Page 36 - Sports

Don't take any step that would undermine sports: Anurag Thakur to wrestlers

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday asked protesting wrestlers not to take any step that would undermine sports, a day after the grapplers threatened to immerse their medals in river Ganga at Haridwar. Thakur also urged the wrestlers to be patient and trust the investigation into the allegations against the Wrestling Federation of India's former chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. "I urge the wrestlers to be patient till the outcome of the investigation. I also urge them not to take any step that would undermine sports," the minister said while replying to queries from reporters. Thakur's remarks come a day after the country's top wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, along with hundreds of their supporters, reached Har ki Pauri to immerse their medals in the river Ganga but were persuaded by Khap and farmer leaders not to do so. The wrestlers are demanding the arrest of Singh who is accused of sexually harassing several women grapplers.

Sindhu, Prannoy advance to semifinals of Malaysia Masters, Srikanth out

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy advanced to the women's and men's singles semifinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament with hard-fought wins over their respective opponents here on Friday. While double Olympic medallist Sindhu, seeded sixth in the tournament, beat lower ranked Yi Man Zhang of China 21-16, 13-21, 22-20, Prannoy earned a 25-23, 18-21, 21-13 win over Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the quarterfinals. Sindhu faces seventh seed and world number nine Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the semifinals on Saturday. Tunjung upset second seed Yi Zhi Wang of China in the quarterfinals 21-18, 22-20. Tunjung has been in fine form recently and Sindhu had lost to her in the Madrid Spain Masters final in straight games in April. The Indian will, however, go into the semifinals with a 7-1 head-to-head advantage over Tunjung. World number nine Prannoy faces qualifier Christian Adinata, ranked 57, of Indonesia, who beat Kidambi Srikanth 16-21, 21-16, 21-11

India looks to continue Pro League supremacy under new coach Fulton

A rejuvenated Indian men's hockey team will look to carry on its fine form from the home leg and maintain its supremacy at the top of the standings when it begins the Europe sojourn of the FIH Pro League against Olympic champions Belgium here on Friday. During the European leg of the tournament, India will also take on the Netherlands and Argentina in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. India overcame a disappointing World Cup campaign earlier this year to climb to the top of the 2022-23 Pro League table with an unbeaten record against world champions Germany and mighty Australia. The Indians secured three outright wins from the Rourkela leg, while also winning a shootout bonus point in the fourth match against the Kookaburras. India are currently leading the table with 19 points from five outright victories from eight matches and two from shootouts. The Harmanpreet Singh-led side will look to carry on with their winning momentum when it takes on Belgium on Friday and Great Britain on ...

IPL 2023: CSK vs GT match sets record for highest-ever digital viewership

The record was previously held by the IPL match between CSK and RCB on April 17

Hockey India congratulates Deep Ekka on completing 250 International Caps

Indian women's hockey team's defender Deep Ekka achieved a special milestone of completing 250 Int'l Caps when she took field for second match of the ongoing India's tour of Australia in Adelaide.

French Open 2023: First time since 2004, Nadal won't play at Roland Garros

The King of Clay has also hinted that if he is able to get fit for the next Roland Garros in 2024, it would be his last

Himachal Pradesh to host rural olympics to encourage sportspersons

In a bid to encourage sportspersons, the Himachal Pradesh government will host rural olympics which could see participation of up to 40,000 youths, including 20,000 women, state Youth Services and Sports Minister Vikramaditya Singh said here on Tuesday. The games, likely to start in September, will have a special focus on the state's traditional games, he added. "A policy would be framed for regulating the adventure sports such as river rafting and paragliding, due to which fatalities have been reported in the past. These mishaps bring a bad name to the state and the sports promoters," Singh said at a press conference after a meeting with representatives from various sports bodies of the state. He said that it would introduce a platform for the redressal of sports-related grievances and the preparation of sports calendar. This policy, which would be finalised in accordance with the National Sports Policy and Lodha Committee guidelines in the BCCI case, will also ensure transparency

Honda's Marc Marquez shows speed, fights for podium in 1000th Grand Prix

Marquez starred in a thrilling French GP, battling until very end for podium and showing no. 93 is well and truly back. For Joan Mir, small mistakes ended race with huge potential after strong start

ISSF World Cup: India rifle and pistol shooters end campaign with 4 medals

Indian rifle and pistol shooters finished the ISSF World Cup 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with four medals

Ad hoc committee takes full control of WFI day to day activities: Reports

Earlier on Saturday, the IOA debarred all outgoing WFI officials from undertaking any administrative WFI function with immediate effect

IOA may allow state associations to field candidates for Asian Games trials

The ad-hoc panel of the IOA is likely to allow the state wrestling associations to field deserving candidates in the Asian Games trials even if they do not meet the criteria of being a medal winners in one of the stipulated tournaments as per the new selection policy for the quadrennial extravaganza. The Asian Games trials are expected to be held in the third week of June. The final date will be notified this week. Postponed due to the COVID-19 last year, the Asian Games are set to unfold in the Chinese city of Hangzhou from September 23. The WFI had last year devised a policy which allowed only the medal winners from the National Championships, the national ranking tournaments, Federation Cup and international tournaments, apart from talented juniors, to compete in the trials. Ad-hoc panel member Bhupendra Singh Bajwa had initially suggested open trials but the coaches and referees advised them to restrict it to medal prospects only, according to IOA sources. "It would have been

Neeraj Chopra wins Doha Diamond League title; records best throw of 88.67m

Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra began his Diamond League title defence with a comfortable win in the season-opening leg here on Friday, with a world leading and fourth career-best effort. The 25-year-old Chopra, who had pocketed the 2022 Diamond League Final trophy in Switzerland in September last, beat a star-studded field with a best throw of 88.67m to begin his season in style. Chopra hit his straps in his first attempt itself with a world-leading throw of 88.67m, which was his fourth career-best effort to position himself on the top of the pile. He maintained the lead till the end to win the event in his second appearance at the Qatar Sports Club. He had finished fourth in his first appearance here in 2018. Silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic went agonisingly close to Chopra's best mark with a second round throw of 88.63m, four centimeter short of the Indian's effort. Vadlejch had also won silver in the Tokyo Olympics. He had also won a silver in t

Business side of sports very fragmented: JSW Sports' Manisha Malhotra

No consolidation has been made to create an industry of sports, she says

Sachin at 50: The burden of being a prodigy

Tendulkar is precious because he realised his potential, a burden most child prodigies buckle under

Celebrating Sachin's avalanche of milestones as he turns 50 on April 24

A 5-ft-5-inch colossus on the field and a phenomenon off it, Tendulkar will hit half-century on April 24

Age just a number: Central Kashmir hosts sports event for senior citizens

Hundreds of senior citizens -- both men and women -- participated in events including Kabaddi, Tug of War, Chess, Carrom, Skipping Rope, and Hopscotch with full enthusiasm and energy

Kerala launches 'One Panchayat, One Playground' to revive sports culture

The Kerala government on Wednesday launched a project for reviving the sports culture in the State by opening quality playgrounds in every panchayat of the southern state. The 'One Panchayat, One Playground' project was inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Kallikkad here where he said that a good sports culture was essential for building a healthy and happy society. The playgrounds would serve as a hub of local gatherings and social interactions. "It is with this goal in mind that the 'One Panchayat, One Playground' project has been devised," the Chief Minister said at the event. The project will address the lack of quality playgrounds in around 450 local bodies in the State, Vijayan said. Within three years, the playgrounds will be built and for the first phase of the project, a list of 113 panchayats has been prepared, the Chief Minister said. Each playground would cost around Rs one crore, half of which would be footed by the Sports department and the rest w

Fantasy sports revenue likely to grow over 3 fold to Rs 25,240 cr by FY27

Fantasy sports' revenue is likely to grow over three-fold to Rs 25,240 crore by FY2027, a joint report by the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports and Deloitte India said on Tuesday. The report claimed that India is the fastest-growing FS (fantasy sports) market in the world with over 300 fantasy sports platforms (FSPs) and 18 crore users. "The industry grew by 31 per cent to Rs 6,800 crore in FY22. It is expected to touch Rs 25,240 crore by FY27," the report said. According to the report, the FS industry attracted Rs 15,000 crore in FDI till FY22, which is likely to touch Rs 25,000 crore by FY27. The report claimed that the FS industry contributed Rs 4,500 crore by the way of taxes and is expected to reach Rs 26,000 crore in the next 5 years. "GST contributions from the fantasy sports industry are expected to increase by 5 times in the next 5 years, from Rs 2,800 crore in FY18-FY22 to Rs 14,700 crore between FY23 and FY27," the report said.

"Akshay Chaudhary: The Fantasy Sports Expert Taking YouTube by Storm"

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Record-breaking reach in Hindi speaking markets for IPL 2023: Disney Star

Overall, the broadcaster clocked a cumulative reach of 30.7 crore viewers for the first ten matches of the T20 tournament