On National Sports Day, it is only but natural that it is natural to reflect the year. The period from August 30, 2024 to August 29, 2025 has seen incredible moments, which have made their mark in India’s rich sports history – new world champions, legends crossed their game, defeating the system and more to Dalits.

Here are some of the best moments from 2024-25 in Indian Games:

Paralympic perfection in Paris

If Paralympics was to describe India’s campaign in one or two words in 2024, they would have to do ‘record-breaking’. 29 medals, including seven gold medals, and finished between the top 20 countries on the table. The highest Tally Indian athletes recorded a paralympic Games.

The record-breaking game was also remembered for a special day. September 2, 2024. It was an extraordinary Monday where in space for less than 12 hours, India won eight medals. In just one day, India matched its entire paralympic medal between 1988-2016 and once won the same Olympics. This was certainly one of the greatest days in Indian sports history.

The choice of Avni Lakhra, Sumit Antil, Harvinder Singh, Navdeep Singh, Thulasimathy Murugasen (more) wrote their names in history, will never forget.

– Anish Anand

Dommaraju Gukesh Chess becomes world champion

It is not in many sports, or even in areas you have an 18 -year -old world champion. Rare is still the champion Indian in question. At the end of 2024, Domraju Gukesh’s world championship win on Ding Liran will go down in history for solid reasons (the youngest world champion), but it was Integrals that made it more special. Gukesh, a soft-spoken, humble 18-year-old (dream of every Indian parents) became a poster boy for a fast growing game.

Yes, Vishwanathan Anand did this earlier also (“Five times” / “Five times”). What Gukesh’s achievement made more special was what it was – Indians (or Vishi’s children) were about to rule the game of chess. The dramatic nature of Gukesh’s final-GASP victory over Ding Liran converted this non-drainage game into national consciousness. Before becoming the world champion before FIDE candidates, later, Gukesh pushed and pushed, like his chess, waiting for a break and was rewarded in a surprising way.

The king can rule for a long time.

– Sunath Sagar

Neeraj Chopra goes to classic while cementing his legacy

There he stood there, a bouquet in his hands, a medal around his neck, and tears in his eyes.

Neeraj Chopra won gold with an 86.18 meter throw in a program named after him. But Neeraj Chopra Classic This means more. Describing all the expectations, more than 14,000 fans converted India’s first World Athletics Category-e-Jewelin event on 5 July 2025 to Sri Kanterwa Stadium in Bengaluru.

It was one thing to compete and win against the best in the world. What these champions do. However, Neeraj Chopra turned into a sports hero when he brought an athletics event on Indian earth. The Olympic medalist was already imagining a serious, multi-discipline athletics event in the future versions of the Neck Classic, while switching guttering between hosting and competition. And that night the deaf support of the house crowd meant Chopra’s ambitions, although bold, was welcomed.

– Shruti Sadambava

90+ for Neeraj in Doha to end all questions

Now for a few years, Neeraj Chopra was asked a main question – when will he cross the 90 -meter mark? For his credit he responded well, with entertainment, humor and sometimes disappointment; He was trying to break the barrier but was happy to win the medal on the number. But despite the Milestone Olympic and World Championship Golds and Silver, there was a millstone around his neck.

On the field, he responded to this in May when he started the 2025 season, with a 90.23 meter individual throw in the bang and Doha Diamond League. After falling within one meter of scars on five different occasions – its best is only six centimeters away – he finally conquered the remaining (if arbitrarily) in the jewelin throw. It was a purely an attraction of how long he, and we were waiting to tick this one item of his achievement list.

– Zenia D’Kunha

Divya Deshmukh vs Konari Hampi (India vs India) in Chess World Cup final

Divya vs Hampi performed very good qualities of Indian sports and did so on one of the highest international levels. In the final of the 2025 Women’s World Cup, a young tie (unchanged, supreme talented, fearless) takes to an experienced (stubborn, consistent, trailblazer) and shows the world that the next gene in the Indian chess will not back down from any challenge.

Divya’s final victory was fairy fairy, with a lie-knockout to sealing her giant-sarring and most vigorous fashion, but it was the final lineup that actually stood out. Indian sports could not be said only for a better advertisement in 2025.

– Anirudh Menon

Rugby Premier League scored with its first attempt

There are many franchise games in India which are doing their best to show the success of the Indian Premier League. The most unsuccessful.

The rugby Premier League went into a different way – he made a small start – just six franchisees, but did it in a way where they were able to rope in the Olympic and World Champion for a small window. For a sport that has been historically played by ‘Havs’ in Indian society, RPL went another way to platform India’s ‘Hahav-Nots’. Indian athletes who had left the game to become a delivery agent, suddenly rubbing the shoulders very well – and proving themselves equal.

Ragby Premier League was a success, from thrilling the crowd in Mumbai to becoming a lot of television spectacle. For that, the game of rugby is now rich in India and not only in monetary terms.

– Sunath Sagar

Despite indifference, Indian women’s football team made history with AFC Asian Cup qualification

In the last one year, Indian football has been its lowest. On the field, the form of the men’s senior national team declined and excluded the field, the National Federation is facing various internal and legal issues. The only bright spark in the dark time has come from the Indian women’s football teams.

First, the senior national team achieved a surprising direct qualification for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup by beating up a high ranked and Superior Thailand. This is an excellent achievement that a lot of players were carrying 2022 marks when they were to be disqualified due to Kovid -19 as the host of the Asian Cup and then had to bear a speed of coaching changes. Second, only one month later, the Indian women’s U20 team gained qualification for the first time in 20 years for AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup. Juniors followed seniors and now we will have two teams, on merit, will play the best of the continent.

– Anish Anand

Welcome, Saurabh Chaudhary

Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, he was the toast of the nation, the next big hope. After the Tokyo Olympics, he disappeared. By 2025, that is. Saurabh Chaudhary is back. In 2025, Saurabh has been spectacular at the mixed team event with brilliant Suruchi Indra Singh, and has also won a personal medal in the World Cup in Peru in April. He was also part of the Indian team, who won silver at the Asian Championships and won bronze with Suruchi at the Mixed Team event at the Asian Championships.

He has to fully discover himself as a pistol shooter. He had to find confidence again, which was completely dent after Tokyo. He has worked in his own way, a little bit, slightly lost confidence and poetry, who made him a shooter, which he was in the construction of the Tokyo Olympics.

Other shooters may have better results than Saurabh this year, but the story, the struggle, and where he gets back again, that is why we choose it as one of the last year’s main attraction in Indian sports.

– Aditya Narayan

The Indian men’s hockey team will start their Asia Cup campaign against China on the soil of the house in Rajgir, Bihar on Friday.

After winning the tournament in 2017, India will look at the continental crown and secure direct qualifications for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup.

The men’s Asia Cup has been one of the most prestigious events in Asian Hockey, with defending champion South Korea the most successful team with five titles, while India ranks second with three. In the previous version, India finished third as they attracted their semi -final game against South Korea, which proceeded to a better target difference.

Asia Cup Preview: Look to qualify for World Cup as India on Fulton Bank familiar faces and experience

India is ready in Pool A along with China, Japan and Kazakhstan. The team will open their campaign against China, followed by Japan on 31 August before concluding the group stage against Kazakhstan on 1 September. Pool B includes South Korea, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Indonesia. The top two teams of each pool will reach Super 4S and the winner will earn automatic World Cup qualifications.

Talking about the team’s preparation, head coach Craig Fulton said, “Our preparation is fully. The camp in Perth gave us the right intensity, with difficult training sessions and competitive matches that intensifies both our physical and strategic readiness. Group is playing with training and real purpose and we feel ready for further challenge.”

Captain Harmanpreet Singh said, “Preparation has been good. We have achieved a lot in the camp and have done a lot of work as a team. Even our recent tour in Australia has been very useful for us as Asian teams also play man-to-man in a similar way for Australians.”

India vs China will start IST at 3 pm.

You can follow the match on our live blog below:

Goa will host the Fid World Cup from 30 October to 27 November. The state last hosted a large chess incident in 2002, where the Governor of Goa KNA Sahani presented the Junior Cup to Levon Aaronian. (Photo Fid by special arrangement)

New Delhi: After a long wait that many times it seems that the governing body for chess, never ending, fila, was announced on Tuesday that Goa would host the upcoming Fide World Cup, marking the return of the incident in India after 23 years.And this is not a simple declaration. The templates used across the piece on the organization’s website felt like a postcard from heaven: a king and queen prepared on a boat while resting from the banks of the Arabian Sea, coconut palms are growing longer as they keep an eye on endless waves. It was Goa in its most original.From 30 October to 27 November, 2025 World Cups, 206 out of the world’s best players will compete for a prize money of $ 2 million.For Indian fans, the declaration is the weight of history, though. The last time the World Cup came to the country in Hyderabad in 2002, where Vishwanathan Anand picked up the trophy.The same year, Goa hosted a prestigious chess program at the World Junior Championship. Between 9 to 20 December 2002, more than 150 chess cums from more than 50 countries landed on the west coast of India.A 20 -year -old Armenian, a 20 -year -old Armenian named Levon Aryonian, scored 10 points to take the Crown, finishing him right behind him with Luke McSen of England.

For Aaronian, it was a great success in a career that would later see them rising in the elite class of the world.But for Goa, it was much higher than a chess tournament.“I was the secretary of the tournament,” then Ashis Kenny, Secretary, Goa Chess Association, told Timesopindia.com.“Manohar Parrikar was the Chief Minister at the time, and he came forward to sponsor the event personally. He had a foresight. He wanted Goa tourism to benefit. At that time, many Russians were not coming to Goa. He specially told me: We want this tournament to know Russians about Goa. ,

Goa hosted the Fide Junior Chess World Cup in 2002, the same year Hyderabad hosted India’s last World Cup. (Photo by special arrangement)

The plan worked. The program was discovered on the Internet, a novelty, and many Russians followed the Games, discovering Goa.“After that, a lot of Russian came to Goa as tourists, and many still keep coming. This awareness was then made back through chess,” Kenny says.Since 2002, the players and officials were most remembered that there was care and hospitality.Goa, who has been known for his warmth for a long time, left his mark on the chess world. Kenny recalls, “The officials who attended many world juniors told us that in the context of food and hospitality, the Goa version was the best he had ever seen,” Kenny recalls.And then, there were light moments.“Culture here is something that people can really enjoy. I remember when the players came to the world juniors, they were all dancing with joy. We also had a disco here. In Iran, they do not allow dancing, but an Iranian player spent the whole day enjoying himself, dancing like everyone, “Kenny continues with a laugh.

The 2025 Fid Chess World Cup will run from 30 October to 27 November.

For the Goa Chess Association, the 2002 version was also a learning stage. The state has since organized nine citizens and several friendly programs, but 2002 remains special.“For us, this was the first time we were hosting something on that scale. We had international intermediaries; We had to complete many cultures. This assured us that Goa could give a world -class program, “Kenny, he himself says an international mediator (IA).Two decades ago, Goa introduced itself from the world chess community with palm trees, beaches, music and food. Now, as the world’s best return to the FIDE World Cup 2025, it is a 2002 memory that provides emotional anchor.As Kenny says: “After the 2002 incident, we have not got the opportunity to hold a world tournament.”