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Not only India and its western neighbour, but the sports enthusiasts across the whole world are excited about the India-Pakistan face off in the Asia Cup tournament on Saturday (September 2). In a survey conducted by CVoter for sports enthusiasts across India, around 49.4% of the respondents in the age group of 45-54 years are of the opinion that Shubman Gill is the most suitable player to open along with Rohit Sharma.

Gill was followed by Virat Kohli with 20.1% respondents believing that he should be the opening batter along with Rohit. Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Verma remained the least favoured.

Around 32.6% respondents are of the opinion that Virat Kohli is the most suitable player to bat at the 4th position. Kohli was followed by Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. Around 28.8% of the sports enthusiasts feel that Yadav should play at number 4.

Upon asking about their favourite cricket format, the T-20 cricket...

New Delhi, Sept 1 (Ians) Soon after his return from Europe after winning the World Championship gold in Budapest and silver in the Zurich Diamond League, the government approved a 12-day training stint for Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra in Switzerland.

The Mission Olympic Cell (Moc) has approved Chopra’s participation in a 12-day training camp in Magglingen, Switzerland, ahead of his participation in the Diamond League 2023 final scheduled in Eugene, USA this September.

A total of Rs 5.89 lakh have been sanctioned for the preparatory camp, set between September 1 and 12.

Neeraj, on Thursday, finished second in the Diamond League event in Zurich after recording the best throw of 85.71m.

Meanwhile, long-distance runner, Parul Chaudhary, who sealed a Paris Olympics quota by clocking a National Record time of 9:15.31s in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at Budapest, also has been included in the Tops Core group, the Ministry of Youth Affairs...

New Delhi, Aug 29 (Ians) On the occasion of National Sports Day 2023, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur felicitated the 4x400m men’s relay team that set an Asian record at the World Athletics Championships held at Budapest.

The Minister also launched an Information booklet on Sports Infrastructure Projects sanctioned under the Khelo India Scheme as well as a National Sports Federations portal.

He also launched the third edition of the Fit India Quiz, among other initiatives, at an event at the Jln Stadium here on Tuesday.

The event was attended by almost 500 schoolchildren from New Delhi as well as several elite athletes and officials from the Myas, Sai and the National Sports Federations.

Addressing the event, Thakur said, “The Wizard of Hockey, Major Dhyan Chand gave us three consecutive Olympic gold medals in hockey in 1928, 1932, and 1936. This is a fitting day for tribute to this...

New Delhi, Aug 28 (Ians) Ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has brought immense pride to the nation once again as he etched his name in history after securing a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. This remarkable achievement makes him the first Indian to ever win gold at this prestigious event.

During the final event on Sunday night, Chopra’s second attempt stood out as he hurled the javelin a remarkable distance of 88.17 meters, securing the top position. This achievement marked a remarkable progression from the previous year’s World Championships in 2022, where he earned a silver medal.

A number of stars from the Indian cricketing fraternity hailed the javelin star for his historic win. Let’s take a look at some of the social media posts by the Indian cricketers for Chopra’s accomplishment.

“India’s first-ever gold at the #WorldAthleticsChampionships. It’s a historic milestone for Indian sports.

New Delhi, Aug 28 (Ians) Reliance Foundation chairperson and founder Nita Ambani has hailed Neeraj Chopra and other Indian athletes for their stunning performances at the World championships in Budapest.

“Heartiest congratulations to Neeraj Chopra for winning India’s first ever gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. It is a momentous day for India as the tricolour soared high on the world athletics stage.

“Congratulations also to D P Manu, Parul Chaudhary, Jeswin Aldrin, our men’s relay team, and our very own Reliance Foundation athlete Kishore Jena for their outstanding performances in making India proud in the global arena. We, at Reliance Foundation, are proud to partner with the Athletics Federation of India and play our part in the journey of Indian athletes from grassroots to glory!” said Nita M Ambani in a statement.

Neeraj Chopra won a historic maiden gold medal for India in the World Athletics Championships on Sunday,...

Budapest (Hungary), Aug 28 (Ians) India’s Parul Chaudhary and the men’s 4x400m relay team set new benchmarks at the World Athletics Championships here on Sunday, coming up with their best performances.

Long-distance runner Parul Chaudhary produced a brilliant effort to set a new national record in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.

Parul clocked 9 minutes 15.51 seconds on Sunday to finish 11th overall. She improved on the national record of 9:19.76 held by Lalita Babar of Maharashtra, who set it in the Rio Olympics in 2016.

With her timing of 9:16.51, Parul also qualified for the Paris Olympic Games next year.

The Indian men’s 4x400m relay team of Muhammad Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammad Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh came with a lion-hearted effort as it dipped under three minutes once again, finishing fifth overall in 2 minutes 59.92 seconds.

The quartet which had gone neck-and-neck with the mighty United States in...

Mumbai, Aug 10 (Ians) Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will lead a strong contingent including stars like steeplechaser Avinash Sable, long jumpers Jeswin Aldrin and Murali Sreeshankar and Jyothi Yarraji (women’s 100m hurdles) who will participate in the World Athletics Championships to be held in Budapest from August 19 to 27.

Chopra, India’s best hope for a medal, will lead the charge in the men’s javelin throw, hoping to improve on the silver medal he won in Eugene last year and will have compatriots Kishore Jena and D.P. Manu will also be in contention. Chopra has excelled on the international stage, winning the Golden League Final in Zurich. In May this year, he won gold in the Doha Dimond League with a throw of 88.67m.

Track and Field’s world governing body, World Athletics, on Thursday, released the final entry lists for the World Athletics Championships to be held in Budapest.

New Delhi, Aug 8 (Ians) Sports Ministry will fund the participation of the Indian contingent, consisting 28 athletes, for the upcoming World Athletics Championships, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary from August 19.

A 42-member contingent, including coaches and support staff, are heading for the world event which will have the best of the best athletes from across the world competing.

In the previous edition, a total of 6 individuals reached the finals at the World Championships in 2022 with 3 of them making it to Top 8 finishes & Neeraj returning with a historic silver medal. This was India’s best performance in any edition of the World Athletics Championships.

The funding will cover the team’s training cost, plus boarding/Lodging costs, airfare, visa costs and Out of Pocket Allowance (Opa) among other expenditures, a media release from the Ministry said on Tuesday.

Out of 28 competing athletes, 13 are Target Olympic Podium Scheme (Tops) athletes and...

New Delhi, June 22 (Ians) India on Thursday named a 54-member team for the Asian Athletics Championships, to be held in Bangkok from July 12 to 16, featuring star long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, Asian record holder shot putter Tajinder Pal Singh Toor and new decathlon champion Tejaswin Shankar in the national track and field contingent.

The team was picked by the selection committee of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

At Asian Athletics Championships, the focus will be on Toor, Sreeshankar and Tejaswin, who did very well at the recently concluded Inter-State Athletic Championships 2023 in Bhubaneswar.

On the other hand, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and Commonwealth Games silver medallist 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable were not named in the team as the duo will continue to train abroad for the World Championships in Budapest in August.

As per AFI, the national camp will be organised in Patiala, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram before the Asian Athletics Championships.

Mumbai, May 20 (Ians) Indian distance runner Parul Chaudhary gave another glimpse of her superb form in the run-up to the Asian Games by winning the 3000m steeplechase title in Track Night meet in New York.

Parul clocked 9 minutes 41.88 seconds to take first place on Friday night in the Icahn Stadium, which hosted the Bronze-Level event which is part of the World Athletics Continental Tour.

American competitor Madeline Strandemo finished second in 10:02.48 with her compatriot Meredith Rizzo taking third place in 10:08.52 in the six-runner field.

“While Parul Chaudhary finished 1st in women’s 3000m steeplechase (9:41.88), Lili Das was 3rd in women’s 1500m (4:15.23) at World Athletics Bronze Track Night in New York (May 19),” the Athletics Federation of India tweeted on Saturday.

With this timing, the 28-year-old Parul Chaudhary, who broke the women’s 5000m national record at a meet in Los Angeles earlier this month, made the...

New Delhi, May 7 (Ians) India’s Parul Chaudhary and Avinash Sable broke the national records in the women’s and men’s 5000-meter runs, respectively, at the Sound Running Track Festival held in Los Angeles.

Avinash bettered his own national record by clocking 13:19.30, more than a six-second improvement from his previous time of 13:25:65 late on Saturday night.

However, the headlines were made by 28-year-old Parul, who broke the 13-year-long record set at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou by Preeja Sreedharan, bettering it by more than five seconds.

Parul clocked 15:10:35, while the previous national record stood at 15:15.89.

“I am feeling great that I have been able to break a record that has been intact for the last 13 years. I am thankful to my coaches, Iis and Jsw Sports for constantly supporting me and ensuring that all my requirements for training are taken care of,” said Parul,...

Bathurst (Australia), Feb 17 (Ians) India’s premier long-distance runner Avinash Sable will lead the five-member Indian contingent at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships 2023, to be held on Saturday.

The world cross country championships return after a gap of four years as Covid-19 pandemic forced a two-year delay to the biennial event.

Unlike marathon events, which are held on roads or paths, cross-country running is a sport in which runners race open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass.

The 44th edition of the biennial event will see more than 400 athletes from about 45 teams compete at Mount Panorama.

Sable, who won silver medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the Commonwealth Games 2022 with a national record-breaking run, will compete in the senior men’s 10km cross country race on his World Athletics Cross Country Championships debut.

The Indian will be up against a tough field full of elite runners...

Mumbai, Jan 15 (Ians) Ethiopian duo of Hayle Lemi and Anchalem Haymanot won the men’s and women’s elite titles with new course records to take home the Usd 45,000 winners prize and a course record bonus of Usd 15,000 each in the 18th edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon. here on Sunday.

Lemi won the men’s Marathon Elite race in 2 hours seven minutes and 32 seconds to finish ahead of Rono Philemon of Kenya (2:08.44). Haymanot bagged the title in the Women’s Elite Race in a timing of 2 hours 24 minutes and 15 seconds, ahead of second-placed compatriot Tusa Rahma (2:24.22) as Ethiopia swept the first eight spots.

T Gopi won the Marathon Elite Male Indian section in 2:16.41 with Man Singh (2:16.58) while Chavi Yadav won the Marathon Elite Women Indian race in 2:50.35 with Arati Pati 3:00.44.

In the Elite Men’s race, Lemi took advantage of the slow pace...

Mumbai, Jan 14 (Ians) The Asian Games qualifying mark of 2 hours & 15 minutes is on defending Indian Elite champion Srinu Bugatha’s mind as he eyes a winning start to the new year at the prestigious Tata Mumbai Marathon, here on Sunday.

The Army runner went under the cut-off in 2021 and is hoping to repeat the feat in the 18th edition of the World Athletics Gold Label Road Race and qualify for the continental games in Hangzhou, China in September-October.

Over 55,000 runners will be taking part across six categories in Asia’s largest road race that will see the podium finishers take home Inr 500,000, 400,000 and 300,000 respectively.

“I want to put in a better time compared to 2020,” said Bugatha, who clocked 2:18:44 over the challenging course in 2020, but holds a personal best of 2:14:59, told a news conference on Saturday.

Challenging Bugatha will be Olympian and former Asian marathon champion Gopi T,...

Mumbai, Jan 7 (Ians) Former Asian champion Gopi T. and 4-time winner Sudha Singh will lead the Indian challenge in the 18th edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon, which will be run on Sunday, January 15, here.

The Indian Elite field will be spearheaded by Olympian Gopi T, a former champion and the first Indian to win the Asian Marathon Championship in 2017. Also toeing the start line will be defending champion Srinu Bugatha, Kalidas Hirave and Rahul Kumar Pal, the 2019 Pune International Marathon champion.

Olympian and Arjuna awardee Sudha Singh will be gunning for her fifth Indian Elite women’s title and will be challenged by Jigmet Dolma, runner-up here in 2019 and 2017.

The Indian men’s and women’s full marathon winners will bag Inr 500,000 each, with a further Inr 150,000 course record bonus on offer as an incentive.

In the half marathon category, 2016 winner Deepak Kumbhar and defending champion Parul Chaudhary will...

Bengaluru, May 15 (Ians) Two new champions — Parul Chaudhary and Abhishek Pal — were crowned champions in the Indian men’s and women’s field respectively at the Tcs World 10K Bengaluru 2022 on Sunday. It was an easy win for Parul who hardly strayed away from the lead role in the pack, though Sanjivani — […]...

Patiala, March 19 (Ians) Kamalpreet Kaur's one legal throw in the Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships on Friday rewrote the women's discus throw national record and earned her a spot in the Olympic Games competition to be held in Tokyo in July this year. Her 65.06m opening effort did the trick for her, producing the fourth national record in five days.

Hima Das (Assam), clocking 23.21 seconds, left S Dhanalakhsmi (23.39 secs) and Archana Suseendran (23.60 secs) behind in the high-profile women's 200m final. K Elakkiadasan claimed the men's 200m while Ayyasamy Dharun and R Vithya Ramraj won the men and women's 400m hurdles to ease Tamil Nadu contingent's pain somewhat.

On a day when the men's triple jump competition saw an intense battle, with Karthik Unnikrishnan producing a last-ditch 16.73m and Abdulla managing 16.59m on his last try to push their Kerala team-mate Eldhose Paul to the third place with 16.53m, it...

Patiala, March 17 (Ians) Avinash Sable of Maharashtra paid the best possible tribute to late coach Nikolai Snesarev by posting a new national record time of 8 minutes 20.20 seconds as he won the men's 3000-metre steeplechase on the third day of the National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports here on Wednesday.

Along with javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Sable gave India much reason for cheer. Chopra broke his own meet record while Toor had a superb series of throws.

Sable, who set the earlier national mark at 8:21.37 in the World Championships in Doha on October 4, 2019, broke free of the pack after a lap-and-a-half. Having already secured Olympic qualification, the 26-year-old was a picture of determination and confidence as he chased his target time -- almost as if to honour the late Indian long-distance runners' Belarussian coach Snesarev who...