Indian Sports Live Updates: March 19 — Hima Das wins gold beating Dhanalakshmi; Vijender Singh loses first pro boxing bout

First defeat in professional boxing career for the Vijender Singh

Indian boxer Vijender Singh registered his first defeat in professional boxing career against Artysh Lopsan in the "Battle of Ship" event on the rooftop of Majestic Pride Casino Ship on the Mandovi River in Goa.

Olympic medallist Vijender was completely overplayed in the first four rounds. After a minute in the fifth round, an injured Vijender could not continue the bout and the referee had to call of the bout.

Kamalpreet Kaur qualifies for Tokyo Olympics in discus throw

Discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur booked her Tokyo Olympics berth as she improved upon her earlier personal best by four metres on the final day of the Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships, here on Friday.

The 25-year-old Kaur, who had also won gold in the 2019 edition of the championships, dramatically heaved the discus to 65.06m in her first throw to the surprise of the sizeable crowd at the NIS here. The Punjab athlete then fouled all her remaining five attempts. The Tokyo Olympics qualifying mark in women's discus throw is 63.50m

Relive the moment when Gopichand had claimed the 2001 All England Championship

India at All England — A brief history

Indian shuttlers have seen limited success in the tournament, which is often referred to as the 'Wimbledon of Badminton'. It was in the year 1980, an Indian first conquered the title when Prakash Padukone emerged as the champion in the men's singles event, defeating one of the best players of the era Liem Swie King. Till date, the feat could be emulated just once by Gopichand in 2001.

No doubt we have a lot of talent, we just need better planning — Prakash Padukone

The Bridge spoke to the legendary Prakash Padukone ahead of this year's tournament. Talking about the present state of Indian badminton, Padukone pointed out that there's no doubt the crop today have been consistently playing well but they also need to choose their fights wisely.

"I think there is no doubt that we have a lot of talent, we just need better planning. The players need to choose the tournaments more carefully. I do agree that the international rankings are important, but more than that, one should focus on winning big tournaments like the All England Open, World Championships, and the Olympics."

Read the full interview here.

Heartbreak! Lakshya loses in quarters!

Lakshya Sen crashes out in the quarters of All England Open losing to Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands 17-21, 21-16, 17-21.

The last time an Indian male shuttler made it to the semis of the tournament was in 2001 when Pullela Gopichand had reached the last 4 stage.

Lakshya takes quarterfinal clash to decider!

Better from Lakshya Sen as he takes the second game 21-16 to level the match 1-1. He has shown improved intensity but can he keep it going in the decider and progress to semis?

He will be the youngest ever Indian to enter the All England Open semi-finals!

Lakshya Sen drops first game in All England quarters

Lakshya Sen has gone down in the first game 17-21 inside 17 minutes to Mark Caljouw in the All England Open quarter-final!

Arjun Babuta, Divyansh Singh Panwar qualify for final

We are back with some updates from the ISSF World Cup in Delhi!

Arjun Babuta and World No. 1 Divyansh Singh Panwar have both qualified for the Men’s 10m air rifle final.

Babuta shot 631.8 to finish 3rd while Divyansg shot 629.1 to finish 6th

Kamalpreet is all smiles after Tokyo 2020 qualification!