Recent 6 months news in Sports

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Badminton Association of India (BAI) President and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma have unveiled the official mascot 'Peacko' and the championship anthem for the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships 2026 in New Delhi.

The mascot 'Peacko' is inspired by the Indian Peafowl. The 30th edition of the BWF World Championships will be hosted at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.

The Indian Deaf Women’s Cricket Team has won the inaugural Women’s Twenty20 International (T20I) series against the Sri Lanka Deaf Women’s Cricket Team with a 5–0 victory. The series was held at the De Soysa International Cricket Stadium in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.

Shradda Vaishnav was named the 'Player of the Final', while Reddy Jyoshna was adjudged the 'Player of the Series'.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved format changes for the Men's One Day International (ODI) World Cup and the Men's Twenty20 (T20) World Cup during its annual board meetings held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

From 2027, the 14-team ICC Men's ODI World Cup will transition to a 4-stage format, increasing the total number of matches from 48 to 57 and introducing a 'Super 7' round-robin stage. The 20-team ICC Men's T20 World Cup will feature 5 groups of 4 teams, followed by a 'Super 10' stage (replacing the Super 8) and Eliminators.

PV Sindhu has won the women's singles title at the Japan Open 2026, becoming the first Indian player to win this tournament. She defeated the 3-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the final held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. She received a prize money of $66,500 for this victory.

In the men's singles category, Christo Popov of France claimed the title by defeating Koki Watanabe of Japan.

The Spain football team, captained by Rodri, has won the 2026 FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina by 1-0 in the final held at the New York New Jersey Stadium (MetLife Stadium), USA. The tournament, which featured 48 participating teams, was co-hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Ferran Torres scored the match-winning goal in the 106th minute and was named the Man of the Match, while Luis de la Fuente became the oldest manager to win a FIFA World Cup.

Individual tournament awards: Golden Ball - Rodri (Spain); Golden Glove - Unai Simon (Spain); Best Young Player - Pau Cubarsi (Spain); Golden Boot - Kylian Mbappe (France) with 10 goals (first back-to-back winner); and FIFA Fair Play Award - Netherlands. The tournament prize money structure awarded $51 million to the champions.

India finished 4th in the medal tally with 16 medals (3 gold, 4 silver, and 9 bronze) at the inaugural Asian Under-23 (U23) Athletics Championships held at the Ordos Sports Development Center Stadium in Ordos, China. The championship was organized by Asian Athletics.

China topped the medal standings with 52 medals, including 23 gold, followed by Japan and Uzbekistan. The gold medals for India were secured by the Mixed 4x400m Relay team, the Women's 4x400m Relay team, and Anand Singh in the Men's Javelin Throw event.

The Indian Women Cricket Team, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, defeated England by 270 runs in the first ever Women Test match held at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

Yastika Bhatia (113 runs) became the first woman to record a Test century at this venue. Debutant Kranti Gaud was awarded the Player of the Match for her performance, taking 12 wickets in the match, including a five-wicket haul.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has granted conditional recognition to the Judo Federation of India (JFI), allowing the body to resume governance of the sport and participate in national and international competitions.

It is to be noted that the JFI had been operating under the supervision of a court-appointed administrator since 2022. An interim Executive Committee has been elected to lead the federation, with Mukesh Kumar as President, Banee Brata Das as Secretary General, and Shailesh Shrikant Tilak as Treasurer.

Charles Leclerc, a Monacan national racing for Ferrari, has won the Formula One (F1) British Grand Prix (GP) 2026.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has inducted former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly into the ICC Hall of Fame during its Annual Conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland. He becomes the 12th Indian overall and the 10th Indian male cricketer to be inducted.

Kevin Pietersen (England) and Anjum Chopra were also inducted into the Hall of Fame. Anjum Chopra, the former captain of the women cricket team of India, is the first female player from India to play 100 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and score 1,000 runs in the format. It is to be noted that the total count of ICC Hall of Fame members has reached 125.

Jannik Sinner of Italy won the men's singles title of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships by defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany.

Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic won the women's singles title after defeating Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the final.

In the doubles categories, the pair of Guo Hanyu (China) and Kristina Mladenovic (France) won the women's doubles title. Harri Heliovaara (Finland) and Henry Patten (UK) successfully defended their men's doubles title. Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) and Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) emerged victorious in the mixed doubles event.

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has announced that Telangana will host the 8th Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) in November 2026.

The 7th edition of the KIYG was hosted by Bihar, where Maharashtra emerged as the overall champion. It is to be noted that the Khelo India Programme was launched in 2018.

Aswath S, a 17-year-old from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, has become India's 98th Grandmaster (GM). He attained this title by finishing as the runner-up at the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament held in Pune, Maharashtra.

United World Wrestling (UWW) organized the Under-15 (U15) and Under-20 (U20) Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 in Pattaya, Thailand.

India secured 20 medals in the U20 category (4 gold, 7 silver, and 9 bronze) and 21 medals in the U15 category (8 gold, 6 silver, and 7 bronze). In the U15 team standings, Uzbekistan topped the list, while India secured the bronze team trophy. In the U20 category, India finished second in Women's Wrestling (WW) behind China and secured third place in Men's Freestyle (FS).

Tshering Choden, a mountaineer from Sikkim, has successfully scaled Mount (Mt.) Elbrus, the highest mountain peak of Europe at an altitude of 5,642 m. Mt. Elbrus is situated in the Caucasus mountain range, near the Georgian border in southern Russia.

It is to be noted that she also successfully summited Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak of Africa at an altitude of 5,895 m, in 2025.

Australia, captained by Sophie Molineux, has won the 2026 ICC Women's T20 World Cup, marking their 7th championship victory. They defeated the hosts England by 7 wickets in the final held at the Lord's cricket stadium in London.

The 2026 ICC Women's T20 World Cup featured 12 teams, marking an expansion in participation for the first time. Danni Wyatt-Hodge of England emerged as the top run-scorer with 302 runs, while N Shree Charani of India was the leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets. Beth Mooney of Australia was named the Player of the Match in the final.

The Yonex US Open 2026 badminton tournament was held at California State University, USA.

Su Li-yang of Chinese Taipei won the men's singles title by defeating Kidambi Srikanth of India. Line Christophersen of Denmark claimed the women's singles crown.

George Russell, a British national racing for Mercedes, has won the Formula One (F1) Austrian Grand Prix 2026.

Ben Stokes, the England Test captain, has announced retirement from all formats of international cricket during the third Rothesay Test match against New Zealand. He concluded his international career with 7,273 Test runs and 252 wickets.

He is the second cricketer in history, after Jacques Kallis of South Africa, to achieve the 'Test double' of 7,000 runs and 250 wickets.

Ethan Vaz from Goa has become India's 96th Chess Grandmaster (GM) after securing his final GM norm at the Sarajevo GM Mix Tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Harshavardhan GB from Chennai has become India's 97th GM after earning his final GM norm at the 2nd Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin Tournament held in Chennai.