Hockey  

Apart from nominating Deepa Malik and Bajrang Punia for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the selection committee also picked 19 sportspersons for the Arjuna Award, including the likes of cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav, track and field stars Tejinder Pal Singh Toor, Mohammed Anas and Swapna Barman, footballer Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, hockey player Chinglensana Singh Kangujam and shooter Anjum Moudgil

From hockey to athletics, shooting to cricket, here is a list of seven incidents where the sportspersons made India proud in these seven decades.

Mystery surrounds the death of two tribal women hockey players after they were found hanging from a tree on Sunday. Police are awaiting the results of the post-mortems and are yet  to divulge of this was a case of suicide or murder.

Experienced dragflicker Rupinder Pal Singh, who returned to the side after last year's Asian Games for the tour of Australia in May, is another notable absentee from the squad alongside Birendra Lakra and Akashdeep Singh. In Sreejesh's absence, Krishan Bahadur Pathak and young Suraj Karkera will don the goalkeeping duties

The team includes two goalkeepers Savita, the vice-captain, and Rajani Etimarpu. The Indian women's hockey squad for Spain trip also features defender Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, who makes a comeback after missing out on the World Cup and the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia last year due to injury

Indian sportswomen did the nation proud by winning medals at various international events in 2018. Mary Kom, Hima Das, Dutee Chand, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Manika Batra and others hogged the limelight

While India qualified directly for the quarter-finals by being the toppers, Belgium and Canada will play in the cross-overs for a place in the last-eight round. Canada, too, overcame South Africa by virtue of a better goal difference. Both the teams finished their pool engagements with one point apiece

While India are placed at an advantageous position at present, the pool is still wide open. The hosts would not want to leave anything on chance and they would seek a comprehensive win on Saturday to cement their place atop the pool and directly qualify for the last eight round