As you are stuck at home owing to the coronavirus outbreak, here are eight images that will bring a smile on your face -- even if it's just for a while!
They said stranded Indians in central Asia as well as in various European countries will be brought back home in the second phase of evacuation beginning May 15.
World Championships bronze medallist Manish Kaushik (63kg) became the ninth Indian boxer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after beating Australia's Harrison Garside in a brutal box-off at the Asian Qualifiers, in Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday.
The whole of Italy, a country of some 60 million people, was placed under quarantine as the government stepped up efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 10,000 people.
Italy's Fabio Fognini said it was a 'strange feeling' playing a Davis Cup tie with no fans. Japan were also playing their tie against Ecuador in an empty stadium in Miki because of the coronavirus spread, which has played havoc with sporting fixtures across the world.
The AITA selection committee, on Tuesday, decided to keep veteran Leander Paes in the five-member playing squad for the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Croatia, making Divij Sharan the reserve member.
Sofia Kenin, defending champion Belinda Bencic and third seed Elina Svitolina made swift exits at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Spain are the first nation to join exempted France, Australia, Czech Republic and hosts Hungary in the revamped finals taking place in April.
Halep, who held the WTA year-end top ranking in 2017 and 2018, has not lost a set in her first week at Melbourne Park and was aggressive against Putintseva from the outset.
A resolute Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Simranjit Kaur (60kg) advanced to the finals with impressive victories but the legendary M C Mary Kom (51kg) and world number one Amit Panghal (52kg) settled for bronze medals at the Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers, in Amman, on Tuesday. Also ending with bronze medals were Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg). All the six boxers have already secured their tickets to the Olympic Games by making the semi-finals but Krishan and Kaur will come back with at least silver medals after entering the finals.
India caused a stir in Zagreb where veteran duo Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna edged Mate Pavic and Franko Skugor in Saturday's doubles to keep alive the tie but Marin Cilic quickly doused Indian hopes with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Sumit Nagal.
For the first time, India will host the annual meeting of the council of heads of government of the SCO. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said all eight member countries, four observers and dialogue partners of the grouping will be invited for the meeting.
Sakshi Chaudhary prevailed in a split verdict against the Asian Games bronze-medallist in an engrossing second-round bout after both the boxers got opening-round byes.
India will begin their campaign by locking horns with China on Tuesday. Ankita has been in tremendous form since the start of the season, winning two ITF singles and as many doubles titles.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
The new flights come against the backdrop of the Indian government's move to boost air connectivity with Central Asia and tap the interest of Russian investors in India.
Divya Kakran led the pack with a stunning performance before Sarita Mor and Pinki grabbed gold in their respective categories as India dominated the opening day of women's competition at the Asian Wrestling Championships, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
Ashu beat Syria's Abdulkarim Mohammad Al-Hasan 8-1 while Kundu defeated Nao Kusaka of Japan 8-0 inside 90 seconds in a lop-sided 72kg bronze medal bout.
'Terrorism continues to be the overwhelming threat to security and stability in the SCO region and therefore Dr Jaishankar strongly pitched for 'collective action',' observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
India has experienced hands and will emerge with flying colours, declares Inspector General Gurdip Singh Uban (retd).
List of international sports events affected by the coronavirus that has killed over 900 people and infected more than 40,000 in China
Serena Williams had to dig deep to fend off Latvian challenger Jelena Ostapenko as she wrapped up Friday's play at the Fed Cup in Seattle with a hard-fought victory that gave the United States a 2-0 advantage. Williams' experience and savvy ways showed in critical moments against the 22-year-old Ostapenko as she prevailed 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in a match that took one hour and 46 minutes.
Cementing their strategic partnership, India and Kazakhstan on Saturday signed an inter-governmental framework agreement on civil nuclear cooperation and some other key pacts, including a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that the government will keep in close touch with all relevant groups to ensure a virus outbreak does not have affect the Summer Olympics. Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organisers are not considering cancelling the Olympics, which start on July 24.
The list of international sporting events affected by a new virus outbreak in China grew on Wednesday with skiing World Cup races in Yanqing cancelled and Olympic women's football in Australia in doubt over concerns about athletes' safety. Badminton, tennis and basketball were among other sports whose governing bodies were rearranging events, weighing possible changes or monitoring the implications of the outbreak.
United captain Jesse Lingard fired them ahead in the 10th minute with a fizzing low shot from 20 metres before Dmitri Shomko and a Di'Shon Bernard own goal turned the match on its head shortly after half-time.
India's former Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday said he cannot get over the "hurt" caused by the national federation's manner of sacking him but it is hardly a surprise given how the body has dealt with players in the last two decades.
Sumit Nagal, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, along with team physiotherapist Yash Pandey came up with some crazy dances with Indian tennis legend Leander Paes also joining in the fun.
Anand, as white, had simply an extra pawn and this is where the tenacity of Carlsen came to fore.
Bajrang staged a remarkable comeback to secure a 4-3 win against USA's Jordan Michael Oliver in the summit showdown of the 65kg freestyle category.
Asian champion Pooja Rani (75kg) and the seasoned Vikas Krishan (69kg) became the first set of Indian boxers to qualify for this year's Tokyo Olympics by advancing to the semi-finals of the continental qualifiers, in Amma, on Sunday. While fourth-seeded Rani notched up a facile 5-0 win over Thailand's Pornnipa Chutee, Krishan endured a tough one against third-seeded Japanese Sewonrets Okazawa before also prevailing in a unanimous verdict against the Asian silver-medallist.
The RBI is still a small player in international gold buying among central banks. But in terms of total gold bought in 2019, it is the sixth largest buyer with 25.2 tonnes purchases in the first 10 months of 2019.
The 12 winners of the Qualifiers on March 6-7 next year will compete alongside the six nations that have automatically qualified for the 2020 Finals.
Mukund is now the second Indian player to pull out of the tie after Rohan Bopanna had withdrawn due to a shoulder injury.
Murray, playing in his first Davis Cup tie since 2016 and only five months after returning to the sport following career-saving hip surgery, clawed out a 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(5) victory
Dismissing Pakistan's review appeal, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan as the neutral venue for the tie.
'The quality of tennis is better playing indoors because factors like sun and wind do not affect the matches.'
Murray, who underwent hip surgery in January, won the European Open in Antwerp last month but the three-time Grand Slam champion is the lowest-ranked singles player in the British team at 126 behind Dan Evans (42) and Kyle Edmund (69).
Both will play their second-round singles matches on Thursday.
Novak Djokovic extended his unbeaten start to the season to 15 matches as he swatted aside German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-1 with ease on Wednesday to reach the Dubai Tennis Championships quarter-finals.
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