Sports

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 7: The men's hockey team and army rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal provided the few bright spots while tennis ace Leander Paes made an early exit on a largely disappointing opening day at the Rio Olympics here. The men's hockey team broke a 12-year-old Olympics jinx by winning their opening group league encounter against minnows Ireland, while Bhokanal entered the quarterfinals by

Rio De Janeiro, Aug 7: A bullet which tore through the media centre of the Olympic equestrian venue was not targeting the Games, Rio 2016 organisers said, describing the security scare as an "unfortunate incident." No one was injured, but a TVNZ report said the bullet narrowly missed a New Zealand team official who was badly shaken by the incident yesterday. Rio 2016 chief spokesman Mario Andrada

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 7: World No 1 doubles player Sania Mirza's campaign in the women's event came to an end as she and her partner Prarthana Thombare lost their first round match against the Chinese pair of Shuai Zhang and Shuai Peng. Zhang and Peng won a closely contested match 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 7-5 that lasted two hours and 44 minutes as the Indian duo did put up a stiff resistance. Indian challenge

Rio De Janeiro, Aug 6: When archer Zahra Nemati carried the Iranian flag into the Maracana Stadium on Friday, she broke new ground for the Islamic country. Never before had a woman led Iran's team into the parade of athletes in an Olympic opening ceremony. In Iran, where strict interpretations of Islamic norms are enforced, female fans are traditionally barred from attending male-only sporting

Rio De Janeiro, Aug 6: Brazil unfurled a vast canvas celebrating its rainforest and the creative energy of its wildly diverse population to the tune of samba, bossa nova and funk in welcoming the world on Friday to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In a country of great economic inequality, the opening ceremony celebrated the culture of the favelas, the slums that hang vertiginously above the

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 5: The most crisis-ridden Olympic Games in history opens on Friday with Rio organisers hoping to draw a line under a turbulent seven-year build-up to the greatest sporting show on Earth. Football legend Pele is tipped to ignite the Olympic flame at Rio's iconic Maracana Stadium in Friday's opening ceremony, as the four-yearly celebration of sporting endeavour arrives in South

Ravi Ubha, Aug 5: India loves Bollywood, and its Olympic tennis team has inadvertently provided a sequel suitable for the country’s renowned film industry. As at the London Games four years ago, personality clashes and animosity are threatening to overshadow Indian players’ reputation for strong doubles play. Since the 2012 Games, Sania Mirza has risen to No. 1 in the women’s doubles rankings, and

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 4: Dope scandals marred what was turning out to be a euphoric build-up but India's biggest ever contingent would nonetheless be eyeing a historic medal haul when the 31st Olympic Games -- the first ever in South America -- get underway with the opening ceremony here tomorrow. The Indians are eyeing their first ever double-digit medal haul riding on the sheer number of

New Delhi, Aug 3: Cleared by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), Narsingh Yadav today got the go ahead of United World Wrestling (UWW) to compete in the Rio Olympics even as he waited for a WADA clearance as well. Narsingh, cleared by NADA on Monday, was awaiting response from UWW on the Wrestling Federation of India's request to reconsider his name in the 74kg weight division. "After Narsingh

New Delhi, Aug 3: Sports Minister Vijay Goel and five-time world champion MC Mary Kom on Monday wished the Rio Olympics-bound athletes luck and launched a ‘Digital Campaign of Wishes’ for the Indian contingent. In order to promote awareness about the Olympic Games in the country, Goel inaugurated ‘Wall of Wishes’ at India Gate Lawns here at a function which was attended by SAI DG Injeti Srinivas