Welcome to 2024, Indian sports fans. January 1 will see the Pro Kabaddi League rumble on its charming manner, but there's not much else by the way of live action. But as anyone who follows Indian sports will know, a quiet day in the offing does not always make for a quiet day. Which is where ESPN India's daily live blog comes in.
We will continue to be your handy guide for everything to do with the wide world of Indian sport as we bring you the latest updates and analysis from the entire bouquet of Olympic and franchise sports with an Indian bent. As ever, the blog is updated throughout the day, so keep checking back to catch up on news you may have missed.
PKL: Puneri Paltan thrash Telugu Titans; UP Yoddhas lose again
Rock bottom Telugu Titans hit another low in their season as they lost 18-54 to table-toppers Puneri Paltan in the PKL on Monday.
UP Yoddhas proceeded to lose a second straight game in their home leg in Noida, as they lost 41-48 to Patna Pirates.
Wrestling: Sanjay Singh defies Sports Ministry
Well, the tussle between suspended Wrestling Federation of India and Sports Ministry has intensified after federation president Sanjay Singh declared they will soon organise the national championships and they neither recognise the suspension nor the newly formed ad-hoc panel.
"We got elected democratically. The Returning Officer had signed the papers, how do they ignore that. We do not recognise this ad-hoc panel," Sanjay told PTI.
Asked how they will organise the Nationals, he said, "We do not recognise this suspension. The WFI is working smoothly, we are on the job. How will they (ad-hoc panel) organise Nationals if our state associations will not send the teams. We will organise our National Championship soon. We are soon calling the Executive Committee meeting. The notice of the EC meeting will be sent in a day or two and we will have the Nationals organised before they do it," he said.
"We had sent our explanation to the Ministry that we have not flouted any rules. We are still awaiting a reply. We will wait for a day or two. If they do not want to engage with us, we are not also not interested then," Sanjay added.
Going by the quotes, Sanjay Singh, who's considered a close associate of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, is ready to take on the Ministry and the government. It's also important to remember that the United World Wrestling (UWW) is yet to remove the suspension of WFI and it will likely to continue if the Ministry does not recognise the newly-elected body.
Jena, Manu join Neeraj Chopra in World Athletics anti-doping testing pool
Asian Games silver medallist javelin thrower Kishore Jena and DP Manu have joined Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the global track and field anti-doping watchdog.
Being part of the RTP means that athletes will have to file whereabouts information on a quarterly basis. A failure to file the information will constitute a whereabouts failure. In addition, they also have to furnish a time slot where they will be available for testing. Failure to report for that test during the given time slot will result in a missed test. If an athlete has three whereabout failures or missed tests combined within a 12-month period, they will be liable to a two-year suspension for an anti-doping rule vilation.
Apart from the three male javelin throwers now, long jumpers M Sreeshankar and Jeswin Aldrin, steeplechase Avinash Sable and women's javelin thrower Annu Rani are also part of the RTP.
Trevor Sinclair joins the India camp
Trevor Sinclair, once of Manchester City, West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers (amongst others) has joined up with Igor Stimac and the senior Indian men's national football team as they set up camp in Doha, Qatar ahead of the AFC Asian Cup.
Happy new year to you all ���� Very grateful to Igor Stimac for inviting me to join the Indian National team coaching staff for the upcoming Asian Cup. I'm honored to accept this challenge & will do my best to help the whole group ����⚽️ pic.twitter.com/4E6gCJ1qs7
- Trevor Sinclair (@trevor8sinclair) December 31, 2023
What's coming up?
PKL: Telugu Titans vs Puneri Paltan at 8 PM and UP Yoddhas vs Patna Pirates at 9 PM.
What happened on the last day of 2023?
ISL: Khalid Jamil is back! And he's back as head coach of Jamshedpur FC
PKL: Gujarat Giants beat the Bengal Warriors, Bengaluru Bulls extended the Tamil Thalaivas' losing streak