Here at the ESPN daily blog, we bring you all the news from the dynamic world of Indian sports: a one-stop shop for everything to do with the wide variety of Olympic sports and franchise leagues.
It's a a big day in Indian football, as India take on Syria in their final group game, aiming to make the knockouts - while India's only table-tennis tournament on the WTT circuit begins. This blog will be updated throughout the day, so keep checking back for updates and analysis.
Here are the key updates from January 23, Tuesday:
PKL: U Mumba, Puneri Paltan share points in a thrilling draw
U Mumba nearly pulled off an upset but later scoured out a draw as they were locked on points with Puneri Paltan. U Mumba banked on Guman Singh's 15 raid points, while Iranian all-rounder Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh had six tackle points for Puneri Paltan. The result leaves Puneri Paltan on the second spot, while U Mumba climbed to the sixth position.
Syria knock India out of Asian Cup
It was not meant to be for the Indian football team. They tried their best but Syria scored the only goal of the match in the second half to finish above India while Igor Stimac's team ended the group stage with three losses out of three.
You can relive the match updates and the report on our blog here.
Roshibina Devi named female wushu sanda player of year
India's Naorem Roshibina Devi, a two-time Asian Games medallist, has been named International Wushu Federation's (IWUF) female athlete of the year in sanda category.
The 23-year-old, who won silver at the 2022 Asian Games, polled 93,545 votes to beat Shahrbano Mansouriyan Semiromi (88,179) of Iran and Wu Xiaowei (46,753) of China. Interestingly, Roshibina had lost to Xiaowei in the women's 60kg Wushu sanda event final at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Roshibina, a bronze medallist at the 2016 World Junior Wushu Championships, was conferred with the Arjuna Award this year.
India men's hockey team at Paris Olympics
Here's our analysis of the Indian men's hockey team and their group at the Paris Olympics.
So, the team, which won the bronze at Tokyo Games, has been clubbed in Pool B with Belgium, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland. Pool A consists of Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, France and South Africa.
No doubt it is a tough group for India, as it is always the case at the Olympics because there are only 12 teams involved unlike the World Cup where there was usually 16.
India, ranked third in the world, which makes them second best in their group behind Olympic champions Belgium but rankings don't mean much in big international tournaments and especially at the Olympics. Both Belgium and Australia are extremely tough opponents to beat while Argentina can be a tricky challenge to overcome.
The good news is that top four teams from the group make it to the quarterfinals so that gives India a good chance to qualify for the knockouts. But if India finish fourth, they will have to play the Dutch, who won the Pro League last season or World Cup winners Germany for a place in the semifinal.
Since it's a 12-team tournament and no crossovers matches, no game can be considered easy for any nation and that's what makes Olympics the most toughest tournament in hockey.
India won the bronze medal last time around after a gap of 41 years. Craig Fulton, the head coach made an impression after guiding the team to Asian Games gold, but Olympics is a different beast altogether. India will prepare for the Paris Games by playing the top teams in the Pro League. Needless to say, these matches, which they start on February, are crucial for their form and squad selection for the Olympics.
What's in store today?
PKL: Just the one match as U Mumba take on Puneri Paltan at 8 PM
IWL: East Bengal take on Gokulam Kerala at 3:00 PM
Table-tennis: The WTT Star Contender begins in Goa, with plenty of Indians in action.
What happened yesterday?
Super Cup: Odisha FC reached the semifinals with a 3-2 win over FC Goa while Bengaluru FC drew 1-1 with Inter Kashi.
Hockey: India (M) began their South Africa tour with a 4-0 win over France, as captain Harmanpreet Singh grabbed a brace.
PKL: Jaipur Pink Panthers retained top spot with a win over Bengal Warriors, while Haryana Steelers defeated bottom-placed Telugu Titans
Boxing: India announced their squad for the first World Qualification tournament, with Amit Panghal missing out.
IWL: HOPS FC scored an injury time winner to defeat Sethu FC.
You can check all the details of yesterday's news events, here.