The organizers of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo have chosen a Japanese motif - the cherry blossom for their Olympic torch. The design, unveiled,makes use of not only a traditional "Sakura-mon" blossom emblem but also the same aluminum extrusion technology used in the manufacture of the country's well-known bullet trains. It will generate five flames from a cluster of petal-shaped cylinders.The torch is made using the same cutting-edge technology as in the production of japan's bullet trains and is formed of a seamless, single piece of aluminium. It measures 71cm in length and weighs 1.2kg.

5 Indians have been appointed as members of various Technical Committees of Asian Gymnastics Union for a period of 4 years, from 2019 to 2022. They are Deepak Kabra - Men's Artistic Gymnastics; Akshata Shete - Rhythmic Gymnastics; Sumith MR - Acrobatic Gymnastics; Makarand Joshi - Aerobic Gymnastics; Narayan Shashi - Gymnastics for All.

Services won their sixth Santosh Trophy title with a 1-0 victory over Punjab, at Ludhiana. In the semi-finals earlier, eight-time champions Punjab had defeated five-time winners Goa 2-1 to enter their 15th final. Services beat Karnataka 4-3 in the semis via a penalty shootout to book a place in the title clash for the 11th time. The 2018-19 Santosh Trophy was the 73rd edition.

Indian paddler Archana Kamath clinched a silver medal in the under-21 women's singles section of the Seamaster ITTF Challenge Plus 2019 Oman Open table tennis tournament, at Muscat. Ninth-seed Archana reached her first under-21 international final, where she lost to Japan's top-seed Satsuki Odo of Japan 11-7, 11-8, 11-6. Archana caused a couple of upsets en route to the summit clash, taking out second-seed Valerie Shcherbatykh of Russia 12-10, 11-7, 11-9 in the round-of-16, and fourth-seed Mariia Tailakova of Russia 6-11, 5-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-9 in the semifinal.

Delhi Daredevils renamed as Delhi Capitals ahead of 2019 IPL season. The change in name comes close on the heels of JSW Sports picking up a 50 percent stake in the franchise. Ahead of the 2019 IPL auctions, the Delhi Daredevils released former captain Gautam Gambhir and a host of international stars which include Jason Roy, Glenn Maxwell and Liam Plunkett, along with Indian paceman Mohammed Shami.

Indian women's hockey team defeated Malaysia by a solitary goal and won by 4-0 in the 5-match bilateral series held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. India won with the help of Navjot Kaur's fine field goal in the 35th minute with a good defensive display. In the 5-match bilateral series, India won by 3-0, 5-0, draw 4-4 and win the last two matches 1-0 respectively.

The International Association of Athletics Federation Disciplinary Tribunal (IAAF) has banned the 2008 Olympic 1,500m champion and 3-time world champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya for 4 years for doping until February 2022. Kiprop was suspended by IAAF's Athletes Integrity Unit (AIU) in May 2018 after having tested positive to blood-boosting Erythropoietin (EPO) in an out-of-competition test in Kenya in November 2017. His backup "B" sample also tested positive for EPO. Asbel Kiprop was awarded gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics after race winner Rashid Ramzi from Bahrain failed a doping test and had his medal taken off.

Indian shooters continued their dominance claiming five gold medals on the final day of the Asian Airgun Championships to sign off with a total of 25 medals in Taoyuan, Taipei. India finished with 16 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze medals. Yash Vardhan and Shreya Agrawal bagged three gold medals each on the last day.

The Qatar national football team has won their first major football title after defeating four-time champion Japan 3-1 in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup final on 1st of February in United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was an improbable run to glory for the Gulf nation as it prepares to host the 2022 World Cup.

Abhishek Verma won the 10m air pistol gold medal at the ISSF World Cup at Beijing, China. He clinched the top spot with a total score of 242.7. Russia's Artem Chernousov took silver. His brilliant performance in the Shooting World Cup Final also secured a fifth Olympic quota for India.