Author: Abhishek Mishra

The penultimate day of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo saw a thrilling finish in the 20km race walk, Beatrice Chebet scripting history and also a 1-2 finish for Kenya. Juleisy Angulo won Ecuador’s first-ever field gold and Jessica Schilder stunned the reigning world champion. The day began with the women’s 20km race walk. Spain’s Maria Perez won with an impressive season best effort of 1:25:54 to retain her crown. Mexico’s Alegna Gonzalez followed her closely and finished just behind in 1:26:06. The local favourite, Nanako Fujii, clinched bronze in 1:26:18. With this victory, Perez completed a double, as she…

Abhishek Mishra The Indian men’s doubles pair entered the Shenzhen Arena at the China Masters 2025 without having dropped a single game in the event yet, but Saturday brought their toughest challenge. It was the semi-final. In a dominant effort, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crushed their nemesis Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in a clinical display. It was 21-17, 21-14. This marked the Indian duo’s second consecutive final entry and their first final in an S750 event this year. The initial phase of the opening game saw both pairs exchanging points, with the Malaysians holding an 11-10 lead…

The Japan’s National Stadium witnessed another electrifying day of athletics. USA’s Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed a stunning sprint double, sweeping the 100m and 200m titles. Dutch 400m hurdles star Femke Bol delivered her fourth best timing, while Cuban born Portuguese athlete Pedro Pichardo kept fans on the edge until the very last jump. Rai Benjamin finally captured his long awaited first world crown in the 400m hurdles and Noah Lyles stormed to fourth consecutive 200m world title. Melissa became the first-ever American woman to win both 100m and 200m at the World Championships. Clocking a world leading timing of 21.68s, she…

Abhishek Mishra The Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the semi-final of the China Masters 2025 (S750). The Indian duo smashed the local favourites Ren Xiang Wu and Xie Hanon in straight games, winning the match 21-14, 21-14 in just 37 minutes. This marked the seventh semi-final for the Indian pair this season. PV Sindhu lost to world number one, South Korea’s An Se Young in straight games, going down 14-21, 13-21 which marked her exit from the tournament. She stunned world number six Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the Round of 16 but fell short…

The highlight of Day 6 of the World Athletics Championships 2025 was the stunning performance of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone as she broke the decades old women’s 400m record. Busang Collen Kebinatshipi won Botswana’s first-ever world title. Yulimar Rojas’s golden streak in triple jump came to an end. The Caribbean athletes impressed in the men’s javelin final. For Indian track and field fans, the day turned out to be disappointing as defending champion Neeraj Chopra failed to finish on the podium. Along with him, a few other top medal contenders like Julian Weber and Arshad Nadeem also missed out. Braving a steady…

India’s golden boy Neeraj Chopra has always been a consistent javelin thrower, especially since his Tokyo Olympic gold, when he has never finished outside the top two in any major competition. Returning to the Japanese capital, on the same runway at National Stadium where he first showed his brilliance to global athletics fans, he arrives as the reigning world champion. True to his trademark of “one and done”, Neeraj qualified for the final on Wednesday with a smooth first throw of 84.85m. Another Indian, Sachin Yadav, also made the final cut with a 83.67m throw to finish 10th in qualification.…

Day 5 of the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo’s National Stadium saw another evening session of surprises and brilliance. Three new champions were crowned and the day witnessed Katie Moon completing a remarkable hat-trick of world pole vault titles. Isaac Nader stunned the 1,500m field with an impressive run, Faith Cherotich claimed the steeplechase crown in style and the teenage prodigy Mattia Furlani etched his name into history as the youngest-ever long jump world champion. With the season’s best performance, the American pole vault legend reaffirmed her brilliance on the global stage. Moon soared over 4.90m to clinch the title…

Neeraj Chopra, on his return to Tokyo’s National Stadium after four years for the World Athletics Championships, defined his presence with authority. He hurled 84.58m in his first attempt in the men’s javelin and easily qualified for the finals. Last time when he was here, at the Olympics, he had hurled 86.65m in his first attempt in qualification and won the gold medal with a throw of 87.51m – the biggest achievement of his career but the stands were empty and silent due the Covid-19 pandemic. But today the stadium was alive and fully packed, buzzing with anticipation and echoing…

Day 4 of the World Championships at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo unfolded with some impressive performances. Kenya’s middle-distance queen Faith Kipyegon cliched her fourth 1500m world title. Hamish Kerr of New Zealand completed a high jump podium sweep. India’s Sarvesh Anil Kushare produced a spirited lifetime best performance with a clearance of 2.28m. In the hammer throw finals, Canadian legend Ethan Katzberg successfully defended his world title and American Cordell Tinch claimed his maiden crown in the 110m hurdles. There was a flash of brilliance from Sydney McLaughlin Levrone, as she shattered the American record in the women’s…

As the hockey rivalry between India and Pakistan began to fade more than a decade ago, and cricket no longer delivered the same frequency of contests, a new rivalry emerged in track and field, in the javelin throw. At the World Championships in Tokyo, defending champion Neeraj Chopra is all set to step onto the runway for the qualification round on September 17. Neeraj’s achievements date back to well before the 2020 Olympics, but that golden moment in Tokyo – watched by millions of Indians on their television screens – made him a household name. It was almost the same…