Road To Los Angeles: Episode 7

Well, its been quite a while since the last episode on the Road To LA. After a prolonged hiatus, time to get this journey back on its path!

Since the last edition quite a few things have happened!

The Women's Cricket Team is the first from India to get a quota place via being the highest placed Asian team at the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Meanwhile the Men's team is in prolonged slump after having successfully defended their own World Championships title!

In Hockey, the women's team returns to the Pro League, while the Men just about retain their place. Both have World Cups coming soon.

Athletics has seen a slew of records being shattered including some long standing ones. While great to see the progress being made, we still are quite a bit away from the world standards. To give a perspective, in most of the events, our current National Records are at the same level, where the World Records were in 1960s & 70s. So, while the improvement is there, there is still a long way to go. Meanwhile a mention for Sarvesh Kushare for a 3rd place finish on Diamond league debut.

Also PV Sindhu has returned to winning ways with the Japan Open title

On the other hand, wrestling continues to be a mess, with Vinesh Phogat's return symbolizing all the chaos that is the sport in India.

Worse however, is India topping the list of doping offenders. Not something to be proud of.

Farewell and RIP Jaspal Rana, the man who brought Shooting into the news in the 1990s.

Now, over to the Commonwealth Games starting soon.

Qualification Summary for Team India: Sports 1, Events 1, Entries 1, Athletes 15

Till next time!

Road To Los Angeles: Episode 6

Back with the Episode 6 on the Road To Los Angeles 2028. The past few weeks have been quite happening on the sporting front with multiple World and Continental Championships going on across sports. Here is quick look at some of the goings on from an Indian perspective.

Badminton: The Men’s doubles duo of Satwik-Chirag won a Bronze medal, thus continuing India’s streak of one medal at the World Championships since 2011. A slight uptick from the Paris Olympics.

Hockey

• Men’s Asia Cup: India finished 1st and qualified for the 2026 Hockey World Cup
  
  
• Women’s Asia Cup: Indian finished runners-up and will play in the World Cup Qualifiers next year.

Archery World Cup: The Compound Mixed Team won the Silver medal

Boxing World Championships: Jasmine Lamboria & Meenakshi Hooda are now World Champions while Nupur Sheoran won Silver and Pooja Rani got Bronze medal. However, there were no medals for the men’s contingent.

Wrestling World Championships: Antim Panghal won her second World Championships medal. However the rest of the contingent disappointed with Olympics medalist Aman Sehrawat failing to meet the weight which resulted in a one year suspension by the Wrestling Federation

Athletics World Championships: Sachin Yadav finished 4th in Javelin Throw and Sarvesh Kushare 6th in High Jump. However, the bigger story was Neeraj Chopra finishing 8th – thus missing a podium for the first time since 2018 and first time outperformed by an Indian thrower since 2016. What a phenomenal run this had been!

Cricket: An unbeaten run by Men’s Team to win the T20 Asia Cup.

Weightlifting World Championships: Mirabai Chanu wins Silver in 48 KG category, proving she is still very much the best lifter in the country.

Judo: Himanshi Tokas is now World Junior No. 1, the first Indian to achieve this ranking

At the Para-athletics World Championships hosted in Delhi, India recorded their best ever medal haul. But the event was also marred a little by stray dogs biting coaches!

Meanwhile India has successfully bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games to be held in Ahmedabad.

That certainly has been quite a happening period for Indian Olympics sports Till next time!

Links

• Episode 5 
• Himashi Tokas: ESPN 
• Paralympics Report: ESPN 

Road To LA: Episode 5

Today, August 29th, marks National Sports Day—and there's no better way to commemorate it than by examining India's ongoing journey toward the LA Olympics. While fans experience a rollercoaster of emotions watching the performances, imagine the journey for the sportspersons who persist despite administrative lapses and official apathy.

We are re in that familiar phase of the Olympic cycle: the surge from Paris 2024 has settled, while momentum for LA 2028 has yet to build. Meanwhile, competitions continue in relative quiet, away from the spotlight.

Here is a rundown of Indian sports in the last few months - the highs, the lows, and everything in between.

The Neeraj Chopra Phenomenon

When a second-place finish at the Diamond League finale barely registers as news, you know an athlete has truly transcended expectations. He has breached the 90m mark and maintained a remarkable four-year streak of top-two finishes globally. But perhaps his greatest achievement this year was launching the Neeraj Chopra Classic - tournament that could reshape India's athletics landscape.  Now comes the real test: can our sporting administration build on his foundation?

Athletics

Indian athletics is showing visible progress with National records tumbling frequently. Yet we remain decades behind in most events. The gap is closing, but slowly - progress that demands patience.

Football

Indian football presents a study in contrasts. The women's team has qualified for the next Asian Cup despite all the off-field challenges. Meanwhile, the men's team appears to be in free fall, compounded by uncertainty around the Indian Super League's future. With no clear path forward, the free fall looks set to continue.

Our Shooters and Archers continue their stellar run at World Cups, consistently bringing home medals and breaking records. Yet these performances need to translate into Olympic success. 

The inaugural Rugby Premier League marked an important milestone for a relatively nascent sport. While rugby's Olympic prospects remain distant, any step toward professionalization needs to be applauded.

Looking Ahead

Away from the cameras and commentary, Indian sports continues its relentless march forward. The LA 2028 event lineup is set, but qualification pathways are yet to announced. But the sporting journey continues.

Until next time.

Links:

• Episode 4 
• Rating India’s sporting Federations performance: ESPN

Road To Los Angeles: Episode 4

The Olympics are over 3 years away. However, we now have a bit more clarity on the events itself. There have been quite a few changes in the roster. The most significant impact is that LA28 will be the first ever Games with more female participants than male.

Also, the IOC has a new Boss – Kristy Coventry, herself a multiple Olympics medalist.

Overall, there will be 351 events across 36 sports compared to Paris which had 329 events across 32 sports. Here is a look at the sports wise changes made with respect to Paris 24.

Sports Dropped: Breaking

Sports Added:

1. Cricket: Men & Women Team events
2. Flag Football: Men & Women Team events
3. Lacrosse: Men & Women Team events
4. Squash: Men & Women Individual Events
5. Baseball: Men’s Team event
6. Softball: Women’s Team event

Changes within Sports

1. Swimming: 6 new events
• 50m Backstroke (Men & Women)
• 50m Breaststroke (Men & Women)
• 50m Butterfly (Men & Women)
2. Archery: Compound Mixed Team Event added
3. Athletics
• Addition: 4x100m Mixed Relay
• Dropped: Mixed Marathon racewalk
4. Boxing: One new event for Women. Weight categories have been rejigged for both men and women, now 7 each
5. Golf: Mixed Team event added
6. Gymnastics: Mixed Team event added
7. Rowing:
• Addition: Coastal Beach Sprints – 3 events (Men Solo, Women Solo, Mixed Doubles)
• Dropped: Lightweight Doubles Sculls – 2 events (Men & Women)
8. Shooting: Trap Mixed Team replaces Skeet Mixed team event (back to Tokyo format)
9. Sport climbing
• Addition: Boulder Event (Men & Women)
• Addition: Lead Event (Men & Women)
• Dropped: Boulder and Lead combined Event (Men & Women)
10. Table Tennis
• Additions: Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Team
• Dropped: Men’s Team, Women’s Team

Overall, quite a few changes with some of real interest to the Indian hopes (Cricket, Squash, Compound Archery, Golf, Shooting, Table Tennis, Boxing).

Now awaiting the details for the qualification pathways for the events.

Links:

• RTLA Episode 3  
• Detailed Event & Quota LA28 

Road To Los Angeles: Episode 3

The Olympics are still over 3 years away. And most of the Olympics sports & stars have receded back in the collective national memory. But some of us continue to trudge on.

Here is some of the goings on in the India Olympic sports scene in the past few months.

India submitted its application for hosting the 2036 Olympics. The way things are shaping up, there is a decent chance of it actually happening. Ironically it was a non-sporting event (the Coldplay concert) at the same venue which has boosted the chances!

Hockey

• India easily won the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy held in Rajgir, Bihar.
• The Hockey India League is back although marred by timing issues. However, good to see both the men’s & women’s editions run in parallel. The international exposure should help the game.

Cricket - The Men’s T20 team continues its blistering performance with convincing series wins away in South Africa and at home in India. On the other hand, the Women’s team had a comfortable home series win against the West Indies after a bad outing in Australia.

Tennis -  Is 15-year old Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi the next Indian Tennis star? The superb run to reach the semi-finals at Mumbai Open does bode good signs for the youngster! However, it is still very early days.

Boxing - Nishant Dev turned pro. Well, not really a surprise, given that the sport itself faces uncertainty with still no clarity on whether it will be part of the Los Angeles roster!

Off-the-field

• The Khel Ratna Awards had some unnecessary controversy. What should have been a celebration of sporting achievements left a bad taste for all. Although, in the end they did sort it out a bit.
• The wrestlers are off the mat again missing international ranking events, as the uncertainty in the Federation itself continues.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles has been struck by major wildfires with large loss of life and damage to property. This has resulted in some whispers about the preparations of the city for hosting the Games.

So that was it for the 3rd Episode in the Road To LA. Till next time.

Links: Road To LA: Episode 2 

Road To LA: Episode 2

We have entered that phase of the Indian sporting cycle where the Olympics sports are all but forgotten. The qualifying cycle is yet to start. Even the Asian Games are two years aways. Yet, away from the spotlight, those on the Road to LA trudge on!

Here is the some of the goings on in Indian sport, both on and off the field in the past couple of months

Athletics

• Neeraj Chopra: Finished runner-up in the Diamond League despite an injury. And he seems disappointed with his season despite finishing second in all 4 major global events! What an un-Indian characteristic!
• Avinash Sable: A commendable 9th place finish in the 3000m steeplechase.

Hockey

• India win the Men's Asian Champions Trophy for the 5th time, comfortably brushing aside all opponents, proving once again that they are now the undisputed continental superpowers! 
• In further development, the Hockey India League is being revived.
• 200+ international goals for Harmanpreet Singh – only two absolute legends Dhyan Chand & Balbir Singh Sr. are ahead

Cricket

• Women: The Indian team failed to qualify for the semi-finals stage of the Women’s T20 World Cup. While there is still a long way to go for LA, this result doesn’t bode too well.
• Men: Racked up a series win over Bangladesh while missing a few first choice players. Also set a few batting records on the way!

Table Tennis: Both Indian teams won Bronze medals at the Asian Championships, a first for the women and a 3rd one for the men. Showing that the recent gains are built on a good base.

Badminton: The replacements need to come up fast, otherwise Indian badminton seems to be on a downward spiral. There are one-off results like Malvika Bansod defeated Olympics Bronze medalist at the China Open but consistent big tournament wins are missing. Anmol Kharb is the one to track though.

The Off-the-field mess

• Tennis: Davis Cup tie against Sweden and its aftermath showcased the mess that the sport is in India. And how all the Grand Slam success has been achieved despite the system.
• Rowing: India misses the Asian Rowing Championships because of Federation’s ongoing court case.
• IOC: Meanwhile there is lots of brouhaha going on within IOC Chairperson and the members. Members walking out of the meeting, P T Usha releasing letters!
• As an example, (not an Olympic sport) but on the day, the Indian teams were winning the Gold at the Chess Olympiad, also came the news that the Chess Federation had lost a rolling trophy won at the previous Olympiad!

Retirements

• Dipa Karmakar has announced her retirement from Gymnastics. 
• Rani Rampal hangs up her hockey boots.

Many sports are entering the off-season now. We also await more clarity on the LA events list. Meanwhile, the long march continues away from the spotlight for the various challengers!

Links

• Road To LA: Episode 1 
• Neeraj Chopra's Season in numbers 
• Olympiad Trophy missing 
• Rowing rows 
• Dipa Karmakar (ESPN) 

Road To LA: Episode 1

After a “well done but could have been better” campaign at the Olympics and a great one at the Paralympics, it is time to hit the road for Los Angeles 2028. It is never too early to start the preparations. After all the games are less than 4 years away!

Team India News

The medal winners have been on a felicitations tour (and well deserved). Except a certain Neeraj Chopra who is back on the circuit recording another season’s best throw at the Diamond League and qualified for the Diamon League Finals. The man is built different!

Sreeja Akula has reached a career high ranking of 22, which is the highest ever for an Indian Table Tennis player. Recent results and the Ultimate Table Tennis League do show that this is one sport which is about to jump into the limelight.

Retirements

• PR Sreejesh has retired from hockey and moving into a coaching role. Good to see Hockey India giving him a proper farewell and also retiring his No. 16 shirt.
• Vinesh Phogat has announced her retirement and now entering the political arena and fighting different battles. Let’s see what the future holds for the two-time world championship medalist.
• Archana Kamath has retired from Table Tennis at the age of 24 to pursue higher education. Throwing into light some of the harsh reality of the life of the sportspersons.

Others

For the sports followers of the Olympics sports – It is time to follow the other sports a bit more. Learning a bit more about the qualification process and the rules will help in tempering expectations and more importantly control the spread of misinformation. e.g., the videos circulating of men’s relay team qualifying for the Finals when the event itself had not started or the number of rumors and slanders being thrown when Vinesh was disqualified. And will definitely help in appreciating the simple fact that qualifying and competing against the world’s best is in itself a phenomenal achievement.

With social media and a number of streaming services, following the sports is not that difficult. I guess when one is expecting medals from the athletes, this tiny effort to support can be put in easily!

Personally, planning to be a bit more regular in this blog.

Till next time!

Links

• An Independence Day Letter for sports Fans - ESPN
• Archana Kamath retires: Hindustan Times