Former world number one archer Deepika Kumari, who won a silver medal in the recent Archery World Cup in Shanghai, has been re-inducted into the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) has taken this decision by keeping the Paris Olympics 2024 in mind.

Also Read: Archery World Cup: Indian men's recurve team win historic gold beating Olympic ch

In addition, Deepika Kumari also reclaimed her India No. 1 spot. Deepika jumped 100 places up to claim the spot as she re-entered the top 40 in the world rankings. 

Deepika, who was out of the entire season last year after becoming a mother in December 2022, has recently made a comeback. She is playing well at domestic as well as international level. Three-time Olympian recurve archer Deepika Kumari also won a medal in the Asia Cup this year.

Deepika won the silver medal in the Archery World Cup 

On Sunday, the 29-year-old archer finished with a silver medal in the women's individual recurve event at the 2024 Archery World Cup Stage 1 after losing to world number two Korean Lim Si-hyeon in the bout. 

Apart from Deepika Kumari, archer Mrinal Chauhan has also been included in the TOPS Development Group, while Pravin Jadhav has moved from Development to the Core Group. Apart from this, para-powerlifter Ashok has also been included in the TOPS core group.

So far, only Dhiraj Bommadevara has been able to qualify for the Paris Olympics in the men's individual category. The final qualifying tournament will be held in Antalya, Turkey on June 15 and 16. 

Also Read: Archery World Cup 2024 stage 1: Indian compound team win 3 gold medals

The preparation for the Olympics 2028 has already started

In October 2023, the LA2028 Organizing Committee accepted squash for inclusion in the 2028 edition of the Games in Los Angeles. So, the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) in its 133rd meeting has also placed squash players Anahat Singh, Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar in the TOPS Development Group so that they can prepare for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 

There are speculations that cricket competition in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics may get shifted to the East Coast of the United States. The aim is to draw in more traffic, especially from India for the newly added sport.

Not only that, the US seems to have more demand due to the growing popularity of their domestic cricket, according to the host committee chair, Casey Wasserman.

Cricket is not new in the Olympics. However, it has been 128 years since cricket was sidelined. In the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the T20 format of the game will be played. However, the venue is yet to be confirmed.

How will it benefit the Indians?

The time difference between Los Angeles and India is almost 12 and a half hours. That means a match starting at around PDT 10 am is available to the Indians at IST 10:30 pm

On the other side, the East Coast is 9 and a half hours behind India. This means that a match that starts around EST (Eastern Daylight Time) at 10 am will be easily broadcast to the Indians at around 10:30 pm.

Earlier, both the men's and the women's tournaments were assigned to the West Coast. But keeping in mind the pros and cons, especially for the Indian Cricket fans, the East Coast may get the hosting responsibilities.

Moreover, New York on the East Coast has some experience in hosting cricket matches. Earlier this year, they arranged several preliminary-round matches of the T20 World Cup, cohosted by West Indies.

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Why is India important?

India holds the biggest cricket market. Not only that, the International Olympic Committee acknowledged how the popularity of Virat Kohli had made them include cricket in the Olympics.

Niccolo Campriani, the Director of the Olympics, told officially, "Virat Kohli is the main influence for adding cricket to the Olympics."

The Delhi batter has almost 314 million followers across his social media handles, making him the third-most followed athlete in the world. Kohli has more followers on social media than basketball legend LeBron James, rugby stalwart Tom Brady, and golf icon Tiger Woods combined.

According to Sportico, Wasserman had said that they are aiming for "more than USD 150 million in savings and new revenue to help maintain a balanced budget (for the Olympics)."

Grabbing more Indian fans with the added advantage of pre-furnished stadiums will help the committee in achieving so.

The three venues that hosted the T20 World Cup in the US, which India won to break the title drought, were Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, and a temporary stadium built on Long Island outside New York City.

New sports added

Apart from cricket, sports like baseball, softball, flag football, squash, and lacrosse, have been added to the LA28 Olympic roster. Olympics have gotten back the previous elegance of the 1990s,

However, shifting matches from the core venue is not unique. During the Paris Olympics, surfing was hosted in Tahiti. Marseille hosted sailing and shooting was held in Chateauroux. Soccer was played throughout the country.

India's leading recurve archer Deepika Kumari won her sixth World Cup final medal by winning silver in the Archery World Cup 2024 final in Tlaxcala, Mexico on Sunday. 

Also Read: West Bengal Rifle Association conducts workshop under former Olympian Jitu Rai to help pistol shooters in Bengal

In the Archery World Cup 2024 final match, Deepika had to face defeat by 0-6 against Li Jiaman of China. Deepika, the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion, had performed brilliantly in the quarter and semi-finals. She defeated Li's Chinese teammate Yang Xiaolei 6-0 and then defeated bronze medalist Alejandra Valencia 6-4 in her own home ground. But in the gold medal match, she lost to Jiaman, who had won the silver medal in the team event at the Paris Olympics 2024.

This was Deepika's ninth World Cup final

Recorded a spectacular victory in the semi-finals, Deepika was participating in the Archery World Cup final for the ninth time. The Indian archer also finished runners-up on five occasions - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2024. She won the bronze medal in 2018.

Till now Dola Banerjee is the only Indian who won an archery gold medal in the World Cup final. She achieved this feat in 2007 in Dubai.

Deepika could not maintain the momentum

Deepika was seeded third among eight archers. After a spectacular win in the semi-finals against  Valencia, Deepika could not maintain the momentum. She lost the first set by one point (26-27). Despite improvement in the second set, Chinese archer Li took a 2-0 lead (30-28) with 30 points including an X-ring shot.

The decision was taken in the third set. Deepika's second arrow landed in the red 7-ring, allowing Li to claim victory with three solid 9 points. She won the set 27-25 and secured the gold medal in his first World Cup final.

Deepika recently became a mother

Four-time Olympic medalist Deepika returned to the World Cup after the birth of her daughter in December 2022. Three years later, she made a comeback in the World Cup final.

Deepika performed poorly in Paris Games

At the Paris Olympics, Deepika Kumari participated in two events - the women's individual and women's team with Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat. Her run ended in the quarter-finals in both events.

Deepika Kumari had qualified for the Archery World Cup Final based on her 2024 World Cup series rankings. She had also won an individual silver at the Shanghai World Cup.

Also Read: "Looking at the Olympics performance, its unfortunate that we didn’t win a medal": Mary Kom hints to make a comeback in Pro-Boxing

Dhiraj lost in the first round

In the men's recurve category, Dhiraj Bommadevara lost to Paris Olympics bronze medalist Lee Woo-seok of South Korea in the first round despite being ahead by 4.2 seconds. The five-member Indian team had three compound and two recurve archers. Only one medal has come in India's bag. 

The Archery World Cup features the world's top eight archers, who qualify either by winning one of the three World Cup stages or based on their world ranking. 

Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom expressed disappointment over the poor performance of Indian boxers in the Paris Olympics 2024. She said that being a medal winner, it is natural that she feels bad.

Also Read: Cricket versus "Sports": A friend or a foe?

India had sent a team of six boxers to the Paris 2024, which included two men and four women. It also included Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain and world champion Nikhat Zareen.

Mary Kom expressed her desire to re-enter professional boxing

Mary Kom expressed her desire to re-enter professional boxing, stating, "I am planning to make a comeback.I will try to make a comeback in pro-boxing." In the same event, she shared her happiness in participating in sports-promoting events but remained concerned about India's performance at the Olympics. 

'We will assess what needs to be done'

Mary Kom told IANS during the Army Sports Conclave, "Looking at the Olympics performance, its unfortunate that we didn’t win a medal in the 2024 Olympics. We will assess what needs to be done moving forward and what shouldn’t be done,"

India's boxing campaign was disappointing 

Lovlina (women's 75kg) missed out on a historic second medal at the Paris Olympics and lost to China's Li Qian in the quarterfinals. At the same time, in the men's 71 kg category, Nishant Dev had reached the quarter-finals, but he had to face defeat from Marco Verde of Mexico.

Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (women's 50kg), Commonwealth Games champion Amit Panghal (men's 51kg) and Preeti Pawar (women's 54kg) lost in the round of 16 in their respective categories. Jasmine Lamboria (women's 57 kg) was eliminated in the round of 32. Overall, India's Paris Olympics boxing campaign was disappointing.

Also Read: Neeraj Chopra’s best throws: Here are all the top throws by javelin ace Neeraj Chopra

"As a world champion and medallist myself, its natural to feel disappointed. We'll focus on more practice and hard work for the upcoming tournaments," Mary Kom added.

Only three boxers achieved olympic medal

Notably, so far only three Indian boxers have won medals in the Olympics – Vijender Singh (bronze in Beijing 2008), Mary Kom (bronze in London 2012) and Lovlina Borgohain (bronze in Tokyo 2020).

A lot of instances have seen cricket being differentiated from other sports. Especially, in South Asian countries, where cricket rules a fraternity, "sports" look doomed. An established "Cricket versus Sports" league is not a 2-month long tournament. It's an age-long duel with apparent results. But, is cricket guilty?

If we look back, Cricket was not as big as it is now. Restricted within the allies of a colonized country, cricket was just a time pass. 36 years to Independence, but a famous singer (Lata Mangeshkar) had to arrange a charity musical show to gather prize money for the 1983 World Cup Winners.

India gained some confidence since then. the biggest boost came after the win in the inaugurating T20 World Cup Win. 2007, 24the September, exactly 20 years back, the seed of the cash-rich league got sown. 

Indian Premier League, started in 2008, is the biggest source of money earning for BCCI. Keeping aside BCCI, the neighbouring cricketing nations have their cricket board more powerful than the other boards. But is this a fault of Cricket?

"Athletes" ignites the fire of "Cricket versus Sport" League

India won its second T20I World Cup after ending its 11 years of drought. The fans who were frustrated for a decade finally got one thing to celebrate. The Marine Drive got flooded with people. The Wankahde Stadium showed all its suppresed love to the team.

Felicitations came from their respective state governments. BCCI provided a huge lump of prize money to the players and the support staff.

But this has triggered athletes from different sports. Names like Chirag Shetty and Saina Nehwal came into the limelight criticizing the sport. When Shetty wanted equal recognition for India's win in the last Uber Cup, Saina went a step ahead. Her view was simple- people wouldn't even hate cricket even if she did so. But, why would someone hate cricket?

This is not a once or twice-told story. This widespread competition with cricket is not new. But is cricket a foe to other sports? Here are a few stories of "influence" and "idolization" in the recent past, not only from India but from neighbors too.

Sri Lanka Cricket funded CWG participating athletes.

The pre-2022 Commonwealth Games has seen an economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Not just economic, but the life on the island was distressed. The then Prime Minister Rajadhakshya fled from the country. Sri Lanka since its independence faced their record crisis.

The country fell short of food and fuel. The pandemic had already hit the Sports authorities. The crisis increased the hardships. They ran out of money. The situation was so pathetic that the boards couldn't manage transport to send the accessories to the athletes

At a point, the country thought of withdrawing its name from the Birmingham CWG. But at that very moment, Sri Lanka Cricket stepped in.

The board contributed 22 million Sri Lankan Rupees to the athletes participating. They hosted Australia and gathered the amount, despite the fears of the crowd ruining it.

Cricket Sri Lanka tried to cover all the funds. However, the athletes still had limited athleisure. CWG authorities too came in help for the athletes. Sri Lanka finished the CWG Campaign with four medals (one silver and three bronze).

Pakistan Cricket Board- the unsung sponsor for Arshad Nadeem

The Paris Olympics Gold medallist Arshad Nadeem was initially an age-group cricket player, His focus later shifted to javelin through which Pakistan got its first medal after 1992.

Arshad Nadeem registered a monstrous throw of 92.97 metres sealing the gold for his country. Earlier he won the silver at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, Budapest, with a throw of 87.82 meters. He gave Pakistan’s first-ever medal at the World Athletics Championships.

But what did Pakistan give him? ignorance! The Commonwealth champion earlier expressed that he has been using a javelin for the last 8 years. His bosom friend and admirer Neeraj Chopra from India tweeted, urging the Pakistan Government to buy Nadeem news javelins.

Nadeem hails from Punjab's Miyan Channu village. Struggling themselves, the villagers funded him for his Olympic campaign. Added, that it was the Pakistan Cricket Bard who sponsored him.

PCB also financed Nadeem and his coach Salman Fayyaz Butt's air tickets.

Read also: A Bronze costs just USD 100: Trembling Future of Pakistan Hockey Team

BCCI's baby steps for Olympians

Earlier BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced financial aid for the Olympians.BCCI granted Rs. 8.5 Crores (approximately $1.03 million) to the Indian Olympic Association for their Olympics campaign.

Recently a new NCA (National Cricket Academy) is near completion. The old existing facilities at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in the city center will be upgraded to a multi-sport training facility.

Apart from the cricketers, it will open doors for the Olympians too. NCA will have new facilities that will let them train there.

The new facilities will have World-Class Playing Grounds will have:

• 45 Practice Pitches: A variety of pitches to cater to different training needs.
• Indoor Cricket Facilities: For year-round practice and skill development.
• Olympic-Sized Swimming Pool: To aid in recovery and cross-training for athletes.
• State-of-the-Art Training and Recovery Facilities: Equipped with the latest sports science technology to help athletes maintain peak physical condition and recover efficiently from injuries.

Cricketer- "athlete" collaboration

When one section came forward criticizing the fame, the other one took it handy to make their own.

Mahi's influence

Speaking about Swapnil Kusale, he himself mentioned that he doesn't follow any other sport apart from shooting. But he follows Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Kusale, who is an Indian Railways employee is a ticket checker like Dhoni. It took him 12 years to feature in the Olympics. And take India's first ever 10m Rifle position 3 medal. The Asian Games Champion accepted that MS's calm personality helps him to stay calm in chaos.

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The Kohli aggression

One of the biggest heartbreak for any badminton fan was Lakshya Sen's exit from the Olympics without a medal. The Chinese Lee Zii Jia shattered Sen's bronze medal dream. 

But Sen's popularity is still unmatched in the sports arena. Even though he is "big," he still wants to "be the Virat Kohli of Indian badminton in coming years." In "The Ranveer Show" podcast he expressed his admiration for Kohli.

The other name that comes in the list is Nitesh Kumar. The Olympic Champion in the Men's Singles SL3 category is a Kohli fan. His winning celebration had some glimpses of Kohli's aggression.

But Nitesh's love for Kohli is not limited to celebrations. After succumbing to a deadly injury in Vizag, he started upgrading his badminton skills. Not only that, he delved himself into fitness, inspired by the 2013 version of Kohli.

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The Wall looks upon The Wall

Soon after retirement, Indian Men's Hockey team goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh was assigned to train the junior hockey team. The two-time Olympic Bronze medallist was delighted to get this role. he not only talked about the future prospects but did mentioned about Rahul Dravid.

"The Wall" of Indian Hockey looked upon "The Wall" of Indian Cricket when it came to coaching. The way Dravid devoted himself to training the cricketing juniors, Seejesh is looking forward to doing the same for his sports.

Read also: Hockey India decides to retire jersey No. 16 in honor of goalkeeper PR Sreejesh

Cricket is another sport

The 2028 Olympics will feature Cricket after 128 years. The brand value of Virat Kohli played a pivotal role in the addition of cricket. But as Sunil Chhetri, the Indian former captain of Indian Football once said, Cricket excelling is great for that country. Then, how does that justify other sports not getting the "love" cricket gets?

How does that justify Chirag Shetty repeatedly slipping down on the court, in the Olympics quarterfinal, having his partner Sattwikraj Rankireddy as the lone warrior? 

How does that justify the associations not getting enough funds and definitely investing to find talent?

How does that justify archers failing to read the wind in bigger stages?

It's an open-ended question. Is it cricket the enemy, or the system? Is cricket actually an enemy or a friend in need?

Indian badminton player Malvika Bansod continued her brilliant form and entered the Super 1000 quarter-finals for the first time by winning a tough match against her higher ranked opponent Kirsty Gilmour at the China Open 2024 in Changzhou on Thursday.

Also Read: India at Paralympics: Medals by every edition

Malvika Bansod, BWF ranking 43rd, toiled hard for one hour and five minutes before defeating two-time Commonwealth Games medalist and world number 25 Gilmour of Scotland 21-17 19-21 21-16 in the women's singles round-of-16 match.

Earlier defeated Paris Olympics bronze medalist

The 23-year-old player achieved this victory a day after defeating the Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medalist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia. 

However, Malvika Bansod, the only Indian shuttler left in the competition, faces a tough challenge as she will face fourth seed and two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the last eight stage.

Although the Japanese shuttler has won both the matches against Malvika, the Indian shuttler came close to defeating  Yamaguchi and she is hopeful that she will be able to register victory this time.

Malvika's sensational performance in pre-quarterfinals

In the opening game against Gilmour, Malvika was down 11-5 at the break. The Indian shuttler brought down the deficit to two points at 16-14 and then won seven of the next eight points to go one game up in the contest. Gilmour, drew on her experience to mount a comeback and close a tight second game.

Malvika surged to an eight-point lead at 10-2 in the decider. She later extended her advantage to 20-11. Gilmour fought back with five consecutive points to make it 20-16 but the late fightback proved too little for Malvika, who comfortably sealed her spot in the quarter-finals.