What you could watch today…

An amazing week of badminton action came to an end on Sunday in New Delhi. The BWF World Championships came to a conclusion with five finals of varying excitement, but the moment of the day for Indian badminton was seeing Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly stand on the podium and receive their bronze medals in women’s doubles. And so, India’s streak of winning one medal at least in every edition of the World Championships since 2011, stays alive.

One is the daughter a great badminton mentor. One grew up in Kannur, mentored by a father who was driven to make her succeed. Together, they are World Championships medallists.

At the start of the week, it wasn’t perhaps the most likely medal, but once we saw them in action in the first couple of rounds, it was clear there was something about them. The way they moved on the court, the quality of their gameplay, the general swagger that they carried… their former coach SR Arun Vishnu said he thought there was a medal in store for them, and it proved true.

A sensational win in the quarterfinals against one Chinese pair, and then nearly a win in the semifinals against the best Chinese pair… TreGa showed why they are, at their best, a top-10 pair in the world.

In the coming days, hopefully more about the World Championships (perhaps a diary of sorts) but for now, here’s the Q&A from an interview we managed to get with Treesa & Gayatri.

If you have followed their careers so far, they are not the most expressive of players off the court – on court, they are a delight to watch as they showed this week. So it was nice to see a more relaxed side of them, discussing the ups and downs they have ridden to get here.

VIDEO INTERVIEW:

Excerpts from the interaction:

On the emotions after the quarterfinals win when the medal was assured:
Gayatri Gopichand: I think going into the quarterfinal match, personally, I didn’t have any expectations.I just wanted to go there and give my 100 percent.And I didn’t really know what was going to happen because we had just come back from a long break, a few ups and downs. I just wanted to go there and give my 100 percent.After the first set, it was very tricky.In the second set as well, we were down 7-10.We converted a few points there and we really took charge.We changed the game plan when we did it and it worked in our favor.And once we finished the second set, once we won the second set, I think we were super confident. We just looked at each other and we were like, I think we can do it.Just one more game, I think we were this close to winning the medal.We just trusted each other and we played some really good badminton.At the end of it, I was just so emotional.There were mixed emotions. I was happy. It was like a pinch-me moment, like is this really happening?So, I just started crying. The emotions were just there throughout the match and afterwards, it was just out there. Till the last point, it’s not over.Once it was done, we were like, we made it.What about you, Trisha?I think the BIA media, the Twitter handle posted a video with a song in the background.Treesa Jolly:Getting a world championship medal, that’s almost a dream for us as partners.And that’s happening at home, so that is much more special for us.It’s a goosebumps moment where you get that emotional. These many years when I played, this is the tournament where we both are getting emotional on court.Every tournament, we give our 100%.But this one, it’s like more connected with the mix of emotions and everything that... and Gopi sir is sitting behind and he was just guiding us throughout the match, just to calm down.Even when we were at match point also, we had that lead.But we were just calm and just waiting for the right moment to just express our winning moments.

On dealing with the pressure of carrying the Gopichand name

Gayatri: Honestly, I think sometimes on court, I do feel that pressure. I wouldn’t say I don’t, but there is also a lot of guidance. And that is the better part of it. On court, there is not much time to think about my father. And outside pressure, there is already so much going on inside the match. Yeah, when I go off the court, I feel... There are a lot of people who tell me, ‘you are Gopi sir’s daughter. You need to prove yourself’. But honestly, I think I am much better now. There is pressure, but then I have learnt how to handle it. I think when I am on court, we are just enjoying. That’s what he tells me. He just tells me to enjoy. I think (the pressure) is more for the people outside. But for me, I don’t feel that as much. We have this chat. He asks me, ‘Do you feel pressurized because of this?’ I am like, no, it’s not that hard. I can deal with it. There is going to be some sort of pressure for sure. But I think over the years, I have learned to deal with it.

On the role Treesa’s father (Jolly Mathew) played in her journey from Kannur

My father was a volleyball coach, and we had a volleyball court in our backyard. At that time a lot of players were taking up badminton, so he changed it into a badminton court for me and my elder sister. The initial days were difficult. It was an expensive sport and we had to face a lot of financial struggles. I think my father somehow he never made me feel all those kind of pressures. That confidence gives you something else, when your parents are telling you that you have the talent to play at that level. I think that support was there for my parents. My parents are so amazing in that regard. I am here because of my parents.

And I think my father is the star. He is the one. When I used to start playing, there was nothing there in my village. Then after the Commonwealth Games medal, I can see so many courts now. Most students are coming to me. People are excited to play. Everyone plays in my village right now. Before, it was just a clay court. When the rainy season comes, we couldn’t play. He then changed the clay court into a tarpaulin court. If I am here it’s only because of him.

My jump smash also is possibly because of my father making me train with volleyball drills at the start. When I was in Class I, I would do the volleyball jump serve. I had that strength.

My sister also backed me a lot. And then there is my friend Varshini at the academy who took care of me like a parent for those 7 weeks I was injured, and couldn’t even go home.

On the rotations between front and back courts, and doing that more often:

Gayatri: When Treesa was injured, I just wanted to be fit. I wanted to cover the backcourt when she comes back because it’s not going to be easy after the injury to come back and cover that much area. So, that’s how it started and I was doing a lot more of backcourt work too. So, I could be fit to cover her but it wasn’t needed. She was stronger than ever.

And also, in this tournament, I feel like Treesa’s net game was just incredible. I think I had never seen her net game this high.

Treesa: That’s what we were doing a lot of during the training as well. Today morning only, I was talking to her about this. ‘Bro, I always get that fear of going to the net.’ Because I’m not really as confident to play at the net because I just kind of hit harder and just be aggressive. So you need to be a little more calmer when you play the net. I think Gopi sir while doing the sessions for us, he was always telling, just block and go to the net but be calm. The training system was made like that so actually when we came and played here, I was able to see that difference. That made me believe that ya, exactly what we are doing in the training session was actually working. I saw that difference playing against the Japanese when actually I took charge on the net and Gaya started to hit from the backcourt. The rotation was really good. I think that really helped us.

We were able to see the opponents that they have no clue what’s happening, who is going front, who is going back. Before, it was like kind of predictable, I think.

On how coach Gopichand prepares specially for a big tournament

Gayatri: Definitely. I think once we started playing together after her injury recovery, there were only a few very basic things. Block, net, drive, smash. Simple but very effective programs that we used to do repeatedly. Morning, evening, morning, evening. I think we did the same program every day for two months. After the session is done, he always asks us. Does this make sense? Do you understand what’s happening?

Treesa: I think that’s a good quality of his, coming and asking us how it was going. As a coach, Gopi sir has kind of achieved everything. But this kind of attitude to also have a conversation with the players. If we have any doubt or something, we just come to him and clear that.

On how difficult it is dealing with injury rehab as a doubles pair, when one person is injured

Gayatri: When she was injured also, I just thought I just have to practice and practice. Because injuries just disrupt the rhythm and the momentum. So I just wanted to be fit and ready for her. I knew Treesa was hurting. It is the first time I think she has had that serious an injury. We just had to be patient with each other. Trust each other on court, off court, anywhere. I think even when she was injured, we had conversations. Once we got back, we had to work harder. She has always been there for me when I have got injured so many times. She has always called me and said ‘kuch nahi hoga bhai, tum vapas aa, hum khelenge.’ I think she has been a good support. To have someone by your side at that time, it really helps you stay positive.

On winning the Phillipines International Challenge just before World Championships

Gayatri: Even at the challenge level, the quality was pretty high. I think all the pairs were pretty good. From the quarters, I think we played three games. So I think that definitely brought some confidence because to win the third set after a break is important. Even after the finals, after we won, I think that definitely brought momentum.

On playing high quality badminton against two top Chinese pairs

Treesa: Yesterday’s performance, we were about to beat them. It’s a matter of time, I feel, we just want to take this confidence and just continue. Being here on global stage where we can play this level. This week of matches, whatever we played, it was such great, intense matches, I think those kind of matches that we get and we can win and pull off those results, I think that is kind of a big confidence boost for us.

On what will they take away from this week

Gayatri: It has been so eventful, with the Arjuna award, the bronze medal and, you know, the World Championships happening in Delhi. When we were walking in for our semifinals match, I think it was amazing, like that feeling, I’ve never felt it before. There were so many people, like it was packed, it almost felt like a cricket stadium. It felt amazing, so yeah, I think we’ve played some amazing matches here, so much to learn from. I think we’re still improving, still learning and I think I just want to also thank my physios, trainers, coaches; they’ve worked so, so hard to put us in form and I’m just super happy with whatever has happened this week, so happy, so grateful for everything.

Is there a nickname that you guys prefer?

Treesa & Gayatri: TreGa is nice. We are able to understand it is about us!

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What we witnessed today…

For starters, it shouldn’t have come to this point. But this point had now become the most important point of the match. Ayush Shetty had the finish line in sight, the chequered flag visible in front of him, but his car, so to speak, had begun to stall. And in his rearview mirror, the World Champion. Starting to shapeshift into an immovable object that was much closer than it appeared to be a while back. An 11-point lead had vanished for Ayush. Four match points had come and gone. Scoreline 19-20. And then Ayush decided to pull off a shot that we will remember for a long time.

When Ayush went to the shuttle, he seemed to be going to Shi Yu Qi’s forehand side. That is what the world No 1 anticipated at least, and took an initial step in that direction. But at the last possible instance, Ayush held his shot – and his nerve – and then changed the racket head ever so slightly to push the shuttle down to Shi’s left instead. A microsecond’s deception. If you have watched an unhealthy number of YouTube videos of Tai Tzu Ying’s deception skills, you’d know there are two parts to this magic trick. The first is to have the skill of course, but more important is to sell the dummy to your opponent, make them believe in one thing and then execute something else. That is why those compilation videos require two viewings: watch it for the wow factor the first time, but the second time around, look at the player get hoodwinked on the other side of the net. One step or swing of the racket in the wrong direction. And that is all that was needed for Ayush Shetty to complete a remarkable upset. Net flicks, if you will. (And you cannot spell Shetty without T-T-Y either).

For the first time in World Championships history, the men’s singles defending champion had been knocked out in the opening round. Let that sink in. Ayush believed he was capable of pulling this off, his team insisted he had the talent but also put the hard work in, and the result was the biggest win of his career yet.

(Clip courtesy BWF Media highlights: had to cut that one point out for context, please don’t strike me down!)

After the match, we were fortunate enough to break it down with coach Sagar Chopda, who had the best seats in the house for Ayush’s win – just behind him on the coaching chair along with Coach Irwansyah. Coach Sagar spoke very highly of that shot and what it took to pull it off:

Love All, Play

You can watch the full video here on the BAI YouTube channel, where Abhijeet Kulkarni and I had the chance to get an idea of what went into this headliner upset.

What lies ahead

Tuesday’s list of Indians in action. While Lakshya Sen will draw the attention of fans, I am really looking forward to Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand vs Lauren Lam and Allison Lee. On paper, it is India vs USA. But the context is that the American pair (seeded now) is part of the academy that Shlok Ramchandran manages in the USA. A fascinating subplot.

(As mentioned elsewhere, I am fortunate enough to be working at the World Championships with the BAI’s media team, doing YouTube videos on the matches and beyond, so do check them out here. The articles on Substack will hence be shorter for a few days.)

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Two World Cups in one

A few days before the World Cup, it seemed all the attention was away from India’s sticks and fixated on their colour tones for the tournament. It was announced that the Indian men and women’s teams will be seen sporting a saffron jersey and not the traditional blue that we have come to associate with them over the years. Personally, I never enjoyed watching India’s teams in their blue kit playing on the blue astroturf, either from the stadium or on the TV broadcast because it made for just a very jarring experience, so I didn’t mind the change. But the way it was handled by Hockey India left a lot to be desired; it exposed everything that was messed up in the organisation, on an administrative level. And – to borrow a line from Tom Hanks from Forrest Gump – that's all I have to say about that.

While Orange may be the new Blue for Indian hockey, the attention – hopefully – will firmly be on the players and their performances starting from Friday as the 16th edition of the men’s and women’s Hockey World Cup gets underway in the Netherlands and Belgium. The two distinctive, prestigious tournaments are happening simultaneously for the third time in history (after 2014 Hague and 1998 Utrecht) and while it might be an overload for the senses, it promises to be an action-packed fortnight. (Again, personally, I think the two should be played out separately because each of those two tournaments deserves the attention of fans and this somewhat dilutes that. It is almost forcing the fans of the sport to pick one over the other, because at a World Cup, there is always enough hockey to consume following just one gender at a time. But it’s too late for that now, anyway).

For India, the contrast between the teams’ recent fortunes couldn’t have been starker. The men’s team are back-to-back Olympic bronze medallists, and built on the historic showing in Tokyo to return to Paris and stay on the podium. In the meantime, they have asserted their dominance over the Asian circuit and are indisputably the best team in the continent – as we are likely to see at the Asian Games in a few weeks time.

The women, however, haven’t managed to sustain the wonderful momentum that was generated by their dream run in Tokyo. There has been too much upheaval, on and off the turfs, with coaching changes and poor results going hand-in-hand since they failed to even qualify for the Paris Olympics.

It brings into focus the two men who will be leading India’s charge from the sidelines during the World Cup. Craig Fulton, having taken over from Graham Reid after the poor outcome in the previous edition of the tournament, has brought a measure of solidity to this side. Building his team around the ‘defend-to-win’ mantra, he has made Indian men structurally sound at the big tournaments. The Pro League campaigns – which sees the best teams in the world compete but not necessarily always at full strength – has exposed weaknesses against European nations but after a nightmare run in Odisha earlier this year, he managed to bring about a turnaround in the Netherlands and England legs recently. The team seemed to be back on track and competed well against the Dutch, Germans and English as well.

For the women, the onus is back on the man who took India to that incredible fourth-place finish in Tokyo, a result that ultimately broke hearts but felt like one of the most memorable high points of the Olympics. Sjoerd Marijne has stepped in admirably in his latest stint, and kicked things off with assuring India’s qualification for this tournament in the first place. The FIH Nations Cup win in New Zealand showed the team has made undeniable progress under him, playing some wonderful passing hockey and being clinical at penalty corners. But the World Cup is going to be at a different level, perhaps one too high for India’s women to make a serious statement.

Two of the most notable defeats for the Indian women over the past year or so came at the 2025 Asia Cup final against China and the 2026 World Cup Qualifier in Hyderabad against England. Unfortunately for them, they find themselves in the same pool as those two opponents. It is the luck, or lack thereof, of the draw but India must believe they can at least get the better of England if not China, who have gone on to become one of the best sides in women’s hockey at the moment under former Aussie great Alyson Annan.

While the coaches both have shown they have the pedigree to get the best out of the teams, India’s fortunes ultimately would come down to the players. The men’s team has the class and depth across the board, but Harmanpreet Singh’s goalscoring form is a concern – hopefully unfounded – going into the tournament. The attention will be on India vs Pakistan in the group stage of course, but the real key contest will be the one against England, while the clash against Wales today should be a winnable affair.

What lies ahead

India (men) group stage fixtures (in IST):

India (women) group stage fixtures (in IST):

Competition format

If you weren’t aware yet, the tournaments are being played in a new format too, moving away from the classic groups-followed-by-knockouts structure.

• The 16 teams are divided into four pools of four teams each.

• After the three matches, the top two teams in each pool progress to the second stage, while the bottom two teams in each pool move into the classification stage.

• The winners and runners-up from Pool A and Pool D will form the new Pool E, while top two from Pools B and C, will form Pool F. (Yep!) Each team will now play two more matches, against the two new countries in this stage and not the one they played in the first stage. For example, in the men’s event,if Netherlands, Argentina, India and England make it to Pool E, India will be playing Netherlands and Argentina.

• The result achieved against the country already played in the first group stage also counts toward the final ranking in the new Pool.

• After all this, the two best teams from Pool E and F advance to the semi-finals.

Expectations

While Indian men’s team’s resurgence has been seen at the last two Olympic Games, their World Cup record this century is – to put it mildly – woeful. In 2002, they were 10th, 2006 – 11th, 2010 – 8th, 2014 – 9th, 2018 – 6th, 2023 – 9th. The last two World Cups being held in India for the men ended up especially as damp squibs. But somehow, I get the feeling they could be in for a deeper run this time. If they can get out of the first group stage with a clean record, a semifinal spot is there for the taking.

For the women, getting out of the first group-stage into the next would have to be considered a good campaign, even if the coach and captain have been talking the good talk about going deeper in the tournament. Asian Games will be a priority for both squads, given automatic LA 2028 qualification is on the line for the gold medallists. But it is more so for the women because they have to contend with China there. So the World Cup is likely to be a launchpad for doing well in Japan in a few weeks, anything else is a bonus.

Shoutouts

With the Badminton World Championships coinciding with a bulk of the first phase of the Hockey World Cup, quick shoutouts to a few people who will, for sure, bring you the best possible coverage of the tournament. Mihir Vasavda’s hockey love is the stuff of legends already. Swaroop Swaminathan goes into his zone when there is a World Cup of any kind. Arnab Seal of Times of India has been doing wonderful stories around the women’s team in the lead-up and is a must-follow resource. And Anish Anand and Co at ESPN India will have the best live blogs along with match coverage. And, if you are on Twitter, you’d already be aware of Arumugam sir and Give Me Hockey.

And hopefully, by the time badminton wraps up, Indian team(s) would still be alive and kicking at the Hockey World Cup.

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Finally, a title

“I feel really great and unbelievable. But then I am trying to digest it. Now, I am hungry for more.”

The scoreline was 7-15, 8-15. No, this is not a report from the future when we’d likely see this all the time. This was from the Premier Badminton League in 2020, when Ashmita Chaliha – a young rookie who was trying to make her mark on the tour – took on the legendary Tai Tzu Ying, the wielder of a magic wand for a racket, the undisputed queen of deception. The gulf in quality between the two players at that time would naturally explain the scoreline. But, watching live at the venue that evening in Chennai, I remember thinking to myself: ‘how good is it to have such a talented left-hander in India?’ I went back and checked my tweets from that day and understandably, most of it was about being in awe of TTY (oh how we miss her!). Then there was this too: “Ashmita played alright really, trying to go at TTY with her own game but the legend is just too good.” Sometimes, you walk away from watching a match with a “feeling” that is different from what the scoreboard says. That feeling about Ashmita was that this kid could go a long way.

It hasn’t been easy though. She is now 26 and finally, Ashmita Chaliha can call herself a title winner on the BWF World Tour. The journey from Assam, India to Asan, Korea has been anything but straightforward. For a player who earned rave reviews from anyone who watched her play for her sheer shotmaking skills, tangible success at a high level was missing. She now has that, and the relief was evident when she fell on the court after match point and lay still for a couple of seconds. It has evidently taken a day for it to sink in as she wrote a lovely caption on Instagram to mark the occasion.

The ups and downs Ashmita speaks about have been captured beautifully, as ever, by Shivani Naik in her article for The Indian Express. It was, incidentally, in Korea that she suffered a serious knee injury that required surgery. She used to train in Bengaluru previously, but eventually moved back to Assam… and there awaited a turning point close to home. At the BAI’s National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, she started working with coach Park Tae Sang (Sindhu’s former head coach and now part of the NCE where he trains singles players including Tanvi Sharma and Rounak Chouhan).

Now, coach Park has a reputation as being one of the best coaches going around for a reason. He has the ability to unlock different areas of an athlete’s game, and to this date, Sindhu speaks fondly of the time they spent together, even though she had to take the call to move on. After a visit to the NCE in Guwahati for a camp, Sindhu came away with insights that helped lay down a framework for her own academy. "There are good coaches, and of course, Park (Tae Sang, who worked with Sindhu leading up to Tokyo) is an excellent coach. The infrastructure, the gym, everything is really good. It's just a matter of the players training hard, being disciplined, and giving their best,” she had told The Indian Express in a feature for Sunday Eye. And Ashmita has also waxed lyrical about the Korean coach in the last couple of days for helping her get back up on her feet, metaphorically.

With coach Park by her side, Ashmita has been able to clean up her game. The flamboyance is still there – her smashes down Han Qian Xi’s backhand flank were especially delightful right through the final in Asan on Sunday. But there is a newfound solidity too. Both in the semifinal against Rakshitha Sree and in the final against Han, she showed the willingness to stay alive in rallies rather than rushing to hit a winner. She didn’t mind the hard grind, which was perhaps not always the case with her. Coach Park told PTI that was part of his advice to her for the final. “I told Ashmita, ‘Your biggest problem is your own mistakes. You are making simple mistakes. But if you can reduce those simple mistakes, 100 per cent, I promise you, you can win the title today’.'“

In her post-match interactions, it is also clear that Ashmita knows this is only the start. At 26, she might not be young by badminton’s brutal physical standards but she definitely has time on her hands to make the most of what’s to come in the future. She might have taken the scenic route from Assam to Asan, but this title can act as a launchpad for her convert potential into sustained success. And it is good that she is hungry for that.

Love All, Play

Highlights of Ashmita Chaliha’s win against Han Qian Xi:

What lies ahead

By this time next week, the Badminton World Championships will be in full swing in New Delhi. Ashmita Chaliha and Tanvi Sharma (India’s two latest title winners on the World Tour) will not be playing, but there is plenty of Indian interest nevertheless. On Day 1, we will see Ayush Shetty take on world No 1 Shi Yu Qi.

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Deep impact

The women’s singles semifinal on Saturday at the Korea Masters was between two Indians. It is a Super 300 tournament on the BWF World Tour (the order of importance being Super 1000, 750, 500, 300 and 100) and with just a week left for the World Championships, obviously the top shuttlers are not in action. But still, it was impressive to see India’s depth coming to the fore. Tournaments like these are common, where the world’s badminton elite test out their depth, and for India to have two players competing for a place in the final was impressive and important.

That the two players are ranked 49th and 50th in the world led me down the rabbit hole. Which country boasts the best depth in women’s singles at the moment when it comes to being ranked in the world’s Top 50? The answer is not China or Japan or Korea. It is India.

For the record, Ashmita Chaliha beat Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj on Saturday in three games. For Ashmita, it is the end of a long wait. She has been around for long enough on the international circuit but this is the first time she is reaching a final on the BWF World Tour at any level. The classy left-hander from Assam, whose talent has never been in question, has found a consistent run of results that had been elusive so far. At 26, she is no spring chicken but can take a lot of confidence from qualifying for a title clash of this magnitude after knocking out the top seed at this event from Japan (Hina Akechi) and the impressive Indian teenager Rakshitha, who had earlier defeated the in-form Tanvi Sharma in the quarterfinals herself.

Ashmita is not exactly NextGen – she is, in fact, part of the generation that couldn’t just break through at the highest level, which led to one question repeatedly: what next after Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu? Saina and Sindhu were trailblazers. They took Indian badminton to uncharted territories. But the question of sustaining that success has been around for a while now.

Speaking in January 2020, chief coach Pullela Gopichand had mentioned that the next rung of players must be groomed better. He has also held the belief that the best way to approach the question of finding Saina and Sindhu’s successor is in increasing the depth of talent rather than depending on that one superstar.

When Gopichand said this, the rankings list paints a picture. Going back to January 2020, the women’s singles chart shows Sindhu at No 6, Saina at No 11... and the next Indian is at No 71, in Mugdha Agrey.

Which is why India having NINE players in the top 50 of the women’s singles ranking as of August 2026 is good news. Japan, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, China and Denmark are next in the list. And while Korea have the undisputed best player in the world, the next-in-line behind An Seyoung is not quite up there. The important thing to note here is that China is still the powerhouse of badminton for a reason because they have THREE players in just the Top 5. That sort of elite depth is still far away for India, who currently have seven players between ranks 30 and 50. Sindhu has returned to the world’s Top 10 based on her strong results this year and is yet to be seriously challenged for the spot of India No 1. Unnati Hooda is next at world No 26, followed by Tanvi Sharma at No 30.

The Indian names to watch out for in women’s singles:

Of course, this is not to say any of them can go on to have the kind of careers Saina and Sindhu had, but increasing the quantity of good players is the first step in unlocking that super elite quality at the top. That Unnati, Tanvi and Rakshitha are still teenagers is the other big takeaway. Three youngsters who have the potential to consistently challenge each other and keep getting better, provided they work on their consistency. All three of them have immense shot-making potential, of course. Then there are Anmol Kharb, Devika Sihag and Isharani Baruah - all of whom have had good results in the recent past. Obviously, Malvika Bansod and Ashmita Chaliha would still want to make their presence felt among this younger group too. And the other name that has been earmarked for good things in the future is another Tanvi; Tanvi Patri is still only 15, but those who have worked closely with her vouch for her high ceiling.

How this depth has come about is perhaps a piece for another day, but the future looks promising in women’s singles, the badminton discipline where there has been the most scrutiny over the past few years. A lot has to go right for this younger bunch to achieve anywhere close to those two legends that came before them, but the promise is certainly there.

Substat: Javelin success

Speaking of depth in talent, there was good news from the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon. On the day that is earmarked as India’s javelin day because of Neeraj Chopra’s gold in Tokyo, there was a silver medal at the U20 Worlds for Ashish Yadav. 10 years after Neeraj won this gold at this event, there is another young javelin thrower making his break as India continue to build depth in this track-and-field discipline that is increasingly getting dominated by Asians. And yes, India had two finalists in this event too.

What lies ahead

Can Ashmita Chaliha complete a dream week with her first World Tour title? She takes on China’s Han Qian Xi at 7.30 am IST on Sunday.

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What we watched on this day…

Here’s a list of things Neeraj Chopra did before August 7, 2021.

• In July 2016, he threw 86.48m at the Krzyszkowiak Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland at the U20 World Championships. It is still the U20 World Record in men’s javelin throw. An unthinkable feat for an Indian track and field athlete at that time, and it remains surreal to this day.

• An 88.06m throw at the Asian Games in 2018 was then a national record, and Neeraj became the first Indian to win the Asiad gold in men’s javelin. Earlier in the year, he had won the Commonwealth Games title in Gold Coast as well. A special year.

• Already the best javelin thrower ever to come out of India, having bettered the national record of 82.23m that existed before him. These days, if Neeraj throws 82.23m, it makes headlines for him not being in form.

These are achievements that would put Neeraj firmly in the conversation for being among the best Indian athletes, somewhere in the top 10 surely? Even higher, potentially.

Decent career already.

Now, here’s a list of things Neeraj Chopra did after August 7, 2021.

• A World Championships silver medal in Eugene was historic. A best throw of 88.13m with his fourth attempt catapulted him from outside the medal positions to second in the standings. History made for Indian athletics once more. But it was not gold. Not yet.

• Then came the Diamond League Final in September 2022, a title that Neeraj was visibly proud of. He said after that night in Zurich, “aaj aisa feel hua ki hum bhi global athletics ka ek hissa hain (I really felt tonight that I am a part of the global athletics fraternity too).”

• August 2023. World Athletics Championships at National Athletics Centre in Budapest. The first Indian ever to win the coveted gold medal. A glorious addition to an already burgeoning trophy cabinet.

• And then at the Asian Games shortly after, when a Kishore Kumar Jena stunner pushed him into silver medal position, he saved the best throw of his season for last, coming up with 88.88m to win back-to-back gold medals.

• At the Paris Olympics, he nearly breached 90m. A throw of 89.45m helped him win a silver medal – a track-and-field silver at the Olympic Games that he wasn’t entirely satisfied with. Let that sink in.

• And over all this time, he had made it a habit to finish in the top two of every event he took part in.

This part of the list alone is enough to put him firmly on top in the list of the greatest Indian track-and-field athletes. And surely in the top three of the greatest Indian sportspersons of all time, discipline be damned.

And then there is the 87.58m throw on August 7, 2021. It is amazing how that number is etched in our memories. Not many of us would need to Google what distance he threw the javelin that night at the National Stadium in Tokyo. Just as a fun exercise, I checked the World Athletics page to see where that throw stands in Neeraj’s career. It is now the 23rd best mark – that’s how much he has progressed since. But that 87.58 number will forever remain iconic, decimals included. A number that one may remember in the middle of a sound night’s sleep. That it came at a time in our lives when there was very little else to smile about made it all the more special.

What Neeraj did before he became the Olympic champion was already pretty epic. What Neeraj has done after he became the Olympic champion is to put Indian athletics firmly on the global map, as a slew of records and medals have followed. But what Neeraj did that August night in Tokyo will forever be remembered as the moment Indian sports changed forever. A champion who redefined what was possible. It’s been half a decade, and it remains fresh in our minds. Something tells me that will be the case for decades to come.

Love All, Play

• Did you know? There is a full replay of the men’s javelin final on YouTube. Nearly 90 minutes. A good weekend watch, if any of you need that dopamine hit.

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Kapag lumago, hindi na hihinto.

These are Filipino words inscribed on the back of her Nike-sponsored cap, an image she shared on her Instagram account during her incredible run at Wimbledon last month. In the next image, she had the explanation for those words she carries along, wherever she goes. “Every dream begins as a seed. Once it grows, it cannot be stopped.”

It sums up the craze surrounding Alexandra Eala. She is turning into the tennis phenom from the Philippines, drawing incredible crowds wherever she plays. And, importantly, she is producing some stunning results along the way. On the occasion of Eala turning 21 earlier this year in May, ESPN Philippines journalist Miguel Alfonso Caramoan wrote: “Eala has emerged as a refreshing breakthrough (in the Philippines) in a sport long considered foreign to the country’s mainstream sporting culture, carrying Philippine pride into the biggest tennis arenas. (She) is no longer simply a promising prospect. The former top-10 junior star who won the 2022 US Open girls’ singles title is becoming the face of a new generation of Filipino athletes daring to succeed in places where the nation has rarely ventured before.”

It has been evident for a while now that she is a special talent and that she has managed to capture the attention of not just her nation, but the tennis community in general. All this happened even before she won her first WTA title. Now she has that in her collection too, and it seems the whirlwind around her is only set to increase.

“The first Filipino tennis player to...” is a line that is almost a permanent feature in her match reports now and last week, she took it a notch higher when she won the Mubadala DC Open title, beating Jessica Pegula in a two-day final. Continuing her North American run, she played in an electric atmosphere in Toronto. You only have to watch this post-match clip to get a sense of it.

Unfortunately, tennis broadcast in India has taken such a backward step in recent years, with only Grand Slams picked up by the top two sporting networks. It is difficult to watch the regular ATP events, and nearly impossible to stay in touch with WTA tournaments. Which is why I wanted to get a sense of the Eala phenomenon from someone who now covers her journey day in and day out.

“She’s a trailblazer... if there’s one word that I would use to describe Alex Eala,” ESPN’s Miguel tells me, not long after she played in front of a sold-out crowd in Toronto. “She has started the tennis movement here in the Philippines. So every game, every match is a big deal here. We throw watch parties. She is a rockstar.”

“If you watched the game earlier (today), I probably would say that’s the biggest crowd she has drawn so far in her WTA career. The Toronto one, against Alicia Parks. The crowd was just crazy. I’d say she’s the top one right now (in the Philippines’ sporting space). Everyone’s really tuned in, updated. Suddenly, casuals are now tennis experts because of Eala. You can see kids ask their parents if they can train for tennis. The real influence that she has brought right now is to little kids; she has shown that there's a pathway where you can be successful.”

Miguel says part of why she is fascinating to follow is how she somehow seems to rise to the occasion when playing a higher-ranked player. He also points out that Eala might not be the most gifted or even the most physically imposing figure on a tennis court. But one trait that she has constantly shown in her tennis career so far is resilience, which is perhaps why she has won over so many fans, not just among Filipinos. It instantly reminds you of Rafael Nadal – at whose academy in Mallorca Eala has been training since her early teen years.

It is far too early for any comparisons, but it doesn’t take while watching an Alex Eala match to see that it is not just that leftiness that she has in common with Nadal. She runs down points to all corners; her serve might not be the greatest asset but her groundstrokes can often be breathtaking and she has these unique idiosyncrasies. Like how after every point, she shadow practices her forehand and backhand.

“The thing that has made her a big thing here in the Philippines is just her grit, her resilience. She started not as the most gifted or physically strong player in the tennis world. She isn’t imposing. As you can see, the muscles and the body are just developing right now at 21. Her breakout came at the Miami Open in 2025. And now in 2026, she’s proving that this isn’t just any hype right now. She’s the real deal,” Miguel says.

The kind of craze around Eala has caught the attention of her peers too. Speaking in Toronto, Naomi Osaka – who knows a thing or two about being the face of an Asian nation in tennis – said this as part of a lovely response: “It’s so cool that she is building this new community. It’s great for the tournament, because she sells a lot of tickets.”

In fact, Eala describes her growing Filipino fanbase beautifully on Andy Roddick’s Served podcast, saying – after being in denial – she is learning to be grateful for the kind of following she has gained.

The mind immediately goes back to her speech on Wimbledon’s Centre Court after beating Iga Swiatek. She isn’t just a fun tennis player to watch, but wonderful to listen to as well. She said that day, fighting back tears: “I went to train every day after school with my ruffled socks, light-up shoes and chubby cheeks - to younger me this is everything. It is incredible to have my countrymen cheering me on, knowing that we are all in this together. This goes out to them, my family and all the girls with ruffled socks and chubby cheeks. It means the world.”

And Miguel finds that to be one of the most delightful parts of writing regularly about Eala’s tennis journey. “I used to be just a basketball-centric writer before Eala came along. Basketball was the first thing that I had in my life. That’s my beat with ESPN Philippines. And then when Eala arrived, when the clamor came, of course, we had to cover her; we had to tune in to every match. I think the perfect adjective or description that I have in mind about covering her is that it’s very reinvigorating. Because when you hear her after matches, there’s just so much wisdom, there’s so much authenticity beyond just being great at what she’s doing right now, tennis. That comment about the little girl that had ruffled socks, chubby cheeks. That’s something you just don’t hear from athletes often. It makes her even more special.”

It is clear watching her play – and even more so listening to her speak – that the tennis world is finding a new hero to root for in this 21-year-old pride of the Philippines, as Roddick put it. Eala La Land promises to be a dreamy experience. After all, every dream begins as a seed.

Follow Miguel on X here and read his lovely ESPN article on Eala’s 21st birthday here.

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Drawing the lines

It’s an event I have been waiting for ever since the first announcement in July 2021 that the 2026 Badminton World Championships were coming to Indi. A chance to witness the best shuttlers in the world up close and personal. Sure, India Open has managed to provide that sort of excitement over the last few years, since getting upgraded to Super 750 (the second rung of events on badminton’s calendar). The World Championships, however, is different gravy. Olympic Games, once every four years, remain the pinnacle, but ya.. the Worlds is right up there.

And here we are, just two weeks away from the 2026 BWF World Championships, 17 years after India hosted the event in Hyderabad. On Wednesday, battle lines were drawn, so to speak. Once the draws for the tournament are complete, it gets all too real. All the players now know the true measure of the challenge in front of them. The training isn’t going to change overnight, but the calculations would have begun, the mental analytics on what the path to the podium is going to be like.

For Indian badminton, a famous streak is on the line. Starting from the 2011 World Championships, at least one Indian has stood on the podium in every single edition. It is a stunning achievement of consistency, and it wouldn’t be very nice if it came to an end on home soil now, would it?

The onus for that lies mainly with the superstars PV Sindhu, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty. And all of them have been handed routes of varying difficulty (but difficult alright). This is the World Championships after all, no medal is won easily. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Sindhu’s path to an incredible sixth medal has an eerily similar feel to Paris 2025. A year back, Sindhu managed to beat Wang Zhiyi in the round of 16 which improved her record against Chinese shuttlers at World Championships to 8-0 in completed matches. She’d have to make it 9-0 in all likelihood, after starting with a couple of winnable fixtures. Her form last year wasn’t even as good as it is right now, so that is encouraging. Her improved fitness and the addition of variety to attack has helped her beat top opponents more frequently this year. So perhaps Wang might be feeling the heat, you know? Of course, the most important thing for Sindhu from the draw was to avoid An Se Young till at least the semifinal. And that has happened. Sindhu lost to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in the quarterfinal in Paris, and it is the same matchup potentially once more. Bring it on, eh?

• Satwik-Chirag helped keep the medal streak alive in Paris, and it was a special medal for them during a year where there was plenty of turmoil, on and off the court. In 2026, they have managed to end a longish title drought and that signalled their readiness to improve on the colour of two bronze medals at this event. But the recent weeks have once again been marred by an injury to Satwik. Coach Tan Kim Her did say on Wednesday that he is back up and running, so that’s an encouraging development. As far as the draw is concerned, their first real test is likely to be in the round of 16 against the tricky new Indonesian pairing of Raymond Indra and Nikolaus Joaquin. The quarterfinal is likely to be against China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, whom the Indians defeated in Paris too. But it is never easy against them. Mostly though, the biggest challenge for Satwik-Chirag is on their own side: if they come into the tournament with something close to full fitness, they will be a force to reckon with.

• In men’s singles, the good news is that the two medal hopefuls are in different halves. But, if it was Lakshya vs world No 1 Shi Yu Qi in the first round last year in Paris, it is Ayush vs Shi this time around. Ayush has lost to Shi thrice in their three meetings, and it was a pretty one-sided affair at the Asian Championships final this year. But, as coach Pullela Gopichand pointed out, Ayush might actually be better off facing Shi in the first round, when he is fresh and raring to go. Indeed the two times they have met in the first or second round, the matches have either gone the distance or Shi was pushed in two games to the limit. With Shi not being too consistent this year either, Ayush must be (or should be) licking his lips.

• Down in the bottom half, Lakshya has a couple of winnable fixtures to start, but is set to run into his junior batchmate Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the round of 16. Both of them are graduates of the class of 2018, but it is fair to say Kunlavut has gone on to achieve greater things as a senior compared to Lakshya. The Indian is a remarkable player with some memorable results, no doubt, but needs that one major title to his name that has proved elusive. On his day, he can beat anyone, and the men’s singles field is as wide open as it can possibly be. If he turns up at his best, watch out for Lakshya.

That’s the lowdown on India’s medal hopefuls, while there are quite a few tasty international clashes too (as detailed by BWF here).

QUICK PERSONAL NOTE: I have been lucky enough to be a part of a couple of primer videos on the BAI YouTube channel in the lead-up to the tournament. Hopefully, there is more to come and yes, this Substack should remain active as well.

Check out today’s draw analysis and a bit more with former India player and coach Guru Sai Dutt alongside senior badminton journalist (and a former colleague) Abhijeet Kulkarni.

And if there is anything specific you’d like to see covered during the World Championships, do leave a comment below.

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Links to the complete draws for the BWF World Championships:

Men’s Singles
Women’s Singles
Men’s Doubles
Women’s Doubles
Mixed Doubles

What we watched today…

Seven gold medals out of 14 weight categories for a stunning 50% success rate. Ten finalists. Only four athletes who returned without a medal. On Friday and Saturday at the SEC Centre, there was one ring to rule, and India ruled it with their leather-gloved fists.

And in those 10 finals, there were some truly wonderful moments too. The star of the tournament, for me, was Preeti Pawar. The arts-and-crafts-loving 22-year-old from Haryana showed extraordinary ring-craft right through these Games, and reiterated her status as a rising star of Indian boxing, and perhaps the best bet for even bigger triumphs in the future. The commentators couldn’t stop raving about her skills every time she stepped into the ring.

The moment of the final day came after Sakshi Chaudhary won her gold medal by beating England’s Ruby White. White is a 19-year-old phenom who has apparently not lost an amateur boxing bout since she was 11, a streak that extended to more than 70 wins coming into this final. But Sakshi, who has tasted junior international success, handed White a pretty convincing defeat that made the youngster sob uncontrollably at the end, presumably not able to deal with a first defeat of this nature. But as she celebrated her gold, Sakshi had the empathy to embrace her opponent, console her and offer a shoulder along with some words of encouragement, evidently. In a brutal sport like boxing, the aggression was over the moment the bell rang. Afterwards, it was all about kindness.

And there were superb come-from-behind wins too for Ankush and Sachin, while even in defeat, Lovlina Borgohain gave us one of the most entertaining finals of the day.

At the end of it all though, it’s a difficult thing to judge, this boxing.

In a world where a sport like Bowls exists, where they whip out string box measures and callipers to nail down how much the exact distance is between two objects, it is sometimes difficult and often impossible to understand how a boxing bout is scored. If that is an apples-or-oranges scenario, even within the family of combat sports, boxing’s scoring system is potentially the most subjective and unclear of all. Wrestling is miles ahead in terms of scoring clarity, while judo – which has been great for India at the Commonwealth Games – also seemingly has well-defined scoring methods. There are immediate video reviews too, for correcting any scoring errors made in real time. Whereas in boxing, once the bell goes for a three-minute round, you are shown five numbers on the screen that can frequently appear to be random. For a specific example from Glasgow 2026, there was a bout featuring an Indian boxer in which one judge scored a round 10-8 in favour of one athlete (which is defined by the rulebook as ‘clear winner’) while another judge scored the same round 9-10 in favour of their opponent (‘close round’). If you have watched enough Olympic boxing, chances are that you have come across this for yourself a fair few times. It’s a frustrating sport to watch, because it is repeatedly subjective.

Just as an extension of this, it is a slightly difficult thing to judge India’s extraordinary medal tally in Glasgow. And to make it clear, this is not to bring down the achievements of the likes of Preeti Pawar, Sakshi Chaudhary, Sachin Siwach and all others who did what they were expected to: beat the opponents in front of them. Seven gold medals out of the possible 14 is definitely worth celebrating. It is easily India’s most successful return from boxing in CWG history, so that makes it obvious that the country’s boxers have performed better than they have in all previous editions.

The good thing is that the entire contingent seems aware of this too. BFI chief Ajay Singh was asked in the celebratory press conference on Sunday how India can replicate this at the Asiad, where the field will be incredibly tougher. His response: ‘no, we cannot’. Plain and simple. He didn’t beat around the bush. The boxers, too, repeated it often enough – that CWG can only be the stepping stone for bigger things, starting with the Asian Games in Japan in less than two months from now.

Head coach Santiago Nieva was clear about the challenges awaiting his wards, without taking anything away from the CWG achievements.

“Every major event is important for us. This success... obviously it’s not the Olympics. But we have beaten every country here, and we know that especially some of the European countries are very strong. England is a strong measuring stick for us and we beat them in six out of eight bouts, Also we have not done this in a vacuum. A couple of months ago we were at the Asian Championships and won five gold medals there. So this is promising for any future competition. It shows clearly that we are on the right track and that we can perform at all the major competitions, including the next Olympics.”

“Now we have Asian Games and everybody knows how strong that field will be there. Even if we win there, we have World Championships coming up, which is our first Olympic qualifier and how important that is. And for those who may not qualify there, there is an Asian qualifier which will also be very strong. So there is always a new competition. There’s always a new motivation to train and perform well. So our boxers are used to that.”

When asked what was key to the success in Glasgow, Nieva had a lovely one-liner: “In some cases you need more fire and go and just win a bout by showing heart. But in most cases we have good boxers and the good boxer wins by boxing.”

And that’s what the Indian boxers did over the last few days in Glasgow. They have no control over who they face and what the level of opposition is; all they can do is punch their way to medals, and they did that with grace and elegance for the most part. Obviously tougher tests await, and it is fair to say a true picture of where Indian boxing stands heading towards LA 2028 can only be drawn after the Asiad. But the early signs are definitely promising, especially in women’s boxing.

Bring on the Asian Games.

Substat: Gulveer’s stunner

• After becoming the first man to ever win a medal in the 10,000m race at CWG, Gulveer Singh returned on Saturday to create another milestone. He won the bronze medal in 5,000m race as well, the first athlete from India - male or female – to do so in that event. It was once again a stunning final stretch of 300m or so from Gulveer, as he used that kick to make it a famous double podium that will be talked about for many years to come. Alongside Tejaswin Shankar’s path-breaking decathlon bronze, Gulveer’s silver-bronze double in distance-running would have to be considered India’s objectively best performances of the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

• Medal tally: India finished their campaign with 13 gold, 17 silver, 9 bronze for a total of 39 medals. Eight of those 13 gold medals were won by female athletes. (Whether India were able to finish fourth or not depends on Scotland’s final tally and that will be updated here).

Love All, Play

• There might be no badminton at Glasgow 2026 (boo!) but there was some wonderful news from the Taipei Open (a Super 300 event). Tanvi Sharma, still only 17, won her first BWF World Tour title, beating Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen. Hopefully I’ll write more on her in the days to come, but for now, a link to the article I had written in January this year when PV Sindhu told me after training with her in Delhi that the youngster truly has what it takes to be the next big thing in women’s singles for India.

What lies ahead

Well, sports will continue as ever, but what lies ahead for this page is perhaps a brief break. Normal service will, hopefully, resume soon.

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What we watched today…

After Neeraj Chopra redefined the realms of possibility for Indian athletics, with his historic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Tejaswin Shankar wrote an article for ESPN India. It was about ‘his friend Neeraj’, offering insights into the newly crowned Olympic champion that most of us had no chance of knowing. One of the many fascinating parts in that article recalled a flight journey they took together as teenagers for the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati.

“If not an Olympic javelin thrower, he could have become the world’s greatest hype man,” Tejaswin wrote in that piece. “Whoever you are, Neeraj can make you realise and believe things you never thought were humanly possible. Before the flight, I was nervous and awkward about the competition, but after chatting with him I felt like a lion, liberated and ready to conquer the world.” Then, in a poignant closing line that is sure to stay with you many years after you read the article, Tejaswin added. “We were just friends before (he became the Olympic champion). But he's risen from friend to someone I look up to, someone I admire. He's elevated himself.”

On Saturday night at Scotstoun Stadium, 10 years after that shared flight journey, Tejaswin Shankar and Neeraj Chopra were both Commonwealth Games medallists. Neeraj, on the comeback trail, looking to rediscover his rhythm, returned to the top two of men’s javelin throw after a brief hiatus. The man who wouldn’t step off the podium at any cost had to figure out over the last few months how to get back on it. And when it mattered, he came with his best throw of the year so far to clinch a terrific silver behind only the red-hot Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka. Then, there is Tejaswin and his decathlon. Not long after having to end his high jump dream early because of a knee issue that flared up, TJ didn’t just finish 10 brutal events over two days, but finished in third place behind only two decorated athletes. The first man in Indian athletics to win a decathlon medal at CWG.

Today, both Neeraj and Tejaswin deserve hyping from the followers of Indian athletics. Both of them showed why they are at the heart of a track-and-field boom in India, redefining the realms of possibility, together. Neeraj Chopra elevated Indian sports to new heights with his javelin exploits, and now Tejaswin Shankar can say he has opened up a new door with decathlon.

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Tejaswin Shankar’s decathlon obsession began as a playful bet. His main event was high jump, and he was quite good at it. Certainly the best India had. But to be decent at 10 events instead of being REALLY good at one? That cannot be too hard. Or so he thought. During his time at Kansas State in the USA – where he was part of the NCAA athletics setup and perhaps why he is such a well-rounded athlete today – he told his teammate, Aaron Booth, a decathlete, that he could do the combined events ‘easily’. When he was still the budding high jumper with immense potential to go on to be one of India’s greatest in that particular event, something changed in him. K-State coach Cliff Rovelto told him he had the physique to do long jump really well. That spread into hurdles. All this so that they could train a little more interestingly.

“I watched Aaron train for the multi-events,” Tejaswin told World Athletics in 2023. “We used to train together, and I would beat him at practice in the individual events. So, I thought - well, all I have to do is put all this together, and that’s how easy it would be! It was the exact opposite! It is not as easy as it looks.”

After trying out ‘multis’ – as these athletes refer to the combined events - the world of track and field seemed like a different place for Tejaswin. It felt like ‘an endless ocean’ to him. It opened up his mind. “I always thought that my end goal was to win a medal or win a competition. I’m extremely competitive,” he said. “But when I did the decathlon, the feeling was not “I want to beat that guy” but how we can bring out the best in each other. It was very refreshing for me, and my whole mindset changed.”

There is perhaps a small connection most of us can find with Tejaswin. I can only speak for myself here (and maybe others can relate to this) when I say, in my time watching athletics events – before Tejaswin came along – I didn’t think too much about heptathlon and decathlon. Sure, when I watch any track-and-field major event, the combined event athletes pass along on my screen, but that was about it. In a very simplistic way, I used to think that I could watch Mondo Duplantis vault above 6 metres for fun and keep breaking world records, or Neeraj Chopra throw beyond 87-88m every time he steps out to compete; watching decathletes perform those events semi-decently did not necessarily trigger an adrenaline rush.

Oh, silly me. Thanks to Tejaswin opening up the world of decathlon, every second and every meter has turned into points. It was already evident that being good at decathlon meant you were among the truly elite athletes in the world. But joining Tejaswin along in this journey (like watching his YouTube vlogs on behind-the-scenes of a decathlon) has been an eye-opener.

Which is why the decathlon points calculator has been open in Google Chrome for two straight days. How much should he throw the discus to stay among the top three? How bad can he afford to be at the pole vault so that he doesn’t lose too much ground? (Tejaswin had said there used to be ‘a running joke that I can probably high jump higher than I can vault!’) How good was England’s Sammy Ball with javelin and 1500m? How many points does one meter in javelin and 10 seconds in 1500m correspond to? Can he really push his body through a 1500m race after competing for nine events with a dodgy knee?

Going by the small sample size of my Twitter timeline, I wasn’t alone in riding this emotional rollercoaster. And as Tejaswin celebrates his well-earned bronze in the most brutal track-and-field event there is, we celebrate along with him, understanding what he meant by calling this ‘an endless ocean.’

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As Tejaswin completed his events, Neeraj was in the middle of his. After listening to what he had to tell reporters in Glasgow last night, I am still not 100% sure if he is truly happy about winning a silver medal under tough conditions, on his journey back from all sorts of injuries and niggles. But the only time Neeraj appeared to be truly happy and back to his old self was in the brief seconds after he let go of the javelin for his second attempt. He turned around in his follow-through and put his arms up in the air, with his back facing the vast green space into which he had just hurled the spear. 85.83m.

Indeed, the most exciting moment of the javelin throw final – apart from Rumesh’s monster 90m throw and Neeraj’s instant celebration – was produced by India’s Yash Vir Singh. With his sixth and final attempt, the athlete from Jaipur broke his own personal best measure and threw a stunning 85.41m to rise up to third place. And he held it at the end as India finished with two medallists in the event, just like the last major multi-sport event in Hangzhou during the Asian Games.

Watch the video of Neeraj speaking to reporters last night, and you’d see that the most relieved and unburdened he sounds is when he speaks about Yash being there in the top three alongside him, or when he says how content he is to see more and more 85m+ throws from Indians. He might still be a little bit unsure about his own performances and where he goes from here, but as Tejaswin noted five years back, he remains an excellent hype man for his peers. Perhaps that is just an important part of Neeraj Chopra’s legacy as all the medals he keeps winning.

Substat: Boxing streak, Judo history

• On Saturday, 10 Indian boxers were scheduled to take part in the boxing semifinals and all 10 of them won their bouts to book their place in the gold medal matches. With the usual caveat that boxing at the Commonwealth Games doesn’t have the most world-class field imaginable, it is still a solid effort from the contingent. Putting 10 boxers out of the possible 14 in finals is no mean feat.

• Speaking of historic achievements, judokas Asmita Dey and Harsh Singh went where no Indians had gone before them. India did not have a single judo gold medallist before Glasgow 2026, but they had two champions in a matter of minutes.

• Medal tally: India remain 10th despite a couple of gold medals, but the boxers can change that today.

What lies ahead

Here’s a look at India’s schedule for August 1, the penultimate day of action. Boxing will perhaps take centerstage as the day goes along, but I am also excited for the triple jump final in athletics along with a decisive virtual quarterfinal in bowls Men’s Pairs event between India and England. Bring on the callipers!

(Credit for schedule: The good folks of SportsArena on Twitter)

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What we watched today…

It’s quite obvious that weightlifting is a sport that requires strength. Brute power. As long as an athlete is able to rock up on the platform and clear the weights in front of them, they are golden. But in the Men’s +110kg finale on Thursday at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow, we witnessed brain meeting brawn, and New Zealand edging India by the barest of margins for gold.

The two big men competing for the first two spots were India’s Lovepreet Singh and New Zealand’s superstar David Liti. In the first half of the event – which is Snatch – Lovepreet had three clean lifts at 168kg, 173kg and 176kg. Liti, on the other hand, had already played a minor masterstroke to force Sanele Mao, gold medal favourite from Samoa, to come out thrice in quick succession for 175kg that ended up proving difficult for him. With Mao out of the way, a clear three-way podium battle became a shootout between India and New Zealand.

Liti did not manage to clear 176kg in Snatch eventually, and that meant Lovepreet had a 10kg advantage at the halfway stage. Lovepreet then continued his perfect streak by starting C&J with 207kg. Liti is a master of this discipline for a reason – he is capable of 230+ lifts – but he opted to play it safe by reducing his first attempt to 207kg. Three green lights, done.

Lovepreet, next. He nominated 212kg and nailed that too. Suddenly, his lead swelled up to 15kg. A comfortable cushion on most days and most weight divisions perhaps. Liti and his coach Tina Ball decided to play it smart here. From the initial 212kg nomination, they decided to jump to 223kg for the Kiwi’s second attempt - a 15kg jump.

What that meant was Lovepreet had to come out immediately for his third attempt, and whatever happened, Liti had two attempts left to try and overhaul the lead. Because Lovepreet missed 217kg at the end, Liti came out knowing 223kg was enough to give him gold… he had two shots at it, and he absolutely smashed it in one. A gold medal won by the margin of a single kilogram – approximately 0.25% of the total weights they were out there lifting.

Lovepreet Singh should be proud of five clean lifts and a solid total of 388kg in the end, but the night belonged to the colourful character that is David Andrew Liti – and his lifetime coach Tina Ball, who was lifted much more easily by the New Zealander than the barbell was, as they celebrated their best-laid plans on the platform.

Substat: TJ, all heart

• Just a couple of days earlier, Tejaswin Shankar had to heartbreakingly retire hurt from the men’s high jump final after a knee issue flared up. But, with help from his support team of Wayne Lombard, Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala and others, he was pieced together to compete in the monster discipline that is decathlon. Ten high-intensity events over two days. And after five events on Day 1, remarkably, Tejaswin is placed second with a gap of just 14 points to the top. Now, his biggest strengths are the jump events – long and high – so that skews the equation in his favour for now. On Day 2 are his weaker disciplines. But to produce a personal best in the long jump, lead the way in the high jump, and stay in contention with the field elsewhere... it was a superb effort. Whichever way this event might end, Tejaswin has shown why he is one of the best track-and-field athletes going around in the country. In an event where every few centimeters and every few seconds translate into tangible points, TJ showed the importance of the intangible: heart. There isn’t a stat to measure that.

• There was a bronze medal in the Women’s Discus Throw final for Seema Kaliramna, who continued India’s good record in this discipline. In an event where Seema Punia made a name for herself, her namesake Seema – who struggled overall with four foul throws out of six – produced one big throw when it mattered to finish third. Read more about Seema here: a mother, PhD aspirant, and coached by her husband.

Medal tally: India move down to 10th, but with boxing potentially adding a few gold medals, will be hoping to climb the standings before the Games end.

What lies ahead

Here’s a look at India’s schedule for July 31. The headliner is, of course, the men’s javelin final. Almost all of the big names made it safely through to the final, but the conditions were mighty tough for throwing. Which is why not a single athlete managed to achieve the automatic qualification standard of 84m. Neeraj Chopra, who normally aces qualification, ended up with a sub-80 mark and in fifth place. All three Indians - Neeraj along with Rohit Yadav and Yash Vir Singh - are in the final 12. As is the reigning World Champion Keshorn Walcott. As is the reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem. As is the two-time World Champion Anderson Peters. It is a truly world-class final awaiting us late on Friday night.

And it is a super hectic day even before the men’s javelin starts at 12.45 am.

(Credit for schedule: The good folks of SportsArena on Twitter)

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What we watched today…

For every elite athlete, the ultimate dream is the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Everything else is a step along the way to being there. The journey is important, the milestones along the way will be special but that is the ultimate endgame: to be there when the world watches on, being a part of the grandest of stages. But when Paris 2024 came along, Sreeshankar Murali was not on that stage.

There is just a difference of 0.01m between Sreeshankar’s two silver-medal clinching jumps between Birmingham in 2022 and Glasgow in 2026, but in those intervening four years, one of India’s most promising athletes of this generation has been to hell and back. “In what feels like a nightmare, but is a reality, my Paris Olympic Games dream is over,” he had said in April 2024 after suffering a serious knee injury in training that required surgery. And so, when his peers were competing on the track and field, Sreeshankar took up the microphone: he was part of the commentary team for Viacom18’s Paris coverage. And did a bloody good job of it too (while continuing to work on his rehab when he got breaks.)

“I felt a bit bad because I was on the other side of the camera doing the commentary. It was indeed a really inspiring moment for me (to watch and learn while commentating). But I hope that in the next 10 years, I won’t come to the other side of the camera to do commentary and rather be on the track and do the sport,” Sreeshankar said during a joint media interaction ahead of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. All said and done, as much as he enjoyed it and was good at it, the track is where Sreeshankar belongs. And on his journey towards another shot at the Olympic Games, the long jumper crossed an important milestone on Wednesday, when he clinched silver at the Commonwealth Games.

I find it fascinating to see an elite athlete’s reaction to silver and bronze medals. There is absolutely nothing wrong in celebrating coming second or third at a big global event like this, but when the first reaction is one of missing gold more than winning silver, it shows where their ambitions are at. As we saw with Neeraj Chopra at the Paris Olympics, for instance. And as we saw when he looked behind him after his final jump. Having let go of his mid-event lead to 2019 World Champion Tajay Gayle and looking to steal it back late, Sreeshankar’s first reaction was one of disappointment. You could see hope turn into exasperation and finally frustration as he bent down and hit the turf with his hands. It took him a good minute to understand that he had still ‘won’ silver and not ‘lost’ gold as he exchanged an embrace with his father and coach, Murali. The smile eventually appeared when he put the Indian flag around his shoulders.

Gayle’s gold medal-winning mark was 8.15m, which is what will frustrate Sreeshankar because he knows he is capable of that and more. But some days, it doesn’t quite click in those six seconds that matter – from the start of the run-up to taking off on the board. Sreeshankar’s strength is his consistency of going past the 8.00m mark but the next step is unlocking that one magic leap at the big stage, one that he is eagerly waiting for.

A lasting memory of Sreeshankar for me is from the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. Then a 19-year-old who was breaking onto the scene, Sreeshankar gave it a good go in the final but eventually finished sixth. As the cameraperson followed him on his way back from the final jump, Sreeshankar looked into our television screens and yelled ‘I will be back!’ Right then, you could feel that something special in this kid. In the years since, he has gone on to win some special medals - silver at CWG 2022 and now again in 2026, silver at the Asian Games in 2023 (he was indeed back), and qualifying for the World Championships in 2022. All of these are special achievements, but he knows that he still has more to offer. The ultimate dream is to turn up at the Olympic Games and show the world what he is capable of. And from the right side of the camera.

What lies ahead

On July 30, the main man will be in action, but perhaps only briefly. It’s men’s javelin qualification day, and Neeraj Chopra – like he usually does – will be hoping to make it just a routine one-and-done. It will be interesting to see the shape he is in, though. He has thrown in a competition only once so far this year when he made the late call to open the season at Doha Diamond League. Today will give a clearer picture of where he is, as he reenters the new world order he has, in part, helped build. And will Tejaswin Shankar be able to manage the rigours of decathlon with his knee injury? Hope he doesn’t aggravate it for the Asian Games. There is plenty more to follow along. Will

(Credit for schedule: The good folks of SportsArena on Twitter)

*CORRECTION: This post originally mentioned Paris 2024 broadcaster in India was Sony Sports Network, while it was in fact Viacom18. It has now been updated.

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What we watched today…

वीर: brave

Someone brave is willing to do dangerous things and does not show fear in difficult or dangerous situations.

I mean, I know roughly what ‘veer’ means in Hindi, but it was interesting to see this translation pop up in Collins’ Hindi to English dictionary. Also interesting was Google’s reminder that it is different from the English veer, which, of course, means ‘to change direction or course’. On Tuesday night at Scotstoun Stadium, when the skies opened up, India’s Gulveer Singh had to be one and had to shun the other: be the veer in his name, and not veer off course in torrential downpour for nearly 30 minutes.

Running a race at the Commonwealth Games is definitely not the same as being ‘veer’ as a soldier in the Indian Army, but naib subedar Gulveer’s 10,000m silver medal was certainly heroic, with a stunning final kick as he entered the last stretch after staying on course in and around the top runners for almost the entirety of the race. With a timing of 27:49.78, 28-year-old Gulveer became the first Indian ever to win a medal in the 10k men’s race at the Commonwealth Games.

The weather in Glasgow was anything but athlete-friendly for the evening session. Australia’s Ky Robinson – who also created history for his country by winning gold – said afterwards: “There was a lot of jostling out there. We call it the ‘laundry cycle’, where people go to the front, then they get spit out the back, go to the front, and get spit out the back. You’ve just got to try to stay on your feet, try to stay out of trouble as best you can. I felt when I got to the front, I was just trying to keep that pace as consistent as possible and not lose any unnecessary energy.” The same could apply for Gulveer too, as it turned out to be a tactical race and not just a mere measure of endurance and speed.

(It was a race that also saw Uganda’s Samuel Simba Cherop lose a shoe after he took a tumble, briefly lose his position among the frontrunners but still finish seventh after running almost half the race with just a sock on one foot.)

For Gulveer, the best bet of a podium finish was, in fact, it becoming a tactical race because otherwise it would have been difficult to outrun the Kenyan athletes in the mix, three of whom have a career best timing that is below 27 minutes while the Indian’s best is a fraction over that milestone. He didn’t waste time or energy by spending the bulk of the race in the background, trying to conserve and then kick on either: he hit the front early, was in third place for a majority of the race, before dropping down a bit in the 5,000-8,000m stretch. When he went down to 9th around the 6,800m-mark, you worried that he was running out of steam.

But he found the second wind. On a night when everyone else struggled with the weather – not least the high jumpers that included 19-year-old Pooja – perhaps the rain helped the long-distance runners remain somewhat fresher than they might have in hotter conditions. Whatever it was, Gulveer wasn’t settling into the middle of the pack; he started climbing up the ranks once more, returning to the top three at the 9,200m-mark and then producing a superb last stretch of 100m to finish just behind Robinson.

Climbing up the ranks is also incidentally why Gulveer got into distance running in the first place. Hailing from Atrauli in Aligarh, Gulveer’s sole aim as a kid was to get into the army, as many did from his village; that’s why he ran. Once he got into the army and started understanding there are actual sporting events where he could win medals for the country while training with the army, he started dreaming. It also helped that such medals came with promotions.

Today, the understated distance-runner is not just the best the country has produced – he holds the national records in a majority of the categories he has attempted to run. He is a silver medallist at the Commonwealth Games, going where no Indian had gone before him.

Also, I enjoyed this little moment at the end:

Substat: Impressive Harjinder

• India’s weightlifters continue to impress, as they were expected to, as Harjinder Kaur won a fine silver in the women’s 69kg division. The biggest takeaway from her medal was how she completed all six of her lifts (96kg, 99kg, 101kg in Snatch and 120kg, 123kg, 126kg in Clean & Jerk) and in the process, bettered her Personal Bests in both disciplines.

Medal tally: India are currently placed 9th with 12 medals won.

What lies ahead

Here’s a look at India’s schedule for July 29, where all eyes will be on men’s long jump later in the night. Sreeshankar Murali was superb in qualification, clearing 8.01m with his first attempt, and he will be raring to go after the heartbreak of missing out on going to the Paris Olympics. Lokesh Sathyanathan could also shake things up for the podium. Parul Chaudhary could also be in the mix for a medal, with her season-best timing being the fourth best among the starters.

(Credit for schedule: SportsArena on Twitter)

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What we watched today…

This was last-chance territory for Sarvesh Anil Kushare in the Men’s High Jump final. He was going to win a medal, sure. But he wanted more than third place. Two previous attempts at clearing a height of 2.25m came and went. On a warm, track-and-field-friendly day, maybe he wouldn’t be struggling to clear this height. But the conditions in Glasgow were not conducive for jumping; you could tell even from just watching it on the broadcast. There was rain in the air, athletes – Sarvesh included – were wearing hoodies and skull caps to stay warm. With everything on the line, Sarvesh began his curved run-up towards his target, and as his back arched over it, he felt a touch on the crossbar that could have ended his night then… and so, when he landed on the cushioned landing mat, he looked up, almost pleading with his hands folded for the bar to stay on. Those few milliseconds must have felt excruciating, but the crossbar wobbled for a bit and did not dislodge. Sarvesh knew a place in the top two was his, and the celebrations followed. At 31, having the time of his life, Sarvesh would go on to become the first Indian ever to win silver at the Commonwealth Games in Men’s High Jump.

It was just one of those dramatic moments on a late Monday night filled with many, as Glasgow 2026 finally came alive for the Indian contingent. In the space of a couple of hours, Sarvesh went where no Indian had gone before and so did Sharmila in Women’s Shot Put F57. After a Nigerian disqualification, she’d be joined in celebrations by her fellow shot putter Shilpa Shyla in an Indian 1-3 finish that ended with happy tears. Over at the weightlifting shortly, Ajaya Babu was part of the most sensational finale as he was involved in a tussle with Erry Hidayat Muhammad of Malaysia, inch for inch, kilogram for kilogram, before eventually finishing with silver in Men’s 79kg. And it wasn’t just about the four medals that came in quick time either – in boxing, Sumit lost an intense bout by the smallest of margins, and Tejaswin Shankar had to be content with a support act in high jump by lending a shoulder to Sarvesh despite his event ending just as it began due to an injury.

“Let the Games begin,” is usually the refrain at the end of the Opening Ceremony for an event like this, but it felt like it only truly came alive for the Indian contingent late on a Manic Monday night. Sure, the medal tally was already up and running, but until this point, that rush of adrenaline that comes with tracking multiple things happening at once wasn’t quite there. That feeling finally came alive.

The headlines will, and must, belong to Sarvesh. That he couldn’t clear 2.28m despite three decent attempts would sting a bit, because he has gone 2.31m this year and only recently, to break the Indian National Record. But when the dust settles, he’d realise the enormity of his achievements. The journey, as the now-popular story goes, began with makeshift landing pits made out of sacks in his village in Nashik. The climb toward this height has been slow. He is no spring chicken; he has been around for a long time, and finally, he had his moment to shine on a global stage.

And watching on, from the players’ area, was Tejaswin. The man whose record Sarvesh had broken not so long ago was reduced to a spectator in his own event because of a knee injury that flared just at the start of the competition. Instead of sulking at his own misfortune, Tejaswin hung around for moral and technical support. He was the first person Sarvesh turned to after every attempt, successful or not. Four years back in Birmingham, Tejaswin had become the first Indian high jumper to win a CWG medal, and here he was, lending a shoulder to a peer he deeply respects. On his Twitter account, Tejaswin’s last couple of posts were in appreciation of Sarvesh, calling him “the little menace” in one and applauding a mental barrier that was broken when he had leapt past 2.30m in the other. Those wholesome sentiments were in full view as they exchanged ideas between Sarvesh’s attempts, before finally celebrating the medal with a handshake and hug.

Tejaswin would later break down in the mixed zone when talking to NNIS. He came to Glasgow in what he says is the best shape he has been in but an untimely flare-up of an issue in the knee meant he couldn’t even clear his first height. But immediately after composing himself, his face lit up as he was asked about Sarvesh’s silver. It’s the kind of brotherhood that has become increasingly prevalent in Indian track and field, in the times of Neeraj Chopra. Seeing TJ stick around and be a shoulder to lean on for Sarvesh will be one of my favourite memories from Glasgow 2026.

Substat: Six medals

• Two more weightlifting medals came earlier in the day for India, thanks to Gyaneshwari Yadav (silver) and Bindyarani Devi (bronze) in the women’s events. While Bindyarani made it to the podium for the second consecutive Commonwealth Games, Gyaneshwari’s debut saw her lift 199kg in the women’s 53kg. For context, that total would have put her in fourth place at the 2025 World Championships, just 1kg short of the 200kg that resulted in a bronze medal. It was a world-class effort by the 23-year-old from Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh – certainly an exciting prospect for the future.

• Sharmila’s gold medal in Women’s Shot Put F57 was India’s first ever in Para Athletics at the Commonwealth Games. And, of course, Sportstar’s Jonathan Selvaraj has done a must-read profile of her.

• It wasn’t about a medal for India in Glasgow, but this stat was a reminder of what Avinash Sable had managed to achieve four years earlier in Birmingham, breaking the Kenyan stronghold of Men’s 3000m Steeplechase. Of course, on Monday, it was a Kenya 1-2-3 once more.

What lies ahead

Here’s a look at India’s schedule for July 28. A couple more weightlifters to keep an eye on, track-and-field gathers pace, while boxers look to confirm medals with quarterfinals lined up.

(Mandatory shoutout: The graphic is designed by Sports Arena on Twitter, a must-follow account.)

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What we watched today…

“She could have lowered the weights quite significantly and still dominated this weight class.”

The commentator on the main weightlifting feed during Mirabai Chanu’s event had it spot on when he said how far ahead of the field the Indian legend was in women’s 48kg. In both snatch as well as clean & jerk (the two sections of a weightlifting event), she started lifting only when the rest of the athletes were done with their three attempts – that’s how crazy her ceiling is at the Commonwealth level. But even so, sport is never that straightforward. With both her first attempts, Mirabai stumbled. It wasn’t like her, and she wasn’t even going for her absolute limits. But those moments were brief reminders that no gold medal in elite sport is a given, you have to earn it. Especially as you fight against the physical demands of ageing in a brutal sport like weightlifting.

And earn it, she did. With a total of 85kg in snatch (Commonwealth Record for 48kg) and 105kg in clean & jerk, she made history. Mirabai became the first female weightlifter in the history of Commonwealth Games to win three straight gold medals. As she completed both her best lifts, she had that signature ear-to-ear smile beaming on her face. And then, when she stood at the podium, tears started rolling down her cheeks when the national anthem played. You couldn’t help but feel emotional along with her.

An icon of Indian sport, Mirabai is now 31 and has endured more injuries to her body than many of us dare count. Post the heartbreak of the fourth-place finish at Paris Olympics, she has managed to slowly build her way back up again and, despite not operating at her peak levels, is still India’s best in the business. Her main focus for this year is the Asian Games, where she has unfinished business, so understandably she and her team of coaches didn’t push her to the limits, but even so, what it takes to achieve this gold standard isn’t in those weights she lifts on the day but in the grind she has to go through while training. Speaking to reporters after the medal, Mirabai mentioned something that is often easy to overlook for observers from afar: maintaining body weight. Mirabai’s natural body weight is above 50kg, so when she competes at a 48kg event, it takes a lot out of her to make the cut. Even forgoing water and food in the lead-up to an event. She joked in that interview, “mere body mein weight lose karne ka jagah hai hi nahi!”

“Sometimes we all take it for granted that Mira has to just make an appearance at the Commonwealth Games and the gold medal will just automatically appear,” former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha, who has been part of Mirabai’s journey in his leading role with Olympic Gold Quest, said on Sony Sports after her win. “It’s not so easy… the amount of training, hard work and effort that goes into that. And you know the weightlifting is such a tough sport. The kind of loads and volumes that lifters like Mira have to put in, the effort and pain in the background… to wake up every single day at 5.30am. I know in the lead-up to CWG, she’s also been struggling with a wrist injury and with back issues. There’s never a day in the life of an elite athlete when you’re 100% fit. And to push through all the pain, over the years, I think she’s just an unbelievable role model. I have never seen a better role model in Olympic sport in India… if there are any young kids watching, Mira is the athlete to follow.”

In Sony Sports studio show, they also showed footage of youngsters watching on from an academy in Ghaziabad, UP: Weightlifting Warriors. Rasquinha explained that nearly 40 young aspiring female lifters (ages 9 to 14-15) are being trained here by Mirabai herself and her long-time guru Vijay Sharma. Mirabai and Vijay scouted talents from remote villages of the country, to handpick the best kids. “The mission is to build the next Mirabai in the next 8 years,” Rasquinha recalled. “The idea was first floated by Mira and coach Vijay when we were sitting in a hospital in Andheri, waiting for an appointment with Dr Pardiwala. Mira had major injuries after the Asian Games, and she said she dreamt of giving back to the next generation. On one Sunday morning, she came down in her pyjamas to train the kids. And she told me once that training with these kids has actually reignited her passion for the sport. She was facing a hard decision after Paris, on whether to go for another four years. Training with these kids has brought the back love for her… it works both ways.”

In Mihir Vasavda’s exceptional long-form feature on Mirabai’s academy published in The Indian Express in July 2025, there is a lovely behind-the-scenes peek.

India has been lucky to have numerous sporting icons, especially female role models for the next generation to look up to, over the last decade or so. And Mirabai Chanu’s name will be on that imaginary wall of fame for decades to come.

Substat: A day of threes

India’s Day 3 at the Commonwealth Games was a day of threes.

• Of course, it was Mirabai’s third straight gold at the Games, making her the first woman to achieve the feat in weightlifting since the discipline was added to the roster in 2002.

• Day 3 also saw India win three medals, all of them in weightlifting. Interestingly enough, before Mirabai’s gold, Rishikanta Singh Chanambam won silver in men’s 60kg, making him the first male Manipuri lifter to win a medal at CWG, according to Sportstar’s ace reporter Jonathan Selvaraj. And of course, Jonathan has written a must-read profile on Rishikanta too. Once a promising young talent, he had to keep weightlifting aside to get through life, and had turned to manual labour where he’d earn around 150-200 rupees, he told Sportstar.

• The third medal came later in the night, as Raja Muthapandi clinched silver in men’s 65kg. Like Rishikanta, the athlete from Kovilpatti in Tamil Nadu (known for its hockey, a story on that one day…) contemplated quitting weightlifting because of injuries but a course in sports science helped him gain the confidence back in his body. A lovely story from October 2024 by Times of India’s M Sudharshan here.

• Day 3 also saw the end of three bowlers dreaming of winning a medal in Glasgow. Putul Sonowal’s campaign in singles was anyway hanging by a thread, and a second defeat in his group meant he couldn’t reach the semifinals. But the real heartbreak was in women’s pairs. Pinki and Rupa Rani Tirkey were thrown a lifeline despite losing to Namibia earlier in the day, as South Africa had beaten England. Which meant heading into the last match against the favoured English side, their destiny was in their control. But the Indians lost in the tiebreak with the literal last roll of the last bowl, a slow tumble that took the English delivery a tiny bit closer to the jack than India’s. We fall in love with a new sport, and the new sport finds new ways to break our heart. Or, as a Twitter mutual put it last night, sport is temporary, heartbreak is permanent. Classic.

What lies ahead

Here’s a look at India’s schedule for July 27 - in Wimbledon terms, a Manic Monday, on the cards. Well, as manic as it can get in the trimmed version of the Games. Track and field action begins and that means plenty of Indian interest in the coming days. The headline athletics act for India on Monday is likely to come in men’s high jump where Sarvesh Anil Kushare and Tejaswin Shankar are in action. And weightlifting will continue to bring in the medals in all likelihood.

(Mandatory shoutout: The graphic is designed by Sports Arena on Twitter, a must-follow account.)

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What we watched today…

First, out came the Box Measure: a small length of string that has a pointer at one end and a reel at the other from which the string rolls out. Then, when it became clear that the measurement won’t be accurate enough, the Callipers were drawn out of their sheaths (or wherever the referees keep them, not sure.) It looks like the compass from our school geometry box, but longer and a bit more complicated. For those brief moments on Saturday, while watching the fascinating sport of Bowls at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the mind flashed back a couple of decades to undergraduate days. NIT-Trichy. Second year. Instrumentation and Control Engineering. Measurement systems. Error percentages. Laboratories. Urgh.

Thankfully, there isn’t the same level of anxiety associated with watching Bowls at Commonwealth Games, but the sport has really grown on me, four years after learning what it was in Birmingham, when a group of unassuming Indian women made history by winning gold. Two of them are back again in Glasgow – Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki in the women’s pairs event – while Putul Sonowal in men’s singles made some waves on Day 0 by beating a decorated superstar from Canada in Ryan Bester.

The aforementioned scenes took place in Sonowal’s third match of his section, which ended in a defeat against Malaysia’s Izzat Shameer. But the drama during the course of the match was enough to convince me that Bowls is a thoroughly gripping sport.

Now, not to sound like a hipster, but I had some idea about the sport before Glasgow because, as part of our coverage of Birmingham 2022 for Scroll, we had to wake up to the reality of India winning a historic medal. Usually in such scenarios, we put together a quick explainer of what the sport is, making it easier for us to follow and also for readers to understand the basics. The explainer for Lawn Bowls rules was, in fact, one of the most read stories on the website during the Games.

But, honestly, that was a case of scrambling at the backend of an event when a medal seemed imminent. This time around, though, I have made it a point to follow it closely from the start. Partly because Mother ji has become fascinated by it too. On Day 0 of the Games when I was away on a brief break, she sent me a WhatsApp message: “Canada fellow is playing foul game, he is disturbing our player’s Jack to get points.”

So for the past couple of days, we have been following along as Rupa and Pinki whisper to the bowls as if they can magically make it move when they gently persuade those inanimate rolling balls. We have seen Sonowal concede big leads but somehow fight back to be in a great position but miss out on crucial points because the box measures or callipers won’t give the few millimeters he wants. We have seen bowls rolled so hard in an attempt to disrupt an entire set but streaming straight down the gaps into the ditches. And then there are those last-minute bowls that completely change the winning equation.

These two images are a good example of the drama Bowls can produce. On the left, two red bowls are sitting pretty tight to the yellow sphere (Jack). Getting your bowl closest to the jack is the main objective of the game, so that’s all good. But in a few seconds, the athlete with the blue bowls so carefully, artistically, geometrically dislodges the jack and pushes it (and his blue bowl) away from the red ones. Suddenly, from losing this round (End) 0-2, the blue team / player is winning it 2-0.

There have been many instances of game-changing angles being found over the past few days that you’d be forgiven for falling in love with the concept of this sport.

It actually made me wonder about Bowls’ place at the Commonwealth Games, especially this edition where the ‘s’ just about fits in Games. With a stripped down version, it still managed to keep its spot. And because there is not much else to watch, at least from an Indian perspective in these first couple of days, Bowls has gotten a fair bit of screen time.

Then I stumbled upon this article on World Bowls, which is quite striking for a piece published on a governing body’s website, because (apart from the understandable cliches) it touched upon some interesting points. “Importantly, the Commonwealth Games places bowlers alongside athletes from other sports, providing exposure that bowls cannot receive elsewhere. That visibility matters because every sport needs moments that capture public attention,” one line read.

And then there was this paragraph:

An organisation that was willing to talk about ‘stereotypes that plague us’ and fans discovering the event ‘by accident’. It immediately struck a chord. I do not want to speak for others, but I did have my doubts about this sport even four years back, while still loving the attention it got on the back of India’s medals and the athletes’ stories around it. But this time around, the fondness has been multiplied. I don’t think I will become a Bowls enthusiast just yet, but the sport had my curiosity four years back… it certainly has my attention now.

Love All, Play: Away from Glasgow…

In a glass court away from Glasgow, Anahat Singh made history for Indian sport on Saturday night in Canada. The squash prodigy became the first Indian ever to win the World Squash Junior Championships title. Four years earlier, she made headlines during the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, just for her mere presence. As a 14-year-old in the Indian contingent, plenty of attention was on the youngster and she showed glimpses of her talent too. She has only gone from strength to strength since but the World Juniors crown eluded her. She fell at the quarterfinals hurdle repeatedly, but last year, managed to end that jinx by reaching the last four and winning the bronze. And now, in her last eligible year of competing, she lived up to her reputation as the top seed and ended Egypt’s stronghold of this event by becoming the champion.

Mini Substat: An Egyptian had won this gold for the last 13 editions! If you consider that Amanda Sobhy (USA) had Egyptian descent, the streak goes back even further to 18 editions… that’s the real magnitude of Anahat’s achievement.

When asked in interviews about the wait for a Junior Worlds gold, Anahat has been pretty open about how she has sometimes wanted it too much in the past and ended up falling short. After winning the title on Saturday, she joked about the ‘curse’.

Replug: An article from January last year for The Indian Express…

Here are the winning moments (clip via World Squash TV):

What lies ahead

Here’s a look at India’s schedule for July 26, which promises to be a busy Sunday, headlined by the indomitable Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting. In Bowls, Rupa and Pinki face their toughest test against England, in a match that will likely determine their podium fate. Sonowal will be back to after his heartbreaking defeat, knowing his chances are slim but not over yet.

(Mandatory shoutout: The graphic is designed by Sports Arena on Twitter, a must-follow account.)

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What we watched today…

It seemed like India’s Day 1 story at the 2026 Commonwealth Games would be a tale as old as time: a couple of fourth-placed finishes (Well, maybe not that old, but you get the drift…) But late in the night – around nearly 2 am IST – Jhandu Kumar produced a fabulous effort to win a bronze medal in the Men’s Heavyweight Category to open India’s tally.

The remarkable feat is that Jhandu achieved it while competing from Group B. It is commonly understood that the medal-winners in a Para Powerlifting event usually come from Group A of the event – Group B athletes lift before Group A when there are more than the allotted number of lifters competing in a discipline, and it is generally split based on world rankings or entry weights – which means, it is – as a rule of thumb – not likely that a competitor from Group B is capable of pushing the podium places.

But Jhandu wasn’t going to let that stop him. With his second attempt, he managed to cleanly lift 190kg – which, when combined with his body weight of 72.4gs, gave him a points total of 130.9. He, in fact, went for a third attempt of 196kg, which would have put in serious contention for the gold medal but that didn’t come to pass. Nevertheless, even when he couldn’t convert his third try, he got off the bench with a big smile on his face. Perhaps, he knew then that he was in with a serious shout.

And so it proved, as only two lifters from Group A managed to go past Jhandu’s points total. He had to wait for the whole second half of the competition to know his final result, and when it arrived, it was a sweet bronze for the 29-year-old.

It is quite a remarkable journey too for Jhandu who hails from the Nalanda district in Bihar. His impairment is on the lower limbs, as he was affected by polio since birth. Jhandu, born to a vegetable vendor, drove an e-rickshaw during the Covid-19 pandemic but had to even sell that to finance taking part in the nationals. “I was earning only around ₹400-500 a day through my business, while protein supplements alone would cost nearly ₹1,000. Managing my diet and training was a huge challenge,” he told Times of India’s Arnab Seal recently. (Read the wonderful story here.)

According to the Sports Authority of India, his sporting journey actually began in track & field as he competed in shot put and discus throw events. But he switched to para powerlifting – a sport that rewards upper body strength – after strength training at the gym. At the 2023 nationals, which he had to sell his e-rickshaw for, he caught the attention of Paralympic bronze medallist Rajinder Singh Rahelu, and despite not registering a valid attempt, he was taken into the SAI National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), Gandhinagar.

Perhaps in a fitting microcosm of his career, the medal arrived late… in the night. But one that hopefully pushes him further towards LA 2028.

(Training videos courtesy: Sports Authority of India)

Other notable results for India on Day 1:

• In Bowls (more on the sport over the next few days hopefully), Putul Sonowal came up with a stunning final bowl in a tiebreak to make it two wins in two in the men’s individual event. The veteran duo of Pinki and Rupa Rani Tirkey (part of the squad that won gold in Birmingham and brought about a lot of interest in this event) also made it two wins in the women’s paired event.

• A couple of fourth-placed finishes – for Ashok in men’s lightweight para powerlifting and Ravi Budigina in para swimming for the visually impaired (men’s 100m freestyle. What’s a Games without those, eh?

• Men’s boxing witnessed Jadumani come through a really intense opening-round bout against a Scottish boxer Aaron Cullen - never easy facing a home country athlete in this sport. But he did enough actually to register a 5-0 win.

What lies ahead

Here’s a look at India’s schedule for July 25. The graphic is designed by the good folks running Sports Arena on Twitter, a must-follow account for results around India’s Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. Bowls continues to be a fascinating watch.

A request to those who have read this far: Is this format generally interesting enough to consume during the course of the Commonwealth Games? If there are any suggestions, please do leave a comment.

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What we watched today…

The badminton gods (well, actually, the computers at BWF) decided to give us an interesting clash. Almost exactly a year after their second-round match at the China Open in Changzhou in 2025 made plenty of headlines, we had a rematch between PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda – the legend of Indian badminton vs the upcoming teen with a lot of potential. Last year, Unnati had registered arguably the most notable win of her senior career when she took down Sindhu in three games. “Teen surprise for Pusarla” was the headline on BWF, and it appeared at the top of their most popular stories section for quite some time. Today, back at the same venue, a fired-up Sindhu returned the favour, with a 21-14, 9-21, 21-10 win in the 56-minute clash.

As the shuttle stayed on Unnati’s side to signal the end of the match, Sindhu turned around and let out a big roar. Sure, a Sindhu roar is something we have gotten used to over the years, but this one was extra guttural. It probably was more relief than anything else, but you couldn’t help but notice a sense of payback too. A post soon appeared on her social media pages that has since been deleted, but whoever wrote it, knew what was up: this was Sindhu showing the younger generation that she is still the one to beat.

There is nothing wrong with that too, really. When team events like Thomas Cup, Uber Cup, Asian Team Championships and Sudirman Cup come along, players from the same country fight towards a common goal – of representing their nation, playing for the flag and all that. But for a majority of their careers, shuttlers are out there on their own. It is an individual sport at the end of the day, and, like tennis, it can be gladiatorial in nature. Indeed, if anything, such rivalries can be good, if nurtured with the right sentiments on the court. Just as we saw with Sindhu and Saina Nehwal too, to an extent.

Unlike most all-Indian clashes, Sindhu vs Unnati is already a bit different. For the second straight year at one of the biggest tournaments in the international circuit, they opted to play with coaches in their corners. There is no rule against it, just when Indians play each other in these tournaments, usually the chairs are empty, even when players have different coaches. Like Lakshya Sen vs HS Prannoy, for example. But, just like last year, Irwansyah was present in Sindhu’s corner, and Upkar Hooda was in charge of mentoring his daughter Unnati.

There was a hint of an edge in this contest right from the word go. In the first half of Game 1, Unnati wanted a shuttle change; Sindhu didn’t, and the umpire agreed. Then in the second half, Sindhu wanted a shuttle change; this time Unnati didn’t. It is a small thing, but for those who watch enough badminton, it’d have stood out. And Sindhu’s aggression in the first game was unmissable too, especially during a mini run of points when she went up 11-7 after Unnati had caught up.

There wasn’t too much to read into Game 2, which I thought Sindhu played super smart. On paper, a 9-21 scoreline seems worrying, but right through the day at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, the drift was playing a major role. From our point of view at the screens, the near side of the court was the tougher end to play from as the lifts and clears kept sailing long.

After conceding an early lead, I got the sense that – and I’m using first person here because I haven’t heard what Sindhu had to say after the match and whether this is 100% accurate – Sindhu decided to experiment a bit. You know, how before the match starts, players hit the shuttle as hard as they can to see where it lands on the backline. She was hitting clears and lifts knowing well they would go long, and perhaps did so knowing that a deciding Game 3 was anyway on the cards, so she wanted to be better prepared for the change of ends.

And so it proved. Immediately after the mid-game interval in Game 3, Sindhu – who had already opened up a handy 11-5 lead from the good side – nailed two shots to the backline that landed perfectly in. And from there, she was in complete control to see out the match.

From Unnati’s point of view, she actually played some fantastic badminton too, but controlling the shuttle in arenas like this is where her next area of development is. As she plays more and more in the bigger tournaments, the 18-year-old will start to get the hang of it.

For Indian badminton, overall, it is nice that the young gun and the seasoned veteran are going at each other with a great desire evidently to get the better of the other. It is the perfect storm, both for Unnati to be driven to improve and for Sindhu to be on her toes.

(Videos in the article courtesy BWF TV YouTube)

Love All, Play

He tends to go walkabout during matches sometimes, but there is no denying that, when he is dialled in, Ayush Shetty is an absolute weapon. In a rollercoaster clash – made even more challenging by the drift making one side of the court hard to play from as mentioned above – he came through in three games against a junior batchmate in Alwi Farhan.

What lies ahead

• China Open Super 1000 badminton: PV Sindhu vs Chen Yufei at 7.20 am IST. Rematch of last week’s semifinal between them. Chen retired that day when Sindhu was close to a win, and she came through an almighty scare in the opening round on Tuesday against Natsuki Nidaira. Still, she’d be the fresher of the two for this one, having had a day’s extra rest. Should be a fascinating clash in Changzhou.

• The Hundred is underway in England, with a few Indian names (no, not the team names) to look out for in the women’s competition.

• The Commonwealth Games (or, some version of it) starts on Thursday with the opening ceremony. It’s going to be a strange one to follow this year, but hopefully more on it in the days to come.

• India’s three-match T20I series in Zimbabwe starts on Thursday. Coming shortly after their rather dismal tour of Ireland and England, this is going to be interesting to keep an eye on.

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Champions, again

Nostalgia can be a powerful sentiment in sports, but it is often misleading towards the present. If the memories of the 2022 World Cup final were still fresh for you as you sat down in front of the television for last night’s final, oh, were you in for disappointment. If the Argentina vs France clash four years ago has a strong case to be the greatest title clash in many of our lifetimes, Spain vs Argentina on July 19, 2026, would most certainly fall at the other end of the spectrum. Granted, tournament finals are often not exciting, and the 2022 rollercoaster will always be the exception and not the norm. But this one failed to pass even the basest of benchmarks. So, thank the footballing gods that Ferran Torres produced the one decisive moment that mattered to join Andres Iniesta in the list of Spanish men to have netted the World Cup-winning goal.

I love watching Messi play football, but even so, I couldn’t feel a tinge of disappointment for Spain winning the World Cup. An Argentina win would have been, quite literally, daylight robbery.

It is an instantly forgettable final for many reasons, but at the very least, the champions were deservedly crowned. No amount of favouritism should cloud the judgment that Spain were far and away the best team over the course of the tournament, building their triumph on an extraordinary defensive foundation: one goal conceded across 8 matches.

Before we get to the details of the (dreadful) football match, a word for the man of many words. Peter Drury is regarded widely as the most prominent English-language football commentator of recent years, but he absolutely ruined the watching experience of the final. Not for the first time in the tournament, he kept referring to Lamine Yamal – THE Spanish name that has been on everyone’s lips – as ‘Lamal’ for pretty much the entirety of the 120 minutes. While getting his full name right for the most part, for good measure, he threw in a couple of Lamine Lamals too. In a 2023 interview with The Athletic, Drury said that he doesn’t have thick skin, so he finds it better to stay away from social media. “I’m not on social media at all, and I never will be. I’m not going to start preaching now, but I think the whole thing’s horrendous, frankly, regardless of what I do.” Which is a fair stance, but you have to wonder if no one around him had an inkling of what he was doing wrong to alert him at some point during the tournament, or at least during the final.

Right, maybe that was just a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. A commentator getting the name (of the second most important player on the pitch) constantly wrong wouldn’t have mattered that much if the football made up for it. But thanks to Argentina’s stern refusal to even bother playing actual football, the game largely meandered. Argentina’s players crossed quite a few lines at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, but didn’t come close to crossing the line that mattered – the one between the two posts.

It wasn’t a surprise to see how the match panned out, in all honesty, because Spain were expected to dominate possession and Argentina were expected to sit back, try to catch their opponents on the break. But the defending champions took ‘defending’ too literally and rarely ventured forward.

Spain had 101 final-third entries compared to Argentina’s 36. Passes attempted? Spain, 878. Argentina, 476. Goal attempts were a complete joke. Spain had 20 shots, and Argentina had 2, the first of which came in the 116th minute.

There has been, rightly or wrongly, a strong criticism building against Argentina’s style during the tournament. Without giving any oxygen to conspiracy theories, just purely based on what we saw, it felt like Argentina were trying to just muscle their way out of matches. While Lionel Messi was out there creating magic moments, helped by the occasional spark from a Julian Alvarez or Enzo Fernandez long-range golazo, the roughhousing of the opponents by their defenders and midfielders was hard to look past.

In the final, they took it up a notch. Fernandez’s red card arrived late in the match, but even before then, they resorted to pushing the Spanish players around every chance they got. Leandro Paredes came on as a second-half substitute and immediately started lunging into tackles recklessly, and by the time the final whistle went, he was literally shoving players around on the pitch. The post-match behaviour of the Argentina players was beyond shocking, overshadowing a wonderful embrace between Yamal and Messi—an embrace that could and should have been the moment we were all making googly eyes over.

It was all just messy.

Even then, it was hard not to feel emotional as Messi stood in front of fans who chanted his name loudly and proudly, finally letting it sink in – he wasn’t going to win the World Cup again, and in all likelihood, this was probably the final chapter of his international career. After a tournament where he dazzled repeatedly, while also showing the occasional flashes of being an ageing mortal, Messi can exit the grand stage with his head held high. The same cannot be said for his teammates.

Phew, rant over. As is the World Cup, which was largely entertaining when it came to the actual football.

Substat

Spain’s defensive dominance in the tournament is summed up by this stunning breakdown of how miserly they were at allowing chances for their opponents:

If someone had said before the World Cup that the Young Player award would be won by a Barcelona teenager, there would have just been one name in consideration. (Or a few versions of it, if you were the aforementioned commentator). But, as it turned out, at the heart of this remarkable Spanish defence was the 19-year-old centerback, Pau Cubarsi. Here’s a nice feature by FIFA, tracking Cubarsi’s rise.

What lies ahead

Well… no football for a while, eh? But China Open – the year’s last Super 1000 badminton tournament – starts on Tuesday. And, of course, the Commonwealth Games is around the corner as well. No rest for the wicked, eh?

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Champion, again

Deep down, most of us crave validation. Unless one has achieved true inner peace – like Buddha or perhaps Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda. We wake up daily, wanting to know our efforts matter. From those of us doing everyday routine jobs to elite athletes trying to take on the world, seeking validation is natural. It is often said that at the highest level of sports, the medals, confetti, and headlines of appreciation appear on days of triumph. But the true grit is in the daily struggles, away from the spotlight, when no one is watching.

Over the years, I have had the chance to speak to various people about PV Sindhu. Some of it when she is doing well, some of it when she’s not: trying to find solutions, seeking to return to the top level while battling mental doubts and physical scars. And the one thing that has been consistently said about Sindhu during the highs as well as lows: she just works bloody hard, and she is relentlessly trying to get better. Continuously striving to succeed even when the pointers are not always there.

On days like this Sunday in Tokyo, validation arrives. In the form of medals and confetti and headlines, sure. But also in knowing those long, thankless hours of grind bore fruit. And so Pusarla Venkata Sindhu stood atop the podium once more. As champion at the Japan Open, overcoming a fierce rival in Akane Yamaguchi, in two gruelling, glorious games. As she reflected on the victory, it was hard not to get emotional. Those tough days inevitably flash back.

“Well, actually, I had tears in my eyes, because it was very important for me to win. I was really focusing and working hard on myself. And I kept believing that I can do it, even though a lot of people were like, ‘what's happening? Is it done (for me)?’ Or whatever it is. But I still believed in myself.”

“I am grateful to my family and my coaches, support staff. I would like to thank, you know, Wayne and Heera and Shreyasi (S&C) and Irwansyah, our coach. I have to thank both sets of families too. (laughs) My parents and of course, my in-laws as well. And most importantly, my husband, I think they were always there throughout, no matter what, even at my lows.”

• PV Sindhu to BWF

Make no mistake, Sindhu’s Japan Open win is momentous for a few reasons. Beyond just telling her that reinventing her game and fine-tuning her body has been worthwhile, it came just a few days after turning 31. It is a Super 750, featuring all the top players in the draw. (The caveat, of course, is that An Seyoung withdrew early in the tournament and she is undoubtedly the best in the world, but it is a small break that Sindhu definitely deserved). And Sindhu got to the podium defeating the current World No 5, World No 4, and World No 3 – who also happens to be the reigning world champion and the home favourite.

But most importantly, this week’s highlight is simple. Sindhu’s performances – the movement on the court, the sharp attacks, the defensive hustle, and her newfound confidence at taking the net. All of this was evident in the final against Yamaguchi. Sindhu’s smashes constantly kept Yamaguchi on the backfoot. On a couple of occasions at least, commentator Gill Clark remarked how this was the best she has seen Sindhu play in a while. One of those smashes in the opening game made such a sweet sound off her racket – that glorious whooosshhhh! accompanied by something like a gunshot – that made Clark go: “As if she turned back the clock…”

Sindhu’s superpower on her court has always been the viciousness of her smashes, and that is still the case. But the 2026 version has added a few more options. Like in the backend of Game 2, when her smashes started to desert her – she hit a couple of them so wide that it almost went out of the doubles lines – it was the net-play that saved her in crucial points. Those watching her progress from close quarters believe Sindhu’s confidence from the frontcourt, being unafraid to play the close net shots, has been the most prominent improvement under Indonesian coach Irwansyah. As national coach Pullela Gopichand put it in an interaction in Delhi on Saturday, at the moment, “many of the shuttlers can’t read her game style.”

Perhaps the most glowing tributes to Sindhu this week came from her opponents in the semifinal and final, former Olympic champion Chen Yufei and Yamaguchi.

Like coach Gopichand acknowledged, and pretty much everyone watching badminton knows, women’s singles right now is An Seyoung’s domain. She is the undisputed queen of the discipline, ruling over everyone else in the field. But beyond her, Sindhu has now beaten everyone else in the top five in the last year.

With the World Championships in Delhi drawing ever so close, Sindhu’s reinvention augurs well. The body is cooperating, and the mind is whirring. There is a strong argument to be made that Sindhu – along with Neeraj Chopra – has been India’s greatest big-tournament athlete. And with a couple of those around the corner, Sindhu has shown she is still a force to be reckoned with. What this deserved win at Japan Open must tell Sindhu is that her performance is at an elite level, and that there is validation for all the silent days of thankless grind.

It’s her Tokyo gift.

Substat: Sindhu’s milestones

• Sindhu became the first Indian ever to win the Japan Open since the tournament began in 1982

• This is PV Sindhu’s first international title since Dec 2024, when she won the Syed Modi International in Lucknow, a Super 300

• At the Super 500 level, Sindhu’s previous title was the 2022 Singapore Open.

• Not counting her CWG 2022 gold (even though it was a hard-fought gold that ended up costing her quite a bit), Japan Open 2026 is Sindhu’s most significant international title since the World Championships gold medal at Basel 2019. That was seven years ago

• At 31, Sindhu is now the oldest ever Super 750 title winner in women’s singles, breaking Tai Tzu Ying’s record when she won the India Open 2024 at 29

• Set to reenter the Top 8 in the world for the first time since January 2023

(Stats courtesy mswstracker and BadmintonRanks)

Love All, Play

Enjoy the highlights from Sindhu vs Yamaguchi, Chapter 30. It lived up to the hype, alright.

Here are a couple of clips from her press conference late in the night on Sunday (credit: Badminton Association of India):

• Sindhu speaks about adding variety to her attacks and how that was key to beating Akane Yamaguchi for this massive title. And ya, I also asked her about the conversation with Akane at the end when they were sitting on the chairs.

• Sindhu speaks about addressing her own self-doubts more than answering critics. Validation, if you will.

• And looking slightly ahead, she shares her excitement for the new 15x3 scoring system that will kick off next year.