Author: Abhishek Mishra

The BWF World Tour moves to India as the capital city, New Delhi, is all set to host the India Open 2026 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. The $950,000 event will also serve as a rehearsal for all participating shuttlers, with the BWF World Championships scheduled to be held at the same venue in August. The tournament will kick off on January 13, with the finals slated for January 18. The Super 750 showpiece badminton event offers Indian shuttlers a chance to prove their mettle in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Lakshya Sen in men’s singles and Satwiksairaj…

Returning to the court after a three month long injury layoff due to foot injury sustained after China Masters 2025 in October, for PV Sindhu it was a good start to the season 2026 as she enjoyed the deep run at the Malaysia Open 2026. The two-time Olympic medalist unleashed her best in the season opener and gave spirited performances in Kuala Lumpur showing glimpses of her vintage gameplay throughout the tournament. The 30-year-old went down against China’s World No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi in straight games, 16-21, 15-21, in the semi-final, capping off her Malaysia Open 2026 journey. Reflecting…

Kuala Lumpur’s Axiata Arena witnessed the resurgence of 30-year-old PV Sindhu’s career. The Indian badminton ace continued her blistering form at the Malaysia Open 2026, defeating her longtime rival, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, to march into the semifinals. Meanwhile, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out, ending their campaign at the Super 1000 event in the quarterfinals against Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Fikri. Returning from an injury layoff – a foot injury that sidelined her for much of late 2025 – Sindhu looked sharper and more focused than the previous year, starting the season on a high note. Against Japan’s…

Day 3 of the Malaysia Open 2026 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur saw PV Sindhu and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty maintain their clinical form to march into the quarterfinals, while the men’s singles campaign came to an end after Ayush Shetty and Lakshya Sen went down following hard-fought matches. Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu smashed past Japan’s rising star and World No. 9 Tomoka Miyazaki in straight games, winning 21-8, 21-13 in 33 minutes, continuing her quest for the Super 1000 event. Going into the match, the first game was a cakewalk for India’s former world champion. With her deft…

Day 2 of the 2026 Malaysia Open saw India’s biggest stars successfully open their new season at the Axiata Arena. PV Sindhu and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty dominated the court in a clinical manner at this Super 1000 season opener. However, it wasn’t all celebrations for India, as the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto and the women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand suffered first-round exits. Sindhu made a winning return to the court after a three-month injury layoff, having suffered a foot injury after the China Masters 2025 in September. Facing…

At the Malaysia Open 2026, the badminton season for Indian shuttlers kicked off with mixed fortunes at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur. Rising star Ayush Shetty produced an impressive performance to beat Paris Olympic bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia in the opening round while Lakshya Sen secured a victory over Singapore’s Jason Teh to enter the pre-quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Malvika Bansod in women’s singles and the men’s doubles pair of M.R. Arjun and A. Hariharan bows out early. Twenty-year-old Shetty silenced the crowd, smashing past home favourite Zii Jia in straight games, winning 21-12, 21-17 in just 38 minutes. Shetty raced…

The men’s Hockey India League (HIL) returned on Saturday, January 3, but the opening two days at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium revealed a worrying trend. While the Women’s HIL, which began on December 28, 2025, in Ranchi’s Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Stadium, has enjoyed healthy attendance across matches, the men’s competition has struggled to draw spectators. Despite the presence of the home side, Tamil Nadu Dragons, playing the season opener against previous edition runners-up Hyderabad Toofans, the stands remained largely empty. The trend continued during Sunday’s double-headers, with a visible lack of spectators even though free entry was announced…

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has officially released the qualifying standards nine months prior to the 2026 Asian Games, in Aichi Nagoya, Japan, scheduled to be held from September 19 to October 4. The message from AFI Spokesperson Adile Sumariwala was straightforward that the era of athletes travelling to the Asian Games just for experience is over. In the previous Asian Games, India won 29 medals in Athletics, which included 6 gold, 14 silver, and 9 bronze medals. The AFI has opted to make standards significantly tougher in several disciplines to improve the medal tally. For events like the…

The Men’s Hero Hockey India League (HIL) made a return at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium, Chennai, and the host team, Accord Tamil Nadu Dragons, beat Hyderabad Toofans in the opening game. The thrilling match swung like a pendulum as both sides ended with the scoreline of 3-3 after regulation time but it was the Dragons who walked away with a crucial bonus point winning the match 4-2 in the shootout with exceptional two saves from young goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh. For Dragons, Uttam Singh (4′), Thomas Sorsby (9′), and Karthi Selvam (32′) slotted goals, while for Hyderabad Toofans, Amandeep…

At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, in the bronze medal match, the Indian women’s team hockey players fell to the ground in tears at the Oi Hockey Stadium after losing 3-4 to Great Britain and finishing fourth. The girls missed out on an Olympics medal but won the hearts of 1.4 billion people as the internet flooded with the Chak De India hashtag, celebrating the deep run of the women’s team at the Olympics. The man who guided the team to a fourth-placed finish was the head coach Sjoerd Marijne, whose tactics helped create one of the biggest moments in Indian…