ESPN India's daily live blog is your handy guide for everything to do with the wide world of Indian sport. We have the latest updates and analysis from the entire bouquet of Olympic and franchise sports with an Indian bent. The blog is updated throughout the day, so keep checking back to catch up on news you may have missed.
Here are all the key updates from December 13, Wednesday:
Bengaluru Bulls rack up another win
Bengaluru Bulls gave the capacity home crowd at the Kanteerava indoor stadium plenty to cheer about as they picked up a win off the very last raid against defending champions Jaipur Pink Panthers. It was a low-scoring encounter and the scores remained tied at 27-each with three minutes to go, before a couple of clever raids from Bharat Hooda and some solid defending from the Bulls saw them claim a 32-30 win.
The Pink Panthers had a chance to level the scores, if not win off the final raid, but there was little Ajith Kumar could do as he was flattened on the mat by Aman Kadian. The win will take up to the third spot on the points table, while will move up a spot to sixth.
Chennaiyin FC heap more misery on Bengaluru FC
The new manager bounce for Bengaluru FC did not transpire as they extended their winless run to seven games, losing the southern derby 0-2 away to Chennaiyin FC. With interim boss Renedy Singh looking on, it was quite the unfortunate start as Namgyal Bhutia gave away an early penalty with a handball in the box. Rafael Crivellaro stepped up to the spot and slammed one straight into the bottom corner to give Chennaiyin the lead in the sixth minute - which extended all the way to half-time. BFC's penchant for gifting penalties continued five minutes into the second half, as Harsh Patre brought down Crivellaro in the box, with Jordan Murray tucking away the subsequent penalty to extend Chennaiyin FC's lead.
BFC dominated the ball for the rest of the game and had a fair number of shots on goal - as did Chennaiyin - but Owen Coyle's side remained firm to hold on to their two-goal lead and all three points. Their first win in five games propelled CFC into the last playoff spot, while BFC remain mired in ninth place.
Tamil Thalaivas win a thriller
Telugu Titans' dismal start to the Pro Kabaddi league continued as they slipped to their fourth successive loss, this time in an edge-of-the-seat thriller against Tamil Thalaivas.
Pawan Sehrawat went up against his former team, but endured a rather dull outing as he finished with just seven points, while Thalaivas' Narender bagged a Super 10. The two teams stayed within a couple of points of each other until the last minute, when the Thalaivas inflicted an All Out to win by two points.
The only positives for the Titans will be the fact that Robin Choudhary is a strong #2 raider, while Sanjeevi S is a fine option off the bench. Thalaivas' will continue to bank on Narender and left corner defender Sagar, who bagged seven tackle points.
The nominees for India's biggest sporting awards are out, and here's a full list:
For the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (badminton)
For the Arjuna Award: Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket) Ojas Pravin Deotale, Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para-archery), Parul Chaudhary and M Sreeshankar (athletics), Mohammad Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Divyakriti Singh and Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pinky (lawn bowls), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis).
For the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award: Kavita (kabaddi), Manjusha Kanwar (badminton) Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey).
For the Dronacharya Award: Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Shivendra Singh (hockey).
Leander Paes and Vijay Amritraj become first Asian men to be inducted in International Tennis Hall of Fame
A rare moment to cheer for the Indian tennis community of late, as Leander Paes and Vijay Amritraj were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Paes, an 18-time Grand Slam champion was selected in the player category, while Amritraj was part of the contributor category, which recognises true pioneers, visionary leaders, or individuals/groups who have made a transcendent impact on the sport.
They will be officially inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday. Paes and Amritraj join an elite group of 264 inductees from 27 nations, with India set to become the 28th nation represented in the Hall of Fame.
"It has been my life's honour to play for my country for over three decades in a sport that has given and taught me everything. This acknowledgment is indeed the ultimate accolade for every tennis player. Induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame belongs not just to me, but to our billion-plus Indians," Paes said.
"Receiving this honour culminates a professional journey of a lifetime, standing on the shoulders of greats and sets the tone for other youngsters in Asia and around the world."
Big game for Indian men's junior hockey team
After a thrilling win over the Netherlands in the quarters, the Indian men's junior hockey team is ready to take on Germany on Thursday for a place in the final of the World Cup.
It's going to be a tough task for India as they lost all four times they played against Germany this year. Germany are also the champions of this year's Sultan of Johor Cup, which is a one of the best junior hockey tournaments involving international teams.
"Germany are a strong team and we faced them in the Sultan of Johor Cup recently but with a slightly different squad and a different approach. We have analysed all the teams in the World Cup, Germany included, and the added learning from the previous matches against them will put us in a good position ahead of the game. The players know that Germany isn't unbeatable, it's a matter of executing the plan," the head coach CR Kumar said.
The match will start at 3:30 pm on Thursday.
What happened yesterday?
India reached the semis of the Junior Men's Hockey World Cup after a come-from-behind win over Netherlands.
Mumbai City FC head coach Petr Kratky's first game in charge of the club ended in a 0-0 draw away to FC Goa. .
Bengal Warriors beat Patna Pirates in the PKL.
South Africa beat India by 5 wickets in the second T20I at Gqeberha to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
You can check all the details of yesterday's news events here.