New Delhi : Santiago Nieva has already started looking beyond the 2026 Asian Games where women boxers contributed to three medals, including two gold; the focus now shifting towards securing as many Olympic quotas as possible at the earliest, for the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

The first major Olympic qualification pathway begins at the World Championships 2027 in Kazakhstan. “The first qualifier will be in Kazakhstan, which is the World Championships, where ideally we get as many quotas there as possible,” Nieva told SAI Media. “Later on, there will be the Asian Olympic Qualifier and 2028 will have another two Olympic Qualifiers.”

A stunning show by the eves at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow – six medals including five gold, and now a three-medal show at Aichi-Nagoya, caps off a wonderful year for coach Nieva and the Indian women pugilists. The Argentine coach has his priorities set for the Indian team – get as many of his wards qualify for LA 2028 at the earliest stage so that the team gets adequate time for Olympic-specific preparation.

“Ideally if we get to qualify next year early on, we get a good preparation time,” Nieva continued. “It will be a tough pathway and hopefully we can qualify as many boxers as possible so we can form a strong team for the Olympics.”

Nieva was the High Performance Director of Indian Boxing from 2017 to 2021. His second stint in the Indian Boxing ecosystem got under way in 2025 as the National Women’s Team Head Coach. Nieva attributes much of the team’s success this calendar year to a year-long preparation programme that included strong international competition, domestic camps and quality sparring.

The Indian women’s boxing team has hustled hard at the Sports Authority of India National Centre of Excellence in Patiala ahead of these major international tourneys this year. Nieva pointed to the instrumental support structure, mentioning that around 40 people work with the boxers at the SAI centre, including around 20 coaches and another 20 support staff.

“We have a staff of 40 people working with the boxers, around 20 coaches and another additional 20 support staff,” he said. “We have improvements in all areas, sports science, the boxing hall, the boxing equipment and so on.” The set-up, Nieva believes, compares favourably with the best boxing programmes internationally. “I would say there are not many countries who have better support,” he said.

India also brought the Dominican Republic and Iran teams to Patiala for training before moving to Japan for the final phase, where the boxers were able to get further quality sparring. “We had a good final preparation in Japan where we also got good sparring. We came very well prepared for the Asian Games. Having said that, we cannot rest on this. We have to continue looking forward and in the end we all want great success at the next Olympics,” Nieva added to SAI Media.

The IGU Governing Council approved the cash awards. The IGU congratulated Pranavi for her outstanding achievement, recognising her talent, hard work and commitment to the sport.

“Heartiest congratulations to Pranavi on her magnificent gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games. Winning gold at the Asian Games is a tremendous achievement and a reflection of her talent, hard work, determination and commitment to the sport. We are extremely proud of her and wish her continued success in the years ahead,” IGU President Brijinder Singh said.

Pranavi Urs is the third Indian golfer after ‘Bunny’ Lakshman Singh (1982 Delhi) and Shiv Kapur (2002 Busan) to win an individual golf gold at the continental sports extravaganza. Aditi Ashok had claimed women’s individual silver at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

In the team event, this is India’s fourth medal in the Asian Games till date. The quartet of ‘Bunny’ Lakshman Singh, Rajiv Mohta, Rishi Narain and Amit Luthra won the team gold in 1982 Delhi edition followed by 2006 Doha Asian Games where the squad comprising of Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Chiragh Kumar and Joseph Chakola took home the silver. Thereafter, the Indian team consisting of Rashid Khan, Abhijeet Chadha, Rahul Bajaj and Abhinav Lohan made it back-to-back silver in 2010 Guangzhou edition.

The tournament witnessed enthusiastic participation from various teams representing different schools. The participating students displayed commendable talent, competitive spirit, discipline and sportsmanship throughout the tournament. The final match of the tournament was played between the school teams of Heerpora and Sedow, with both teams displaying excellent skills, enthusiasm and sportsmanship. The Sedow school team emerged as the winner of the tournament. The concluding ceremony was presided over by SSP Shopian Mushtaq Ahmad Choudhary, accompanied by DySP Headquarters Shopian, SHO Police Station Heerpora and the Chief Education officer Shopian. The SSP Shopian presented cash prizes and Certificates to the winning team and appreciated all the participating teams for their enthusiastic participation and commendable sportsmanship. Mementos were also presented to the participating teams and players in recognition of their enthusiastic participation in the tournament.

The festival, sponsored by Lazzat Spices, Sopore, commenced on October 5, concluded Wednesday . The valedictory function was presided over by MLA Sopore, Irshad Rasool Kar.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. SubeenaChilloo highlighted the importance of sports in empowering young women and promoting physical and mental well-being.

Finals in Kabaddi, Badminton and Table Tennis were held on the concluding day, witnessing enthusiastic participation and competitive spirit. Trophies and certificates were presented to winners, runners-up, athletes, officials and organizing committee members.

The event was attended by principals and representatives of various colleges from North Kashmir. The organizers expressed gratitude to the Higher Education Department, Lazzat Spices and all participating institutions for their support in making the festival a success.

A total of 1,45,26,013 attempts were recorded during the quiz conducted from August 17 to September 30 through the MY Bharat portal, with a corresponding quiz hosted on MyGov.

Around 5.7 lakh youth who qualified in the quiz will now advance to the Viksit Bharat Essay Challenge. Shortlisted participants have been asked to submit a 500-word essay on the theme assigned to their region through the MY Bharat portal by October 15.

The selection process will follow a multi-stage pathway—Quiz, Essay Challenge, District PPT Championship, State/UT VBYLD and National VBYLD.

The essay stage covers themes including governance and urban transformation, climate security and sustainable mountain development, human capital, industrialisation, entrepreneurship, green growth, technology, tourism and the blue economy.

Essays can be submitted in any of 23 languages.

The ministry said promising participants will be shortlisted for district-level presentations, which will be conducted across all districts for the first time. Those selected will subsequently participate in the State/UT-level dialogue.

Participants selected from across States and Union Territories under 10 regional themes will form the national contingent for VBYLD 2027.

The initiative, organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports through MY Bharat, seeks to provide young people a platform to present ideas and solutions related to the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.

The  eight-day fast-paced T-10 knockout tournament was jointly organized by Terrific Trio Trust and Monarch Secondary School Handwara in collaboration with Handwara Police, featuring participation from six schools across the region. Simran Jan was adjudged Player of the Match, while Tamina Jan of Monarch Secondary School Handwara earned the Player of the Tournament title for her outstanding performance.

Kathua, :The inter-district division level annual (all age groups) Badminton tournament for boys and girls commenced Wednesday  at the Indoor Stadium Kathua. The District Youth Services and Sports Department is hosting the divisional-level sports event.

Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Sharma was the chief guest at the inaugural function. He declared the tournament open. CPO Ranjeet Thakur, DYSSO Sunil Kumar, besides officials from the department of Youth Services and Sports were present on the occasion.

Interacting with the participating players, the Deputy Commissioner urged them to uphold the true spirit of sportsmanship, discipline and dedication while striving for excellence. He encouraged the young sportspersons to make the best use of the opportunities available to them, work hard and maintain a positive attitude both on and off the field.

The DC emphasised the important role of sports in promoting discipline, confidence, teamwork and healthy lifestyle among youth. He also called upon the participants to remain committed to their sporting pursuits and contribute towards building a healthy, disciplined and drug-free society.

Earlier, the District Youth Services and Sports Officer welcomed the chief guest and other guests. He highlighted the significance of organising such tournaments in providing young athletes with a platform to showcase their talent, gain competitive exposure and develop a healthy competitive spirit.

Sportsmanship and NashaMukt Abhiyan pledges were also administered to the participating players and officials, reinforcing the message of discipline, healthy living and collective commitment towards a drug-free society.

Baramulla : Deputy Commissioner (DC) Bandipora, Indu Kanwal Chib, Wednesday  interacted with the Inter-District UT-Level Handball Boys’ teams at her office chamber here, appreciating their performances in the recently concluded U-14, U-17 and U-19 championships.

The DC congratulated the Bandipora teams for clinching the U-14 and U-17 titles, while Jammu emerged champion in the U-19 category.

The Deputy Commissioner appreciated all participating teams for their dedication, discipline and sporting spirit, and encouraged the young athletes to continue working hard and pursue excellence through sports.

Nagoya : The Indian women’s recurve team of Kirti Sharma, Ankita Bhagat and Kumkum Mohod created history at the Asian Games 2026 by vanquishing mighty South Korea in the final to clinch the gold medal. The Indian trio thus broke the 44-year domination of South Korea in the event at the Asian Games.

Just like every other sports discipline, Indian triumph at the women’s recurve team event at the Asian Games also has a Haryana connection, in the form of Kirti Sharma.

Born in a farming family among the patriarchal milieu of rural Haryana, Kirti had to battle a host of obstacles to travel from the nondescript village of Ritauli to Asian Games glory.

“I was suffering from poor health since childhood. I had to listen to a lot of negative comments from various quarters doubting my ability to make it big in archery. Since I was not in good shape physically, initially I found it difficult to even lift bows with heavy poundage. But I was determined to do whatever it takes to prove my critics wrong,” Kirti told SAI Media from Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

She ultimately realized that goal when the Indian trio defeated South Korea 5-3 in a tense final at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park. The 19-year-old credited her family, especially her father Vijay Sharma, for standing with her through difficult times and laying the foundation for her success.  “My father is a farmer. But he has always supported me and has taken care of all expenses related to my sports career despite financial constraints,” Kirti said.  “Many people told my father that he should not allow me to go into sports since I was a girl. They also expressed doubts over my ability to succeed due to my poor health. But my father has always believed in me.”

The star archer, who trains at the SAI training center in Hazaribagh, asserted that the SAI and her coach Uddham Singh deserves all the accolades for paving the way to Asian Games glory.

“My family and my coach have always supported me and made me believe that I can do wonders. In fact, I appeared for the trials at SAI, Hazaribagh only because my coach Uddham Singh was transferred there. In fact, during my initial years, I used to train at an academy started by Uddham sir,” Kirti said.

“I went to SAI, Hazaribagh four years ago. Since then, my career has improved by leaps and bounds. SAI and Uddham Singh sir are responsible for whatever I have achieved.”(eom)

Talking exclusively to SAI Media, Head Coach for the Indian men’s national team, Craig Fulton said that LA 2028 is not far away and that once the Hockey India League (HIL) gets over, he will have to build a new team afresh. This will include infusing more young faces in the team in order to strike a fine balance between youth and experience.

“LA 2028 is within two years. It seems a long way off, but it obviously comes around pretty quick. I think at the moment we’re just trying to get the right schedule, the right planning in place, the big blocks of what is the preparation like, two years out, one year out, six months out, and plan accordingly to that. Yeah, I think every team has its phases at and flows with experience and youth. We have a good group of experienced players with us now,” Craig Fulton told SAI Media. “We have some youth, but we have a lot of youth in the Indian A team and a strong Under-21 team as well, which is great. So in the next two-three months, I think just post the Hockey India League, we’ll have a look at all the talent that we have, choose new squad, and start afresh from there,” the 51-year-old added.  This was the fifth Gold medal overall for the Indian men’s hockey team in the continental sports extravaganza after 1966 Bangkok, 1998 Bangkok, 2014 Incheon and 2022 Hangzhou editions.

Fulton, who represented South Africa in the 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympic Games, said defending back-to-back gold medals was always special. “Personally, this Asian Games was very unique. It was very different to the last Asian Games as we were isolated out here in a sense of away from the other events and athletes. There was no so-called Games Village. But at the same time, we had our own routine. We went to the field, we played, we came back, and everything is the same. But Hangzhou, being the first gold medal, was very special. But to come back and defend it back-to-back golds is always special,” he said.

India edged past arch-rivals Pakistan 4-3 by scoring in the dying minutes of the match at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium, squandering a 3-0 lead. Captain Harmanpreet Singh (5’, 13’) and Sukhjeet Singh (23’) gave India a 3-0 lead but Abu Mahmood (30’), Hannan Shahid (45’) and Waheed Rana (49’) brought Pakistan back on level terms. It was Abhishek who scored in the final minute of the match to take India into the men’s final.“Everything did go according to plan. We had a really good first half, and then the third quarter was difficult. Pakistan is that team that if you give them any free opportunities, they take them and they are a great team, and they showed that. They came back nicely and put us under a lot of pressure from 3-0 to 3-all. We still had some good chances in that period, but we couldn’t finish, we couldn’t score. And found a way in the last minute to do so and to get the fourth goal, which helped us make the final,” Fulton said.  The feat was a first-ever double gold finish for the men’s and women’s hockey teams at the Asian Games. It was only the third Indian team sport to have a double gold finish after Kabaddi and Cricket at Aichi-Nagoya.  The turnaround was fuelled by Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) support of INR 77.8 Crore on both the men’s and women’s hockey teams including national coaching camp, international competition exposure, remuneration of foreign coach and equipment support, among others. “I think the government is our biggest supporter in terms of the resources and the funds that they put forward to helping the grassroots programs all the way through to the 18s, 21s, seniors. Without them, obviously, I don’t know what would happen if they didn’t put as much support and resources around. But at the same time, by doing that the girls stand on the podium winning gold for the first time in 44 years. And we’re fortunate enough to go back to back. Yes, that’s domination in Asia.  “We obviously want to do that on the world stage. And the women had a fantastic World Cup, and the men obviously had a fantastic Paris. So the balance is there. The resources are there. But the main thing is we just got to keep pushing forward to find the talent and expose it on the international platform,” he signed off.