
Boxer Mary Kom is happy to have secured her berth to London despite losing in the World Championships quarter-finals, and is now aiming for a medal in the 2012 Olympics. ...

08:45 PM, May 18, 2012

Qinhuangdao, China: Indian woman boxer MC Mary Kom's Olympic ticket will be decided by fate now after she lost in the quarter-finals of the World Championships to world number two Nicola Adams on Wednesday. The five-time world champion will return empty-handed on the medal front for the first time since the event's inception in 2001, but she still has a chance of getting a London berth if Adams goes on...

06:55 PM, May 16, 2012

New Delhi: Star Indian woman boxer MC Mary Kom (51kg) continued to make confident strides towards booking an Olympic berth by entering the World Championships' quarter-finals, but L Sarita Devi's fate hung in the balance after she lost a close last-16 bout in Qinhuangdao, China on Tuesday. Mary Kom defeated Norway's Marielle Hansen 18-6 to make the last-eight stage of the first and only qualifying event for women boxers, who...

05:31 PM, May 15, 2012

Qinhuangdao: India's female boxers made a strong start in the World Championships here with Mandakini Chanu (57kg) and Neetu Chahal (69kg) cruising into the second round after convincing wins. Chanu brought cheer to the Indian camp by comprehensively defeating Serbian boxer Bojana Ranic while Neetu defeated Hungary's European champion Bianka Nagy 22:6 here on Friday. Mandakini went on the relentless attacking mode against the Serbian boxer who was physically taller...

08:25 PM, May 12, 2012

Saina Nehwal's struggle for form summed up a disappointing year for Indian badminton, the rare high point of which was Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's World Championships bronze medal. After a highly successful 2010, during which Saina won a hat-trick of Super Series titles besides the Commonwealth Games gold medal, 2011 turned out to be a disappointing one for the Indian as she could win only the Swiss Grand Prix...

12:48 PM, Dec 31, 2011

A 17-year-old Deepika Kumari shone with some outstanding performances as the women's recurve team emerged as strong contenders for an elusive Olympic medal in archery, during a year that was witness to the dramatic fall of the fancied men's team. Stunning world champions Korea in the semi-finals of the biennial World Championships, the trio of Deepika, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro not only grabbed the full quota berths for...

06:20 PM, Dec 30, 2011

A record number of them booked Olympic berths in the very first qualifying event as Indian boxers rounded off yet another superb year, holding out promise for more than one medal at the world's biggest sporting extravaganza next year. The year did not feature many big events but wherever they competed, Indian pugilists continued their ascending march in the international arena with commanding performances, the best of all being the...

10:07 PM, Dec 29, 2011

The success story that started at the turn of the millennium continued for Indian shooting in the year 2011 as well, with nine marksmen making the cut for the London Olympics. While Gagan Narang and Hari Om Singh had booked their tickets to London last year itself, seven others emerged as medals prospects in this year. With the sport's profile headed north, the numbers surely are not going to stop...

04:56 PM, Dec 29, 2011

After a rewarding 2010, athletics slumped to a low this year, turning out to be the country's dirtiest sport with seven top athletes, including three Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medalists, getting involved in one of India's biggest doping scandals. Asian Games double gold-medalist Ashwini Akkunji and her 4x400m relay teammates Sini Jose and Mandeep Kaur were among the dope offenders, after being caught for using banned steroids in May...

04:41 PM, Dec 29, 2011

For once, doping did not take centre-stage in Indian weightlifting, but the country failed to impress at the world stage in 2011, with London Olympics qualification still uncertain, even though there was unprecedented success to savour in the Commonwealth Championships. None of the lifters tested positive for banned drugs in international competitions and that gave the Indian Weightlifting Federation considerable relief considering it had to pay a hefty fine to...

04:24 PM, Dec 29, 2011

New Delhi: Teen Indian boxing sensation Vikas Krishan's dream run at the World Championships came to an end as he settled for a bronze medal after losing his welterweight (69kg) semi-final bout in Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday. Up against Ukraine's European Championship bronze-medallist Taras Shelestyuk, the 19-year-old Vikas went down 12-15. The Asian Games gold medallist thereby repeated the bronze-medal winning feat of Olympian Vijender Singh at the mega-event, but...

10:07 PM, Oct 07, 2011

New Delhi: Indian boxers packed a powerful punch as Commonwealth Games medallists Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Jai Bhagwan (60kg), along with rookie teen sensation L Devendro Singh, qualified for the London Olympics by advancing to the World Championships' quarter-finals with contrasting wins in Baku, Azerbaijan on Tuesday. While Manoj rallied to defeat China's Qing Hu 17-15, 19-year-old Devendro continued his giant-killing spree by beating seventh seed Carlos Quipo of Ecuador...

10:57 PM, Oct 04, 2011

New Delhi: Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar's sensational upset win over a European champion left him just one step away from Olympic qualification, but it was curtains for Suranjoy Singh as he was ousted following a second-round loss in the World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan on Sunday. Manoj advanced to the pre-quarter-finals of the light welterweight division (64kg) with a thumping 19-7 win over European champion and fourth seed...

06:01 PM, Oct 02, 2011

New Delhi: Indian boxers' unbeaten run in the World Championships continued with Asian Games silver-medallist Dinesh Kumar advancing to the second round of the light heavyweight (81kg) category with a thumping win in his opening bout in Baku, Azerbaijan on Wednesday. Dinesh, the lone Indian boxer in action on the day, defeated Nepal's Deepak Maharjn 20-8 to enter the second round where he will face Bosko Draskovic of Macedonia. Draskovic...

07:07 PM, Sep 28, 2011

Daegu: Usain Bolt swept away any remaining clouds surrounding his 100m disqualification when he anchored Jamaica to a world record time of 37.04 seconds to retain the world 4x100 metres relay title on Sunday. The double Olympic sprint champion and world record holder teamed up with Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake to better the mark of 37.10 seconds the Jamaicans ran to win gold at the Beijing Olympics...

10:30 PM, Sep 04, 2011