General Sports News

[tirtha22 238]

38th edition of the National Games will be held in Uttarakhand from 28 January to 14 February 2025 (subject to the approval of IOA's General Assembly, which is scheduled to meet in New Delhi on 25 October 2024).

[Prakash 50]

6 out of 12 sports where India had won medals in the 2022 Commonwealth Games have been excluded from the 2026 Commonwealth Games. 2026 Commonwealth Games will only feature 10 sports due to cost-saving measures. The Games will take place from July 23 to August 2, 2026.

Edited October 22, 2024 by Prakash

[Roamingrover86 863]

The sports programme for 2028 Summer Olympics in LA has been officially released 

 

https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Olympic-Games/LA28/Official-Programme-of-the-Olympic-Games-Los-Angeles-2028.pdf

 

What do you guys think from  POV ? @Fly_like_a_don @Siddhartha Talukdar @nitinsanker @Prashanth 

 

I feel the addition of compound archery albeit in mixed team event will be a welcome addition for us. Also the TT events in men’s & women’s doubles will be better us. 
Eagerly awaiting when each sports federation release their qualification Documents. Cricket with 6 slots will be intresting. 
It’s only mid 2025 but the road to LA starts now ! 
 

 

[Indian Sports fan 8]

Explained: The LA 2028 Sports Programme 📊

 

Here are all the key changes in the sports programme for LA 2028 - new sports, new events, changes in quotas etc.

 

https://thesportsgram.in/2025/04/10/explained-la-2028-sports-programme/ 

[Siddhartha Talukdar 248]

18 hours ago, Roamingrover86 said:

The sports programme for 2028 Summer Olympics in LA has been officially released 

 

https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Olympic-Games/LA28/Official-Programme-of-the-Olympic-Games-Los-Angeles-2028.pdf

 

What do you guys think from  POV ? @Fly_like_a_don @Siddhartha Talukdar @nitinsanker @Prashanth 

 

I feel the addition of compound archery albeit in mixed team event will be a welcome addition for us. Also the TT events in men’s & women’s doubles will be better us. 
Eagerly awaiting when each sports federation release their qualification Documents. Cricket with 6 slots will be intresting. 
It’s only mid 2025 but the road to LA starts now ! 
 

 

So here's my reaction to Qualification to 2028. If we plan correctly, we can have a large contingent. 
 

AQUATICS:

Swimming: Universality quota ki jai!!

Diving: Nope

Water Polo: Do we even play this?

Athletes = 2

 

ARCHERY:  Even though Compound event is added the number of quotas has not increased, so its expected quotas for individual Recurve to reduce. So its imperative we qualify via team which think we can for both sexes. In Compound Mixed Team, we should qualify. 
Athletes = 8

ATHLETICS: Nothing really changed, just mixed race relay replaced by 4x100m mixed relay; so similar qualification
Athletes = 25

 

BADMINTON: A sport where slowly we hitting a gradual decline despite being a core sport for us.
Men's Singles: Lakshya Sen should qualify but the second shuttler is doubtful. Haven't seen any improvement from Kiran George or Rajawat so far
Women's Singles: 1 shuttler. Need to look out for teenagers Anmol Kharb and Unnati Hooda
Men's Doubles: Only Satwik-Chirag pair

Women's Doubles: Treesa-Gayatri will hopefully maintain top 20 in 3 years

Mixed Doubles: One of Kapila / Crasto and Sathish / Aadya to qualify

Athletes = 8

 

BASKETBALL: In 5x5, men are 76th and women are 79th. In 3x3, the men's team had a memorable recent Asia Cup; hope it wasn't a fluke. Even with increased quotas from 8 to 12, not expected to qualify

Athletes = 0 

 

BOXING: Even with lot of issues with the sport, there is no quota change and 1 event increase in women. Expecting similar quotas as of 2024

Athletes = 8

 

BASEBALL/CANOE / FLAG FOOTBALL / HANDBALL / LACROSSE / MODERN PENTATHLON / RUGBY / SKATEBOARDING / SPORT CLIMBING / SURFING /TAEKWONDO / TRIATHLON / VOLLEYBALL:  No chance. Don't care Athletes = 0

 

CYCLING:  Make or break for Track Cycling. We have former junior champions who expected to be in their prime by 2028 and first foreign coach. 

Athletes = 0

 

CRICKET: Whatever the qualification system be, by some abracadabra both our teams will qualify

Athletes = 30

 

EQUESTRIAN: Easiest sport to qualify. Just turn up in team qualification event and try to maintain MER for next 2 years. If we can win team medals in Asian Games then we can certainly qualify for Olympics too

Athletes = 6

 

FENCING: Hope young epee fencer Taniksha Khatri becomes serious for the sport; she hasn't participated at all this season. Bhavani Devi is somehow maintaining her 40s rank and she could look at realistic qualification again. 

Athletes = 0

 

FOOTBALL: We can't even beat Bangladesh. Kalyan Chaubey had promised very lofty goals. Can't believe we hired a coach who is still ISL coach who will ensure national team is full of FC Goa players

Athletes = 0

 

GOLF: Two per gender which also ensures quota in Mixed Team

Athletes = 4

 

GYMNASTICS: Not aware of any upcoming junior gymnasts and current crop is too old

Athletes = 0

 

HOCKEY: Men's team is miles ahead in Asia so should win Asian Games. China women's team has shown significant improvement and Japan being host, it will be tough for the women to qualify via Asian Games but they should qualify via qualification tournament

Athletes = 30

 

JUDO:   We should qualify 1 judoka but there's potential for more. If we invest in Asmita Dey (48 kg), Shraddha Chopade (52 kg) and Himanshi Tokas (63 kg) who still young, we can get automatic qualifier

Athletes = 1

 

ROWING:  We should qualify in Single Sculls. Need to see on qualification criteria which of the events have continental qualification as Lightweight Double Sculls is not part of the programme now

Athletes = 1

 

SAILING: Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan to qualify again

Athletes = 2

 

SHOOTING: Probably among our best managed sports. Medals at 2024 Olympics was a big boost and players, coaches and federation should feel confident about 2028

Athletes = 22

 

SQUASH: Very limited quotas of just 16 per gender. By my guess, qualification shall be via rankings where 2 per NOC if in top 8 otherwise 1. Our highest ranked male is Ramit Tandon (31st) and within top 16 with my qualification scenario. The highest ranked female is Anahat Singh who is 62nd but she is still a teen and we can expect her to be within top 30 in 3 years

Athletes = 2

 

TABLE TENNIS: Should qualify 2 singles players per gender. Not sure how doubles qualification will work but we can qualify 2 pairs per gender and also qualify in Mixed Team. 

Athletes = 6

 

TENNIS: Only Sumit Nagal

Athletes = 1

 

WEIGHTLIFTING: A sport which has given us medals but no realistic weightlifter in horizon who can even qualify in 2028. Still fingers crossed

Athletes = 1

 

WRESTLING: Hope all the issues are cleared by 2028. Even with little preparation our wrestlers were decent in Asian Championships

Athletes = 7

 

Total: Athletes = 164

Overall Opinion: I think this could be a memorable Olympics especially with inclusion of Cricket and if we plan well. It could be even even better if India is declared the host for 2036!

 

 

[Indian Sports fan 8]

On 4/11/2025 at 2:22 PM, Siddhartha Talukdar said:

So here's my reaction to Qualification to 2028. If we plan correctly, we can have a large contingent. 
 

AQUATICS:

Swimming: Universality quota ki jai!!

Diving: Nope

Water Polo: Do we even play this?

Athletes = 2

 

ARCHERY:  Even though Compound event is added the number of quotas has not increased, so its expected quotas for individual Recurve to reduce. So its imperative we qualify via team which think we can for both sexes. In Compound Mixed Team, we should qualify. 
Athletes = 8

ATHLETICS: Nothing really changed, just mixed race relay replaced by 4x100m mixed relay; so similar qualification
Athletes = 25

 

BADMINTON: A sport where slowly we hitting a gradual decline despite being a core sport for us.
Men's Singles: Lakshya Sen should qualify but the second shuttler is doubtful. Haven't seen any improvement from Kiran George or Rajawat so far
Women's Singles: 1 shuttler. Need to look out for teenagers Anmol Kharb and Unnati Hooda
Men's Doubles: Only Satwik-Chirag pair

Women's Doubles: Treesa-Gayatri will hopefully maintain top 20 in 3 years

Mixed Doubles: One of Kapila / Crasto and Sathish / Aadya to qualify

Athletes = 8

 

BASKETBALL: In 5x5, men are 76th and women are 79th. In 3x3, the men's team had a memorable recent Asia Cup; hope it wasn't a fluke. Even with increased quotas from 8 to 12, not expected to qualify

Athletes = 0 

 

BOXING: Even with lot of issues with the sport, there is no quota change and 1 event increase in women. Expecting similar quotas as of 2024

Athletes = 8

 

BASEBALL/CANOE / FLAG FOOTBALL / HANDBALL / LACROSSE / MODERN PENTATHLON / RUGBY / SKATEBOARDING / SPORT CLIMBING / SURFING /TAEKWONDO / TRIATHLON / VOLLEYBALL:  No chance. Don't care Athletes = 0

 

CYCLING:  Make or break for Track Cycling. We have former junior champions who expected to be in their prime by 2028 and first foreign coach. 

Athletes = 0

 

CRICKET: Whatever the qualification system be, by some abracadabra both our teams will qualify

Athletes = 30

 

EQUESTRIAN: Easiest sport to qualify. Just turn up in team qualification event and try to maintain MER for next 2 years. If we can win team medals in Asian Games then we can certainly qualify for Olympics too

Athletes = 6

 

FENCING: Hope young epee fencer Taniksha Khatri becomes serious for the sport; she hasn't participated at all this season. Bhavani Devi is somehow maintaining her 40s rank and she could look at realistic qualification again. 

Athletes = 0

 

FOOTBALL: We can't even beat Bangladesh. Kalyan Chaubey had promised very lofty goals. Can't believe we hired a coach who is still ISL coach who will ensure national team is full of FC Goa players

Athletes = 0

 

GOLF: Two per gender which also ensures quota in Mixed Team

Athletes = 4

 

GYMNASTICS: Not aware of any upcoming junior gymnasts and current crop is too old

Athletes = 0

 

HOCKEY: Men's team is miles ahead in Asia so should win Asian Games. China women's team has shown significant improvement and Japan being host, it will be tough for the women to qualify via Asian Games but they should qualify via qualification tournament

Athletes = 30

 

JUDO:   We should qualify 1 judoka but there's potential for more. If we invest in Asmita Dey (48 kg), Shraddha Chopade (52 kg) and Himanshi Tokas (63 kg) who still young, we can get automatic qualifier

Athletes = 1

 

ROWING:  We should qualify in Single Sculls. Need to see on qualification criteria which of the events have continental qualification as Lightweight Double Sculls is not part of the programme now

Athletes = 1

 

SAILING: Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan to qualify again

Athletes = 2

 

SHOOTING: Probably among our best managed sports. Medals at 2024 Olympics was a big boost and players, coaches and federation should feel confident about 2028

Athletes = 22

 

SQUASH: Very limited quotas of just 16 per gender. By my guess, qualification shall be via rankings where 2 per NOC if in top 8 otherwise 1. Our highest ranked male is Ramit Tandon (31st) and within top 16 with my qualification scenario. The highest ranked female is Anahat Singh who is 62nd but she is still a teen and we can expect her to be within top 30 in 3 years

Athletes = 2

 

TABLE TENNIS: Should qualify 2 singles players per gender. Not sure how doubles qualification will work but we can qualify 2 pairs per gender and also qualify in Mixed Team. 

Athletes = 6

 

TENNIS: Only Sumit Nagal

Athletes = 1

 

WEIGHTLIFTING: A sport which has given us medals but no realistic weightlifter in horizon who can even qualify in 2028. Still fingers crossed

Athletes = 1

 

WRESTLING: Hope all the issues are cleared by 2028. Even with little preparation our wrestlers were decent in Asian Championships

Athletes = 7

 

Total: Athletes = 164

Overall Opinion: I think this could be a memorable Olympics especially with inclusion of Cricket and if we plan well. It could be even even better if India is declared the host for 2036!

 

 

Tennis: Don't think Sumit will qualify. The hope in Tennis is through Men's Doubles - Hope Yuki Bhambri maintains his form and rises to top 20 ranking.

[Siddhartha Talukdar 248]

12 hours ago, Indian Sports fan said:

Tennis: Don't think Sumit will qualify. The hope in Tennis is through Men's Doubles - Hope Yuki Bhambri maintains his form and rises to top 20 ranking.

In Doubles, one needs to be in top 10 for automatic qualification otherwise its combined ranking which the minimum is about 130 to qualify. Right now pair of Bhambhri-Sriram Balaji is 89 which is good enough to qualify

[Indian Sports fan 8]

The schedule for LA 2028 is out! 📆

 

A look at the schedule for sports with keen Indian interest. Also, a quick look at athletes to watch out for over the next 3 years!

 

https://thesportsgram.in/2025/07/20/la-2028-schedule/ 

[nitinsanker 207]

On 4/10/2025 at 6:18 PM, Roamingrover86 said:

The sports programme for 2028 Summer Olympics in LA has been officially released 

 

https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Olympic-Games/LA28/Official-Programme-of-the-Olympic-Games-Los-Angeles-2028.pdf

 

What do you guys think from  POV ? @Fly_like_a_don @Siddhartha Talukdar @nitinsanker @Prashanth 

 

I feel the addition of compound archery albeit in mixed team event will be a welcome addition for us. Also the TT events in men’s & women’s doubles will be better us. 
Eagerly awaiting when each sports federation release their qualification Documents. Cricket with 6 slots will be intresting. 
It’s only mid 2025 but the road to LA starts now ! 
 

 

Yes obviously from a medal perspective cricket both mens and womens , mixed pair compund seem high probability events ....

 

With really long shot chances in tt doubles and who knows squash with anahat  rapidly improving with 3 years left ...   

 

[Siddhartha Talukdar 248]

Hi @nitinsanker, @Indian Sports fan, @Fly_like_a_don, @Prashanth, @Roamingrover86 @tirtha22 @Vaibhav Manocha @Vaibhav (minchu) @sanjaydas @rohan sharma  @Dolby @Prakash @Sanjib @Shravan Kumar

 

Please watch this video on Why hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games matters for India