Recent 6 months news in Sports

India has won 10 medals including 2 gold, 3 silver, and 5 bronze at the U17 Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 held in Da Nang, Vietnam.

The championship was organised by the United World Wrestling (UWW). In the Women’s Wrestling (WW) category, Diksha (43 kg) and Garima (73 kg) have won gold medals.

India has secured the hosting rights for the 2027 Asian Relay Championships and the 2028 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, marking the first time both events will be hosted in India.

The decision was finalized by the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) during an executive council meeting in Hong Kong, chaired by Dahlan Al Hamad. The 2027 Asian Relay Championships will be held at the Sector 7 Sports Complex in Chandigarh, while the 2028 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships will be hosted at the Kalinga Stadium complex indoor facility in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has won the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, defeating Gujarat Titans (GT) by 5 wickets in the final held at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.

Led by Rajat Patidar, RCB achieved their second consecutive championship, becoming the third franchise in IPL history to defend their title after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. The winning team was awarded a prize money of ₹20 crore, while the runner-up received ₹12.5 crore.

Virat Kohli (RCB) was named the Player of the Match in the final and became the first cricketer to complete 9,000 runs in the IPL. Kagiso Rabada of GT claimed the Purple Cap with 29 wickets.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi of Rajasthan Royals secured the Orange Cap for scoring the most runs (776 runs). He also received Player of the Series, Emerging Player of the Season, Most Valuable Player (MVP), Best Strike Rate Award, Fantasy Player of the Season, and the Most Sixes Award.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, an Italian national racing for Mercedes, has won the Formula One (F1) Canadian Grand Prix (GP) 2026.

Swara Lakshmi Nair, a chess player from Bengaluru has secured the Woman International Master (WIM) title. She achieved this milestone at the Ptuj International Masters tournament held in Slovenia.

It is to be noted that she is the first WIM from Bengaluru and the second WIM from Karnataka, following Isha Sharma who achieved the title in 2019.

Vijay Shankar, an Indian all-rounder from Tamil Nadu, has announced his retirement from domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League (IPL). The decision was made to enable him to explore opportunities in various overseas cricket leagues.

Bharat Singh Chauhan has been re-elected as the Chairman of the Commonwealth Chess Association (CCA) for the 2026–2030 term. The re-election took place during the Annual General Body Meeting of the organization held in Wasakaduwa, Sri Lanka.

It is to be noted that the CCA has announced the launch of a new tournament, the “Commonwealth School Chess Championship”, with its inaugural edition scheduled to be hosted in Malaysia in October 2026.

Kami Rita Sherpa, a Nepali mountaineer popularly known as the “Everest Man”, has broken his own world record by scaling Mount Everest for the 32nd time in the male category. In the female category, Lhakpa Sherpa, popularly known as the “Mountain Queen”, has also broken her own world record by completing her 11th successful ascent of the peak.

It is to be noted that Mt Everest stands at an elevation of 8,849 m (29,032 feet) on the Nepal–China border. The peak is referred to as “Sagarmatha” in Nepali and “Chomolungma” in Tibetan. It was first successfully scaled in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

The Asian Weightlifting Championships (AWC) 2026 was held at the Mahatma Mandir Convention & Exhibition Centre in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Organised by the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF), this event marked the 54th edition of the men’s tournament and the 35th edition of the women’s tournament.

China topped the medal tally with 41 medals (including 21 gold), followed by North Korea with 30 medals and Chinese Taipei with 13 medals. India secured a total of 10 medals, comprising 1 silver and 9 bronze. Gyaneshwari Yadav won a silver medal in the women’s 53kg snatch event and a bronze medal in the overall category.

India has won 2 medals, including 1 gold and 1 bronze, at the 20th edition of the Shanghai Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 2 held in Shanghai, China.

The women’s recurve team, comprising Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and Kumkum Mohod, has won gold. Sahil Jadhav has won bronze in the men’s individual compound category. Turkiye topped the overall medal standings with 6 medals (2 gold), followed by China and South Korea.

Faustino Oro, an Argentina-born chess prodigy known as the “Messi of Chess”, has become the second-youngest Grandmaster (GM) in history. He attained the title at the age of 12 years, 6 months, and 26 days after securing his third and final GM norm at the Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 in Italy.

He is the 7th player in the history of the sport to earn the GM title before the age of 13. It is to be noted that Abhimanyu Mishra of the USA currently holds the record for being the youngest-ever GM.

China has won its 13th Thomas Cup title by defeating France 3-1 at the 34th edition of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2026, held in Horsens, Denmark.

South Korea has won the 31st edition of the Uber Cup title (its 3rd overall) by defeating China 3-1. It is to be noted that the Thomas Cup is the men’s world team championship and the Uber Cup is the women’s world team championship.

Ishank Singh, a 7-year-old from Ranchi (Jharkhand), has established a world record by swimming approximately 29 km across the Palk Strait. He completed the journey from Talaimannar (Sri Lanka) to Dhanushkodi (Tamil Nadu) in 9 hours and 50 minutes on April 30, 2026.

The Universal Records Forum (URF) has officially recognized him as the youngest and fastest individual to complete this route, surpassing the previous record of 10 hours and 30 minutes set by Jay Jashwanth in 2019.

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has attended the 75th anniversary celebrations of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range (DKSSR) in New Delhi. A commemorative logo was unveiled to mark 75 years of competitive shooting in India.

The NRAI launched the “MyNRAI Athlete App”, making it the first fully digitised sports federation in India. Additionally, a nationwide grassroots programme was announced to introduce 7.5 lakh school and college students to shooting through a “10-shot experience” before the 2028 Olympics.

The Indian Junior Shooting Team has topped the medal tally at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup 2026 (Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun) held in Cairo, Egypt. India won 16 medals (5 gold, 6 silver, and 5 bronze), followed by Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) and France. India sent the largest contingent of 71 athletes to the competition. Shambhavi Shravan Kshirsagar and Divyanshu Dewangan won gold and set a new Junior World Record in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event with 499.9 points.

Other gold medallists: Shiva Narwal (men’s 10m air pistol), Vanshika Chaudhary (women’s 10m air pistol), Vanshika Chaudhary and Chirag Sharma (10m air pistol mixed team), and Prachi Gaikwad (women’s 50m rifle 3 positions). The team is set to participate in the upcoming ISSF Junior World Championship 2026 in Suhl, Germany.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has officially joined the International World Games Association (IWGA) as its 40th member. The announcement was made during the Annual General Meeting (AGM 2026) held at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) has signed an agreement with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to transfer the governance and operations of Shooting Para Sport from the latter to the former.

Currently, the sport is managed by World Shooting Para Sport, an entity under the IPC. Pending final approval, the transition is scheduled to begin in 2027 and will include a 2-year integration period until 2028.

Sabastian Kimaru Sawe, a Kenyan athlete, has won the men’s elite title at the London Marathon 2026. He became the first individual to complete a competitive marathon (42.2 km) in under 2 hours, clocking a record time of 1 hour 59 minutes 30 seconds. It is to be noted that he surpassed the previous world record held by Kelvin Kiptum (Kenya).

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has selected India as one of the 12 nations for the ‘Women’s Development Programme (Commercial Strategy 2026)’.

The programme aims to strengthen the commercial viability, sustainability, and professional framework of women’s football on a global scale. Other participating countries include Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Scotland, Canada, Mexico, Finland, Ghana, Jordan, Lithuania, and Paraguay.

The 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards, known as the “Oscars of Sport”, was held in Madrid, Spain. The event was co-hosted by Novak Djokovic (five-time winner) and Eileen Gu (Olympic skiing champion). Carlos Alcaraz (22 years old) was named the World Sportsman of the Year, becoming the youngest-ever recipient. Aryna Sabalenka won the World Sportswoman of the Year, and Paris Saint-Germain was named the World Team of the Year.

It is to be noted that the women cricket team of India was nominated for the World Team of the Year following their first One Day International (ODI) World Cup victory in 2025. Other winners include Lando Norris (World Breakthrough of the Year), Rory McIlroy (World Comeback of the Year), Lamine Yamal (Young Sportsperson of the Year), Chloe Kim (World Action Sportsperson), and Gabriel Araújo (Sportsperson with a Disability).

Nadia Comaneci, a gymnastics legend, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award, while former footballer Toni Kroos received the Sporting Inspiration Award. The organization Futbol Mas was presented with the Sport for Good Award for supporting vulnerable communities through football.