archery selection trials at the Sports Authority of India ground here on Wednesday. Kumkum, who had shot 652 in the first round on … Read more
PV Sindhu in action during the women’s singles quarterfinal match at the India Open 2025 badminton tournament. File | Photo Credit: PTI Indian shuttlers have been handed a tricky draw at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super 750 tournament in Delhi later this month, with former world champion PV Sindhu set to face Vietnam’s Thuy Linh … Read more
File photo of badminton player P.V. Sindhu playing a shot. | Photo Credit: AFP Returning from a prolonged injury lay-off, PV Sindhu began the new season on a winning note along with the formidable men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy as they entered the second round of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 … Read more
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is still some distance away, but for Indian squash, the countdown has already begun. When the sport makes its Olympic debut in the Entertainment Capital of the World, hopes will travel from local courts of Chennai and Delhi to the arc lights of Southern California — that at least one … Read more
Unstoppable: Jeethandar, with 21 points on the day, proved too hot to handle for Punjab. | Photo Credit: R. RAGU In a tightly contested match that saw four lead changes in the first quarter, Delhi prevailed over Punjab 79-62 to post its second win in three matches in the men’s section of the 75th senior … Read more
Panghal, right, was stretched by youngster Priyanshu. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement It was expected to be a fiery contest and it did not disappoint. Former World championship silver medallist Saweety Boora faced off against Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain in the second round of the 75kg category at the National boxing championships here. The … Read more
Star-studded line-up: Anand and Praggnanandhaa are among the top players in action. | Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI There is a nip in the air in the City of Joy. And, there will be some top-flight chess, too, in the Tata Steel Chess India rapid and blitz tournament, which will see the legendary Viswanathan Anand take … Read more
The favourite: Manush will have high hopes of walking away with the crown. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: BISWARANJAN ROUT Defending national champion Manush Shah will return to his hometown as a favourite to lift an international title. But beyond the spotlight on Manush and Harmeet Desai, the next five days at the SAMA Indoor … Read more
Former World champion and current National champion Ojas Deotale scored 714 points to take the top spot in the compound men’s qualification round at the first selection trials on the Sports Authority of India (SAI) campus here on Tuesday. Uday Kamboj (712) finished second, while Kushal Dalal and Manav Jadhav (710 apiece) were tied for … Read more
Yashdeep Bhoge (690) claimed the number one position in the recurve men’s section, while Simranjeet Kaur, Kriti Sharma and Deepika Kumari (659) were tied for the top spot in the women’s section after the qualification round of the first archery selection trials at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) ground here on Monday. Olympians Atanu … Read more
Aadya won the girls’ under-11 crown. Divyanshi Bhowmick — regarded as one of India’s most promising young paddlers — fell short of top honours, going down fighting to second seed Miku Matsushima of Japan in the under-19 girls’ final of the WTT Youth Contender here on Monday. In a gruelling contest that capped a punishing … Read more
Most of the top Indian pugilists will be in action when the Elite men’s and women’s national boxing championships, delayed by a few days due to adverse pollution conditions, finally kicks off at the Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida from Saturday. Among those will be recently-crowned World Champions Meenakshi and Jaismine Lamboria, two-time former world … Read more
After the chaos and mismanagement of the opening day, things appeared to get slightly better on Day Two of the Elite men’s and women’s National boxing championships even though the inability to complete the day’s proceedings meant the organisers had to scramble to bring things back on track on Tuesday. While the bouts were supposed … Read more
Commendable show: Vaishnavi scored 15 points for the defending champion. | Photo Credit: RAGU R Indian Railways women outclassed Karnataka 95-65 to post their second win in the 75th senior National basketball championship at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Monday. The only time the contest was evenly matched was in the opening five minutes … Read more
Indian shuttlers, including the experienced duo of Lakshya Sen and P.V. Sindhu, will eye a strong start to the year when they take on the world’s best at the season-opening $1,450,000 Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament With renewed vigour, Indian shuttlers, including the experienced duo of Lakshya Sen and P.V. Sindhu, will eye a strong … Read more
Tamil Nadu’s Anantharaj in action against Rajasthan. | Photo Credit: R. RAGU Tamil Nadu men kick-started their title defence campaign on a strong note, breezing past Rajasthan 101-68 on the opening day of the 75th Senior National basketball championships at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Sunday. The home team bolted out of the gate early in … Read more
Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari will be among a host of top names set to take part in the trials. | Photo Credit: File photo: R. RAGU Elite archers, including B. Dhiraj, Atanu Das, Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, V. Jyothi Surekha and Abhishek Verma, will be seen in action at the year’s first … Read more
Antim Panghal was picked up for ₹52 lakh by UP Dominators. | Photo Credit: File photo A total of 63 wrestlers were snapped up as the six franchises spent in excess of ₹11 crore at the auction for the fifth season of the Pro Wrestling League, which concluded here late on Saturday night. Japanese great … Read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (January 4, 2025) asserted that India is preparing with full strength to host the 2036 Olympic Games, and declared his government was committed to providing “more and more players greater opportunities to compete” by hosting mega sporting events in the country. Addressing the inaugural function of the 72nd Senior … Read more
Javelin thrower and Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, along with Sachin Yadav. File. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar Javelin throwers Neeraj Chopra and Sachin Yadav are the only Indian athletes to figure in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) of World Athletics’ anti-doping watchdog Athletics Integrity Unit’s (AIU) for the first quarter of this year. While … Read more
Gukesh. | Photo Credit: FIDE World champion D. Gukesh has pulled out of the Tata Steel Chess India tournament, to be held in Kolkata from January 7 to 11, due to personal reasons. “Due to personal reasons, D. Gukesh will be unable to participate in Tata Steel Chess India this year,” the organisers of the … Read more
Divyanshi will compete in the U-17 and U-19 categories this year, while Syndrela will aim to defend her U-19 girls’ singles title. File. | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran Around 334 players from 10 countries will vie for honours at the WTT Youth Contender and the WTT Feeder Series, scheduled to begin at the Sama Indoor … Read more
Dope-tainted wrestler Reetika Hooda was dropped, compound archers like Parneet Kaur and Abhishek Verma were promoted to the core group while decathlete Tejaswin Shanker found a place in the developmental list of the updated directory of athletes supported by the Sports Ministry’s flagship Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). The list was drastically pruned from 179 … Read more
Thipsay guided SG Pipers to glory in the third season of the GCL. | Photo Credit: GCL Pravin Thipsay became a Grandmaster (GM) at a time when getting the title was a distant dream for even the most talented of Indian chess players. He became India’s third GM in 1997, after Viswanathan Anand and Dibyendu … Read more