Indian rower Dattu Bhokanal has battled adversity to secure Olympic qualification and his journey to Rio has been made even more remarkable following a childhood bout of aquaphobia and fears for his mother’s health during his final preparations.

Former Indian amateur boxer Haroon Khan bubbles with excitement and bravado as he recalls his two bouts with his hero, the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali, three decades ago.

Veteran doubles specialist Leander Paes said yesterday his partnership with Rohan Bopanna will be India’s best bet for a medal at the Rio Olympics. It will be Paes’ record-setting seventh appearance at the mega event for his country.

German tennis legend Boris Becker has said he considers himself a better coach than player after overseeing Novak Djokovic’s victory in the French Open.

Juan Del Potro of Argentina stepped onto grass for the first time since 2013 and beat former hot hand Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 yesterday to reach the second round of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.

While Tiger Woods’s participation in next week’s US Open still remains in doubt, the 14-time major champion has announced he has another project on the go.

England batting coach Mark Ramprakash has called on the side to be ruthless as they go in search of a 3-0 series clean sweep of Sri Lanka at Lord’s this week.

Stuart Broad has insisted he won’t have any issues playing against Mohamed Amir should the convicted spot-fixer make his Test return at Lord’s next month.

Veteran Australia prop Benn Robinson announced his immediate retirement yesterday after a seemingly innocuous poke in the eye left him seriously injured.

For Adam Morgan, his urgent task was not so simple.

Two-time world champion James Magnussen was yesterday added to the Australian team for the Rio Olympics, securing a place in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay after initially being omitted.

A top German court yesterday ruled against speed skating icon Claudia Pechstein in her bid to seek compensation from the International Skating Union over a two-year doping ban.