All posts tagged: Nations

Esports Nations Cup: India’s BGMI team revealed

Esports Nations Cup: India’s BGMI team revealed

Published by Webster

NODWIN Gaming, India’s National Team Partner (NTP) for the Esports Nations Cup (ENC) 2026, has unveiled the country’s much-anticipated Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) roster for the inaugural edition of the global nation-based esports competition, set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2 to 29, 2026. BGMI at ENC 2026 will take place from November 3 to 8, featuring 32 teams competing for a prize pool of USD 1.32 million (~INR 12.5 crore). A total of 124 national rosters representing 124 countries and territories have been officially submitted for the tournament. The Esports Foundation allocated 12 direct invitations through the ENC Ranking system, which aggregates points earned by players across the title’s official competitions until July 5, 2026. In addition, four countries and territories, including India, were awarded Special Invites to the main event. These invitations address specific technical or structural limitations that may prevent participation through the standard qualification pathway and are determined based on eligibility criteria aligned with game partner ecosystems and game-specific operational requirements. The Indian squad will be led …

With Serbian coach & bronze at AVC Nations Cup, Indian volleyball is looking up

With Serbian coach & bronze at AVC Nations Cup, Indian volleyball is looking up

Published by Webster

Something dragged India’s Serbian volleyball coach Dragan Mihailovic back to India for a second stint – and it wasn’t desi food. “No, No, No way. Indian food absolutely not. No kurma or curry for me. It’s too spicy. They still make bland Western style food for me at the sports hostel in Bengaluru,” the 68-year-old clarifies, feeling no compulsion to please his Indian hosts. “Maybe, it’s watching the Indian team win and how the Ahmedabad crowd appreciated them. There’s a word in Greek, Serbian or French for that Indian hospitality, the warmth…” he trails off, explaining why he took on the herculean task of rousing Indian volleyball from its slumber. Mihailovic wants to help – if they would only allow him. This last week, India’s volleyball team strung together five wins against New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Taiwan, Australia and Bahrain at the AVC Nations Cup and finished with a bronze medal in front of 8,000 Ahmedabad fans, who fell in love with the sport. They qualified for the 12-team AVC Continental Cup in September, and are …

India must keep improving despite Nations Cup success, says Coach Sjoerd Marijne

India must keep improving despite Nations Cup success, says Coach Sjoerd Marijne

Published by Webster

Fresh off their unbeaten title-winning campaign at the 2026 FIH Women’s Nations Cup, Indian women’s hockey team head coach Sjoerd Marijne has stressed that the side cannot afford to stand still despite securing promotion to the FIH Pro League. Addressing the media alongside captain Salima Tete, Marijne highlighted goal conversion as one of the key areas that require improvement ahead of a busy international calendar featuring the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup and the Asian Games. “We create enough opportunities in every match, but we need to convert more of those chances into goals,” Marijne said. “At the same time, I am very happy with our defensive structure. We hardly gave away opportunities in the final and that discipline is the foundation of our game.” India defeated hosts New Zealand 2-0 in the Nations Cup final after an impressive unbeaten run that included victories over the USA, Japan, Uruguay and a 6-0 demolition of Chile in the semi-finals. Looking ahead to the World Cup and Asian Games, Marijne insisted the team’s focus remains on continuous …

India beat Chinese Taipei to stay unbeaten at AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup

India beat Chinese Taipei to stay unbeaten at AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup

Published by Webster

India defeated Chinese Taipei to register their third straight win at the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on Monday. The hosts dropped their first set of the tournament to Taipei but bounced back to win the next three and win the match 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-22) to remain unbeaten. India’s outside hitter Chirag Yadav continued his form and again led the scoring charts for India with 20 points, followed by his partner Joel Benjamin Jebaraj on opposite flank with 14 points. India got off to a slow start, losing the opening set to Chinese Taipei after some defensive lapses and never managing to take the lead in the set. In the second set, the captain Jerome Vinith pulled back the team and showcased some quality aggressive shots to win the set with a dominating 25-14 score. The Taipei team tried to put pressure on the Indian defence in the coming sets, but the team managed to hold on to their composure and close out the …

Indian women’s hockey team wins FIH Nations Cup, earn Pro League promotion

Indian women’s hockey team wins FIH Nations Cup, earn Pro League promotion

Published by Webster

2 min readJun 21, 2026 05:17 PM IST The Indian women’s hockey team put on a defensive masterclass to thwart New Zealand and clinch the FIH Nations Cup title on Sunday. With this win, the Indian team has earned their promotion back to the FIH Pro League. Navneet Kaur and Sunelita Toppo scored in the first quarter for India which was enough to keep the Kiwis on the bay. This is India’s second Nations Cup title, having won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2022. India remained unbeaten throughout their campaign, defeating USA (3-2), Japan (2-1), and Uruguay (3-2) in the Pool A matches, before registering a commanding 6-0 win over Chile in the semi-final. New Zealand started on front foot in the final but the Indian team created their first chance in the fourth minute with a penalty corner. Navneet, who won the penalty corner, converted it with a thunderous hit putting India in the front. India was relentless with attack in the first quarter earning four more penalty corners. In the 15th …

India beat Uruguay 3-2 to finish unbeaten in Nations Cup pool stage

India beat Uruguay 3-2 to finish unbeaten in Nations Cup pool stage

Published by Webster

The Indian Women’s Hockey Team maintained its unbeaten run at the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup 2025-26 with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Uruguay in its final Pool A match in Auckland on Thursday. The win ensured India finished at the top of the group with a perfect record, having defeated the USA, Japan and Uruguay in the pool stage. The United States also progressed to the semi-finals after securing second place in the standings. India had to come from behind after Uruguay struck first through Chiara Appennino, who converted a penalty corner in the 13th minute. Despite the early setback, India responded strongly and restored parity before halftime through drag-flick specialist Deepika, who scored from a penalty corner in the 24th minute. Deepika’s Late Goal Seals Dramatic Victory India took control of the contest after the break and was rewarded in the 43rd minute when Deepika Soreng found the back of the net with a well-taken field goal to hand her side a 2-1 lead. Uruguay, however, refused to back down and levelled the …

Modi’s ‘Congress growth rate’ jibe as PM marks 13th year in office: ‘Nation’s destiny changed in 2014’

Modi’s ‘Congress growth rate’ jibe as PM marks 13th year in office: ‘Nation’s destiny changed in 2014’

Published by Parlour News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress party for leaving the country in “an abyss of helplessness, destitution and inferiority complex” due to sluggish economic growth when it was in power from the 1950s to the 1980s. Modi, while addressing the NDA leaders’ meeting at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, said that although Congress was responsible for India’s slow growth for years, the country’s vast Hindu population was instead blamed for it. PM Modi has become India’s longest-serving Prime Minister. PM Modi said that instead of the sluggish growth rate being called the “Hindu growth rate”, a term that was, according to him, used cunningly for years, it should be called the “Congress growth rate”. The Prime Minister said that the country’s growth picked up pace only when Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government came into power. “The Congress had plunged the country into an abyss of helplessness, destitution, and an inferiority complex. The nation was conditioned to believe that development in India inevitably moves at a snail’s pace, that rapid growth was simply not possible here. …

Nihal Sarin secures direct qualification for Esports Nations Cup 2026 Chess event

Nihal Sarin secures direct qualification for Esports Nations Cup 2026 Chess event

Published by Webster

Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin has secured a direct invitation to the chess competition at the Esports Nations Cup 2026, becoming the only Indian player to qualify automatically through the official Champions Chess Tour (CCT) leaderboard. The tournament will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2 to 8 and will feature 128 players competing for a prize pool of USD 600,000 (approximately ₹5.7 crore). Nihal earned his place after a strong campaign across the CCT 2025-26 season, which included the Speed Chess Championship, Chess.com Open and the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix circuit. Despite narrowly missing direct qualification through the Chess.com Open, the Indian Grandmaster accumulated crucial ranking points through consistent performances across multiple events. He eventually finished with 139 leaderboard points, placing him among the top six players in the overall ENC Chess rankings and securing one of the 64 direct invitations available through the CCT pathway. Nihal joins elite international field The direct qualification places Nihal alongside some of the biggest names in world chess, including Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja, Jan-Krzysztof …

Fuel price hike among lowest globally outside Gulf nations: BJP

Fuel price hike among lowest globally outside Gulf nations: BJP

Published by Webster

The BJP on Tuesday defended the 90-paise hike in petrol and diesel prices, triggered by the West Asia conflict and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the increase is among the lowest anywhere in the world outside heavily subsidised Gulf economies. Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by about 90 paise per litre on Tuesday, marking the second increase in fuel rates in less than a week after state-run oil firms ended a nearly four-year freeze on revisions. On Friday, petrol and diesel prices were raised by Rs 3 per litre for the first time in more than four years, as surging global crude prices following the Iran war forced state-run fuel retailers to pass on part of their mounting losses after months of holding rates steady through key state elections. In a post on X, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said consumers across the world have borne the impact of the crisis through steep increases in fuel prices. “Fuel prices have surged across the world. Brent crude has stayed above USD 100 …

Cyber slavery: CBI raids 4 states in trafficking case linked to Southeast Asian nations; 1 held

Cyber slavery: CBI raids 4 states in trafficking case linked to Southeast Asian nations; 1 held

Published by Parlour News

According to an official statement, investigations revealed that victims were lured with “false promises of high-paying employment” and transported to scam compounds in countries such as Myanmar and Cambodia. | Photo Credit: Reuters The CBI on Wednesday (May 6, 2026) raided nine locations across four states in its probe into trafficking of Indian nationals to Southeast Asian countries under the pretext of lucrative overseas jobs and arrested one person from Lucknow, officials said. According to an official statement, investigations revealed that victims were lured with “false promises of high-paying employment” and transported to scam compounds in countries such as Myanmar and Cambodia, where they were forced into cyber fraud operations in conditions described as “cyber slavery”. Victims were subjected to “severe restrictions on movement”, with their passports often confiscated upon arrival, the agency said. It added that there were instances of “physical and psychological harassment”, and in several cases, victims were compelled to arrange ransom payments from their families for release. As part of the probe, the CBI conducted coordinated searches in Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, …