Author: G Rajaraman

Bommadevara Dhiraj has raised a sliver of hope in the Indian archery community with a fine showing in cold, wind and rain at the World Archery Championships in Berlin. Not only did he finish second in the qualification round with a tally of 683 points, including the third most 10s, he helped the Indian men’s team make it to the quarterfinals. His effort, along with Mrinal Chauhan and Tushar Shelke in the team event, would add to Dhiraj’s confidence ahead of the individual event. The Indians did well to hold their nerves and rally from 2-4 to beat Malaysia 5-4,…

MR Poovamma’ s return to Athletics competition was marked by a lackluster time of 55.84 seconds in the first heat of the women’s 400m in the Sri Lankan National Athletics Championships in Colombo. Despite that, it overshadowed Kishore Kumar Jena’s 84.38m effort to win the men’s Javelin Throw, as Poovamma is serving a doping ban that should last until June 15, 2024. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President Adille J. Sumariwalla said M R Poovamma had travelled – as an unattached athlete – to Sri Lanka only after the National Anti-Doping Authority (NADA) had specified that she was eligible to…

Sometime last week, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) put out the news that Rishabh Pant, India’s premier wicketkeeper-batter – injured in a horrific car crash on New Year’s Eve – had made significant progress in his rehabilitation and had commenced batting as well as keeping at the nets. The cricket community welcomed this information with utter delight. In fact, the BCCI released a medical-and-fitness update on five players undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru – fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna, batters KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, as well as Pant. It…

The Delhi High Court on Saturday dismissed the writ petition filed by wrestlers Sujeet Kalkal and Antim Panghal, against the decision of the ad hoc committee, governing the beleaguered Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), to give Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat direct entry to the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou by exempting them from the selection trials. “This Court is not inclined to sit in appeal over the decision taken by the (Ad Hoc) Committee (running WFI) as the same cannot be said to be arbitrary or perverse,” noted Justice Subramonium Prasad in his verdict delivered on Saturday. The Court…

The tussle is out in the open. Or so it seems when you consider the fact that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) took the unprecedented step on Wednesday of putting out an unsigned media release, with one quote from PT Usha, its President, and without a whisper from Kalyan Chaubey, the Joint Secretary and Acting CEO. No less than 24 hours after the IOA-appointed ad-hoc committee running the affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) released the selection procedure for the Asian Games, the IOA release provided a twist in the tale as far as the composition of the…

The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), made aware of its inadequate whereabouts and testing by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), has had to pull up its socks. Operation Carousel, conducted by WADA’s Intelligence and Investigative team into allegations that some parts of NADA’s testing programme were not in keeping with the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code and international standards for testing and investigation and international standards for result management, revealed significant deficiencies in NADA. Gunter Younger, the WADA Intelligence and Investigations Director, said that since 2016, WADA has been working with NADA to improve its anti-doping programme, providing various…

There was no gold for India on Sunday in the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok but by winning 13 medals on the final day, India nearly doubled its haul of 14 medals from the first four days. With 6 gold, 12 silver and 9 bronze medals, India finished third behind Japan (16 gold, 11 silver, 10 bronze) and China (8 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze). It was India’s best visit to an Asian Championships since winning 10 gold in a total of 22 medals in 1985. Of course, India had larger collection in 1989 and 2017 when the continental competition…

There was joy in watching Indian track and field athletes highlight intense fighting abilities on the penultimate day of the Asian Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Bangkok on Saturday. The mixed relay team led the way with gold, Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan showcasing an ability to hold their nerve under pressure and regain lost ground. M Sreeshankar (men’s Long Jump), Sarvesh Anil Kumar (men’s High Jump) and Heptathlete Swapna Barman were not far behind in turning in performances that highlighted their calm temperament, and won them a silver medal each. In fact, it was T Santhosh Kumar…

Seasoned campaigners Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Parul Chaudhury added to India’s collection of gold medals with comprehensive victories in the men’s Shot Put and women’s 3000m Steeplechase in the Asian Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Bangkok on Friday while the Shaili Singh finished bitter-sweet women’s Long Jump silver. After three days of competition, India has won nine medals so far, including five gold and a silver. It is third behind Japan (24 medals including 11 gold) and China (15 medals including 5 gold). If he can get his rhythm right, M Sreeshankar can add the men’s Long Jump…

Archana Suseendran, a 29-year-old sprinter, has been given an 18-month ban by a National Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) after she tested positive for a banned substance in an out-of-competition test. She paid the price for not doing due diligence before consuming the prescription medication for high blood pressure and for not mentioning it in the Dope Control Form. Her urine sample, collected on December 19, tested positive for Chlortalidone, a banned non-specified substance. She had not mentioned the medications prescribed by her family physician, for giddiness and high blood pressure, in the Dope Control Form submitted on December 10, 2022.…