New Delhi:Athletes have not been spared the blame in Sports Authority of India's review of the country's "lacklustre" Olympic performance even as it suggested a three-pronged strategy, including a through evaluation of coaches, for an improved performance in the 2020 Tokyo Games. The report prepared by SAI Director General Injeti Srinivas has pointed out that "some athletes showed physical fitness issues, which is a matter of concern and reflects on inadequate monitoring". During the Gam...Read More

Mumbai:Boxer Vikas Krishan Yadav today said the pressure of expectations got to him at the Rio Olympics where he crashed out in the quarter-finals of the 75kg class. "There's always pressure on us (boxers). There was a lot of pressure on me and because of the pressure I could not perform well in the Rio Olympics," said the 24-year-old Haryana boxer at a joint press conference addressed by him, bronze medal winning woman wrestler Sakshi Malik and young javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. Vikas i...Read More

Tirupati:Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and her coach P Gopichand offered worship at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at nearby Tirumala today. Speaking to media persons outside the temple, the ace shuttler said she has came here "as a gesture of thanksgiving to Lord Venkateswara," whose blessings had enabled her to get the silver medal in Rio Olympics. Sindhu said that prior to leaving for Rio, she had visited the ancient shrine and sought the blessings of the Lord. G...Read More

New Delhi: With India getting only two medals in the Rio Olympics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced the decision to set up a Task Force to prepare a comprehensive action plan for effective participation in the next three Olympics. According to the announcement made by Modi at the meeting of Council of Ministers here, the Task Force comprising experts will be set up over the next few days. "The Task Force will be set up to prepare a comprehensive action plan for effective partic...Read More

By Tapan Mohanta Rio de Janeiro: Three unassuming women became the redeemers for India at the Rio Olympics as the country concluded its campaign with some good, bad and ugly memories. Defying all odds and showing killer instincts, PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar became the unlikely heroines and saved the country's pride from returning empty-handed for the first time since Barcelona 1992. The trio notched a few firsts for India; Sindhu, at 21, became the youngest to win an Olympi...Read More

Hyderabad:Telangana government today announced cash reward of Rs 5 crore to Olympic silver medalist in women's badminton singles P V Sindhu. The 21-year-old from Hyderabad crumbled under the relentless pressure created by Spain's Carolina Marin to lose 21-19, 12-21, 15-21 in a pulsating final that lasted for an hour and 23 minutes last night. After chairing a state cabinet meeting at Secretariat here, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said it has been decided to provide Rs 5 cro...Read More

New Delhi:State-owned BPCL today announced a cash award of Rs 75 lakh and promotion for P V Sindhu, the country's first-ever woman silver medallist in the Olympic Games. Sindhu has been working with Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) since 2013 and is currently Assistant Manager (Sports) at its Hyderabad office. Announcing a cash award of Rs 75 lakh for her fleet, BPCL CMD S Varadarajan said Sindhu will be promoted to Deputy Manager. "Pusarla V Sindhu, a BPCL sports person and ace shutt...Read More

Rio de Janeiro: P V Sindhu today said she is happy to win a silver in the women's singles badminton event after her gallant attempt to win a coveted gold for India ended in heart-break at the Rio Olympics here today. "I ended up with silver medal but am really happy," said Sindhu moments after losing her final clash 21-19 12-21 15-21 against two-time World Championship Marin here. "I'm really proud about it. I'm really happy. I could not win the gold. But I really worked hard. It was anybo...Read More

By Tapan Mohanta Rio de Janeiro: P V Sindhu's gallant attempt to win a coveted gold medal for India ended in heart-break when she went down fighting against Spain's Carolina Marin and settled for a silver medal in the women's singles badminton competition at the Rio Olympics here today. The 21-year-old Indian, who has been simply unstoppable in the tournament so far, crumbled under the tremendous pressure created by the two-time World Champion from Spain to lose 21-19, 12-21, 15-21 in a high...Read More

Hyderabad: A day after shuttler P V Sindhu stormed into the finals of the women's singles event at Rio Olympic Games, her father P V Ramana is hopeful of a good summit clash against Carolina Marin today and feels there's a 50-50 chance of her daughter winning the match. The World No. 10 from Hyderabad will take on two-time World Champion and top seed, left-handed Carolina Marin of Spain in the summit clash this evening. "It will be 50-50 chances (to win gold medal in finals today), because...Read More