Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
India's shooting ace Apurvi Chandela attained the World No 1 position in the women's 10m air rifle event while compatriot Anjum Moudgil rose to second after consistent performances in recent years.
The rifle ace from Jaipur is among the five Indian shooters to have already secured 2020 Olympics quotas for the country.
Chandela shot a world record score of 252.9 to clinch gold at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in February. She is a gold medallist at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Game and a bronze winner in the next edition at Gold Coast.
In the 2018 Asian Games, Chandela had won a bronze medal in the 10m mixed rifle event.
The shooter took to twitter to share her joy on achieving the feat.
"World Number 1 Touched a milestone in my shooting career today," Chandela wrote on her twitter handle.
While the 26-year-old Chandela has already booked a Tokyo Olympics berth, she narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth with a total score of 207.8, at the recently-concluded ISSF World Cup in Beijing.
Meanwhile, Moudgil attained the world number two rank in 10m Air Rifle after her mixed team gold at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing.
Manu Bhaker is the world number 10 in 25m pistol women category.
Among the men, Divyansh Singh Panwar's World Cup exploits in Beijing helped him reach world number four spot in 10m air rifle category. Divyansh won two gold medals at Beijing -- 10m air rifle and 10m air rifle mixed team -- and also secured his quota at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Abhishek Verma, who also won a gold in Beijing, has reached world number three in 10m Air Pistol category. India's teen sensation Saurabh Chaudhary was not far away at world number six.
Anish Bhanwala, another of India's talented young shooter, secured the 10th spot in 25m Rapid Fire Pistol category.
Sreejesh nominated for Khel Ratna
Ace India goalkeeper P R Sreejesh has been nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Khel Ratna Award by Hockey India while the names of three other players have been proposed for the Arjuna Award.
Midfielder Chinglensana Singh Kangujam and forward Akashdeep Singh and women's team defender Deepika have been nominated for the Arjuna Award.
Hockey India has also nominated RP Singh and Sandeep Kaur for Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement, while coaches Baljeet Singh, B S Chauhan and Romesh Pathania have been proposed for the Dronacharya Award.
Sreejesh is considered as one of the best goalkeepers in world hockey. He has been an integral part of the Indian team since making his debut in 2006 at the South Asian Games in Sri Lanka.
The 30-year-old from Kerala has made over 200 appearances for the country. He was a part of the Indian team at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, and the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.
He has won a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games, bronze at the 2018 Asian Games, silver at the 2016 and 2018 editions of the Champions Trophy. He was nominated for the Best Male Goalkeeper of the Year award by FIH in 2014.
The ace goalkeeper, who has also served as India captain, has previously been awarded with the Arjuna Award in 2015 and the Padma Shri in 2017.
Chinglensana has played in over 200 international matches since making his debut in 2011. He is currently the vice-captain of the Indian team.
He has won a silver at the 2013 Asia Cup, gold at the 2014 Asian Games, silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, gold at the 2017 Asia Cup, bronze at the 2017 FIH World League Final, silver at the 2018 Champions Trophy, bronze at the 2018 Asian Games and gold at the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy.
The 24-year-old Akashdeep has played in over 170 matches for the country since making his debut in 2012. He has won a gold at the 2014 Asian Games, silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, bronze at the 2015 FIH World League Final, gold at the 2017 Asia Cup, bronze at the 2017 FIH World League Final, bronze at the 2018 Asian Games and gold at the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy.
Indian women's team defender Deepika has represented the country at the World Cup thrice -- 2006, 2010 and 2018. She has earned over 200 international caps. She has won gold at the 2017 Asia Cup.
AAI president Rao resigns after Supreme Court ruling
Archery Association of India president BVP Rao resigned after the Supreme Court's ruling to set aside the constitution of the national body of the sport as amended by Delhi High Court-appointed administrator S Y Quraishi.
Justices AM Khanwilkar and Ajay Rastogi on Wednesday ordered that fresh elections be held for Archery Association of India within four weeks.
"I am resigning with immediate effect in protest against the Indian sports system which does not allow competent people to come in. If such people come in, it (sports system) hinders in the way of functioning," Rao said.
The latest development would mean that the Indian archers will have a new administrative set-up before the marquee World Championship from June 10.
The Indian Olympic Association, which does not recognise the Rao-led AAI, welcomed the Supreme Court's decision.
"It is victory for IOA and AAI. The Hon'ble apex court today set aside the constitution prepared by Mr. Quraishi. Both the IOA and the sports ministry had registered strong objections to the said constitution and the elections conducted in accordance with it," the IOA said in a statement.
"IOA is completely in favour of transparency but the autonomy of the associations must be protected," it added.
Rao, a retired IAS officer, was elected AAI president on December 22, 2018, in the elections held under the supervision of Quraishi, which brought to an end the era of Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who served as head of the national body for 40 years from 1973 to 2012 before being de-recognised by the government for not following the sports code.
The elections were initially not recognised by World Archery on the ground that the constitution used was never formally approved by the General Assembly of the AAI. The world body also hinted at a possible suspension of the AAI.
Later, after Rao himself visited the World Archery headquarters in Lausanne, where he presented the minutes of the elective general assembly, the international body said the AAI was a recognised member. However, a final decision on the matter is yet to be taken.
The Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association are yet to recognise the AAI elections. They have objected to certain clauses in the amended constitution submitted by Quraishi to the High Court. Their objections were that the amended constitution, in parts, did not conform to the National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI), 2011.
The Sports Ministry has not included AAI among recognised national federations in its annual renewal.
The IOA had said that giving individual members, not representing state archery bodies, voting rights was not allowed under the International Olympic Committee Charter.
The AAI under Rao had come under a lot of criticism for its "poor planning" as the Indian archers failed to participate in the season-opening stage one World Cup in Colombia due to a flight delay from New Delhi.
The AAI also drew flak for picking a dope-tainted archer for the stage two of the World Cup. Some archers had also claimed that the selection of coach had discrepancies.
