Sports

Inaugural Kho Kho World Cup: Scheduled in India from January 13 to 19, 2025.

Participation: Features 21 men’s teams and 20 women’s teams from 24 countries.

Trophies: Men’s trophy is blue (trust and determination), women’s trophy is green (growth and vitality).

Mascots: Tejas and Tara, gazelles representing speed, agility, and teamwork.

Significance: Aims to establish Kho Kho as a global sport.

The National Sports Awards have been announced on January 2, 2025.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award Recipients:

• D Gukesh: World Chess Champion
• Manu Bhaker: Double Medalist in Paris Olympics
• Harmanpreet Singh: Indian Hockey Team Captain
• Praveen Kumar: Gold Medalist in Paris Paralympics

Arjuna Award:

Total recipients: 32 sportspersons, including:

• Athletes: Jyothi Yarraji, Annu Rani
• Boxers: Nitu, Saweety
• Chess Player: Vantika Agrawal
• Hockey Players: Salima Tete, Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh
• Para-Sportspersons: Rakesh Kumar (Para-Archer), Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Khilari

Lifetime Achievement Arjuna Awards:

• Veteran Athlete Sucha Singh
• Veteran Para Swimmer Murlikant Petkar

Dronacharya Award for Coaches:

• Subhash Rana (Para-Shooting)
• Deepali Deshpande (Shooting)
• Sandeep Sangwan (Hockey)
• S Muralidharan (Badminton)
• Armando Agnelo Colaco (Football)

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: Awarded to the Physical Education Foundation of India

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy: Awarded to Chandigarh University, Lovely Professional University, and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar

Award Ceremony: Awards to be presented by President Droupadi Murmu on 17th January 2025 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In the World Blitz Chess Championship 2024, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi shared the title after their final match ended in a tie in New York on 31 December 2024.

World Blitz Chess Championship 2024 – Open Section:

• Carlsen led 2-0 and needed just a draw in the third game to secure the title.
• Nepomniachtchi leveled the score 2-2, forcing tiebreaks.
• After three draws in sudden-death games, Carlsen proposed sharing the title, which Nepomniachtchi accepted.

Women’s Section: Ju Wenjun from China defeated Lei Tingjie in the final to win the World Blitz Championship, completing a double after drawing five games.

India’s Performance: R. Vaishali, India’s lone hope in the knockouts, overcame an initial loss in the quarterfinals against China’s Zhu Jiner, winning 2.5-1.5 after four games. In the semifinals, Vaishali lost to Ju Wenjun in a one-sided match, 0.5-2.5.

West Bengal clinched the prestigious Santosh Trophy national football championship title by defeating Kerala 1-0 in the final held on December 31, 2024, at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad.

This victory marks West Bengal’s record-extending 33rd title in the tournament’s history.

The match-winner came in the added time of the second half when Robi Hansda scored from close range after Aditya Thapa‘s header into the box.

The team, led by coach Sanjoy Sen, showcased incredible performance throughout the tournament, overcoming the absence of key striker Naro Hari Shrestha due to injury.