Recent 6 months news in Sports

The IIT Madras has officially introduced OmegaBall to India by hosting a grand launch event and an inter-college tournament at its Chennai campus.

OmegaBall is a high-intensity, fast-paced variant of football that redefines traditional gameplay by featuring three teams on the pitch simultaneously.

The Indian women's cricket team has secured direct qualification for the Los Angeles (LA) 2028 Olympic Games, following the group stage of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's T20 World Cup in England.

Other teams that have qualified for the tournament include Australia (representing Oceania), South Africa (representing Africa), and Great Britain (represented by England in ICC events). The USA is anticipated to receive the host quota for the Olympic tournament.

India topped the medal tally at the 5th edition of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Championship Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun 2026 held in Suhl, Germany. India secured a total of 25 medals, including 7 gold, 8 silver, and 10 bronze.

Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) finished second with 14 medals, followed by Italy with 10 medals.

The 6th edition of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Men's Volleyball Cup (formerly known as the AVC Men's Challenge Cup) was held at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad. Indonesia won its first gold medal after defeating South Korea by 3-0 in the final, while India secured the bronze medal.

Following this tournament, the Indian men's volleyball team improved its Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Ranking from 60th to 42nd place. Individual awards: Boy Arnez Arabi (Indonesia) - Most Valuable Player (MVP); Vladislav Mastikhin (Kazakhstan) - Top Scorer; Anand Kottarathil (India) - Best Libero.

India participated in the 2nd edition of the Asian Relays Championships held in Shangyu, China. The Indian contingent secured 3 medals, including a gold medal in the women's 4x100m relay (season-best performance), a silver medal in the mixed 4x400m relay, and a bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m relay.

It is to be noted that India is scheduled to host the 2027 Asian Relays Championships in Chandigarh.

The 28th edition of the annual outdoor track and field meeting, the Doha Diamond League (DDL), was held at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Rumesh Pathirage, a Sri Lankan athlete, won the men's javelin throw event with a throw of 88.68 m. Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished fourth in the event with a best throw of 85.69 m.

India has won the 2025–26 International Hockey Federation (FIH) Hockey Women's Nations Cup by defeating New Zealand 2–0 in the final held at the North Harbour Hockey Stadium, Auckland. This marks India's second title in the tournament, which featured 8 top-tier nations.

Lalremsiami (India) was awarded the 'Player of the Match' in the final. Ashley Sessa (USA) was named the 'Best Player' of the tournament and shared the 'Joint Top Scorer' title with Deepika Sehrawat (India), with both scoring 6 goals. Grace O'Hanlon (New Zealand) was named the 'Best Goalkeeper'. The USA secured the bronze medal in the competition.

TIME has released the inaugural edition of the "TIME 100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026" list, which categorizes individuals into 4 segments: Leaders, Icons, Innovators, and Titans.

Smriti Mandhana is the only Indian featured on the list, placed in the "Titans" category alongside notable sports personalities such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, and Temba Bavuma.

Lewis Hamilton, a British national racing for Scuderia Ferrari HP, has won the Formula One (F1) Spanish Grand Prix 2026.

Kane Williamson, former captain of the New Zealand cricket team, has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.

He concluded his career as New Zealand’s all-time leading run-scorer with 19,346 international runs.

The union government has constituted a Search-cum Selection Committee for the National Sports Board. The committee is established under the National Sports Board (Search-cum Selection Committee) Rules, 2026, framed in accordance with the National Sports Governance Act, 2025.

The committee is chaired by Dr TV Somanathan. Its members include Hari Ranjan Rao, Lt General (Retd) Harpal Singh, and two National Sports Awardees, Gagan Narang and N Kunjurani Devi.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, an Italian driver representing the Mercedes Formula 1 (F1) team, has won the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix (GP). He becomes the youngest winner in the history of the event.

Savitha Baskar, a 19-year-old Indian International Master (IM), has won the gold medal on tie-breaks at the Women’s Asian Individual Chess Championship 2026, held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Afruza Khamdamova of Uzbekistan secured the silver medal, while Song Yuxin of China claimed the bronze. In the Open section of the championship, Kong Xiangrui of China won the gold medal.

The 125th edition of the French Open 2026 was held at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France.

Alexander Zverev (Germany) won the men’s singles title by defeating Flavio Cobolli (Italy), while Mirra Andreeva (Russia) won the women’s singles title by defeating Maja Chwalinska (Poland). The men's and women's singles champions was awarded €2.8 million.

Marcel Granollers (Spain) and Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) retained the men’s doubles title (Jacques-Brugnon Cup). Katerina Siniakova (Czechia) and Taylor Townsend (USA) won the women’s doubles title (Simonne-Mathieu Cup), while Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori (Italy) won the mixed doubles title (Marcel-Bernard Cup).

The World Yogasana Championship 2026 was held at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The championship was organized by World Yogasana, Yogasana Bharat, and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The official mascot of the event was ‘Veer the Lion’.

India dominated the medal tally by securing 114 medals (102 gold, 9 silver, and 3 bronze) with a 122-member contingent. Abhay Burman secured the first gold medal for India. Japan ranked second with 3 gold medals, followed by Argentina in the third position.

India, captained by Ketan Kushwaha, clinched the gold medal at the Hockey U18 Asia Cup 2026 by defeating Japan 4–1 in the final of the men's category. The tournament, organized by the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF), was held in Kakamigahara, Japan.

Ashish Purti was named Player of the Match in the final and finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 13 goals, while Ayush Rajak was adjudged the Best Goalkeeper.

The Indian Women’s U18 Hockey Team, led by captain Sweety Kujur, secured the bronze medal after a 3–0 victory over South Korea. China claimed the gold medal in the women’s category by defeating Japan 2–1, while Nousheen Naz of India emerged as the top scorer with 12 goals.

The 22nd edition of the Asian U20 Athletics Championships 2026 was held at the Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground in Hong Kong, China, featuring 45 sporting events. The event was organised by the Asian Athletics Association (AAA).

China topped the medal tally with 25 medals (14 gold), followed by India in second position with 19 medals (10 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze). Japan secured the third position.

Indian gold medalists include Nitin Gupta (Men 5000m Race Walk), Amanat Kamboj (Women Discus Throw), Pooja Singh (Women High Jump), Muskan (Women 5000m), and the Women 4x400m Relay Team comprising Bhumika, Tahura, Sehnoor, and Neeru.

KS Bharat, an Indian wicketkeeper-batter, has announced his retirement from international cricket after a 7-Test career. He now intends to pursue opportunities in overseas T20 leagues.

In domestic cricket, he represented the Andhra cricket team and holds the distinction of being the first wicketkeeper-batter to score a triple century in the Ranji Trophy.

The 14th edition of the annual international chess tournament, Norway Chess 2026, was held in Oslo, Norway, featuring both the Open section and the 3rd Norway Chess Women tournament. Both tournaments featured a prize fund of NOK 1.69 million each, with the winner of each section receiving NOK 700,000.

Indian Grandmaster (GM) Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won the Open section with 18 points, becoming the first Indian to claim the title after defeating Vincent Keymer of Germany in the final round. GM Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan secured the title in the 3rd Norway Chess Women tournament.

India has won the 8th edition of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship title, defeating the defending champion Bangladesh by 3-1 in the final. The tournament was held at the Fatorda Stadium (Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium) in Goa and featured 6 participating nations.

Individual honours were awarded to Sanfida Nongrum (Most Valuable Player or MVP), Aveka Singh (top scorer with 4 goals), and Panthoi Chanu Elangbam (Best Goalkeeper). Nepal received the Fair Play Award. It is to be noted that this victory marks a record-extending 6th SAFF Women’s Championship title for India.