Welcome to ESPN India's daily blog, where we aim to bring you all the news from the dynamic world of Indian sports: from the wide variety of Olympic sports to franchise leagues.
May has plenty of sporting action taking place - which you can find listed out in ESPN India's sporting calendar.
Paralympics champion Sumit defends F64 javelin world title, India jump to third
Reigning Paralympics champion Sumit Antil on Tuesday defended his F64 javelin throw world title while Thangavelu Mariyappan and Ekta Bhyan also grabbed gold medals in their respective events as India jumped to third place in the World Para Athletics Championships at Kobe, Japan.
With five medals won on a productive fifth day, India's tally jumped to 10 (4 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze) and the country is currently placed below China (15 gold, 13 silver, 13 bronze) and Brazil (14 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze).
Antil, who had won gold medals in the Tokyo Paralympics and 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, threw 69.50m to take gold. Compatriot Sandeep won the bronze medal in the same event with a throw of 60.41m. Sri Lanka's Dulan Kodithuwakku took the silver with a throw of 66.49m.
Tokyo Paralympics silver winner Mariyappan also grabbed a gold in T63 high jump with a championship record of 1.88m. This was his first gold in a major event in eight years.
Earlier in the day, Ekta Bhyan secured the gold medal with a season's best throw of 20.12m in the women' F51 club throw competition. Another Indian Kashish Lakra took the silver with an effort of 14.56m in the same event.
Wrestling: WFI announce they will not hold trials, quota winners to go to Paris
The Wrestling Federation of India has confirmed that they will not hold trials ahead of the Paris Olympics, with President Sanjay Singh saying "All the members of the selection committee were present, the women's team coach was present and it was decided that the rule we followed was that whoever got the quota would go for the Paris Olympics. [The quota winners] will have mental relief, they'll be able to focus on their game and the federation is ready to send them anywhere in the world for the best preparation, in consultation with their coaches."
#WATCH | Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh says, "All the members of the selection committee were present and it was decided that the rule we followed was that whoever got the quota would go for the Paris Olympics..." pic.twitter.com/4obyDw9VNE
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2024
It means that Aman Sehrawat (men's freestyle 57kg), and the five women wrestlers - Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Antim Panghal (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg), Reetika Hooda (76kg) are on their way to Paris. This also foils the scenario where Vinesh and Antim would compete in a trial for the 53kg quota - which is Vinesh's preferred weight class.
Badminton: Treesa-Gayatri begin Malaysia Masters with comfortable win
They may not be going to the Paris Olympics, but there are still valuable BWF Tour points on offer for the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who began their Malaysian Masters Super 500 campaign with a win. The young Indian pair defeated the Chinese Taipei duo of Huang Yu-Hsun and Liang Ting Yu by a 21-14, 21-10 scoreline inside 35 minutes. While Treesa-Gayatri maintained a healthy lead throughout the first game, the second won was as close as 12-10 before the Indian duo rattled off nine consecutive points to win the contest.
Up next for the seventh seeds is the winner of the contest between Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui of Chinese Taipei and the Panda sisters - Rutuparna and Swetaparna.
What's on today?
Badminton: The Malaysia Masters begins today, with plenty of Indians in the fray. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are seeded seventh and will open their campaign post 1:30 PM.
Shooting: The NRAI is set to ratify India's squad for the Paris Olympics.
What happened yesterday?
Athletics: The Indian mixed relay team broke the national record and won gold at the Asian relays, but still fell short of qualification for the Paris Olympics.
You can find the details of yesterday's event's here.