Author: Atreyo Mukhopadhyay

Have you heard of Buchi Babu Trophy? Unless you’re a hardcore cricket follower, chances are reasonably high that you have not. It’s not one of those blue stripe tournaments. It’s not on live TV and not a lot of people watch it. Performance in this doesn’t count in a player’s official career records. Yet, for decades, it occupied a special place in India’s domestic cricket calendar. Organised by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), it took place just before the start of the national first-class season. A number of state associations sent their teams to get ready for Ranji Trophy.…

In a bitter-sweet Olympic campaign for India in Paris, boxing belonged to the first category. It was a sad pill to swallow. Medals were expected from this discipline. It was one of the sports ministry’s priority events. Not without a reason. Indians had been returning from the World Championships of boxing with medals around their necks — in the men’s and women’s sections. To come back from Paris empty-handed was a dampener. It was one of the country’s most looked after sectors in sports. Boxing fetched India Olympic medals in 2008, 2012 and 2021. Even in 2016, when Indian didn’t…

It was the last medal won by India at Paris 2024, not the least. It was not a mere sixth of the country’s total haul from this edition of the Olympics. It was a massive reassurance that all is not over as far as Indian wrestling is concerned. For a sport grappling with problems on and off the mat for the last year andahalf, it was a silver lining in the form of bronze. Aman Sehrawat’s podium finish was significant from a personal point of view as well. For someone of a humble background from Haryana who lost his parents…

Lakshya Sen’s inability to close out matches he was dominating on successive days is a cause of national despair. He had looked good to return with a medal and his defeat meant that India had to suffer the heartburn of yet another fourth-place finish — the fifth one at Paris 2024 so far. Nothing hurts more than this in the Olympic Games. A sixth or seventh place is far less agonising. The bigger news is, the string has snapped! Buried under Sen’s losses was the fact that this ended India’s tremendous run of consistency at the top level of badminton.…

A national coach appointed without following protocol, and while accepting that he will simultaneously remain in charge of a club side — the All India Football Federation’s decision to employ Manolo Marquez raises eyebrows, no doubt. These are unconventional moves, if not anomalies, which raise questions about the credibility of the system. Digging deeper, however, hiring the Spaniard makes sense. That’s because of the context. The AIFF knows that it will likely have to cough up a hefty sum as compensation to the former coach — Igor Stimac — who can legally claim that his contract was arbitrarily terminated. Misguided…

Bhaichung Bhutia has resigned from the technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), saying that the committee was not consulted before appointing Manolo Marquez as the coach of the senior men’s team. The Spaniard takes charge of the side while remaining the coach of FC Goa, with whom he is contracted till the end of the 2024-25 season. “I have nothing against Manolo or anybody else. My sole point is, why have this technical committee, when you bypass it?” Bhutia told RevSportz from Delhi. He was in the national capital on Saturday and attended the AIFF’s executive committee…

Eight years ago, one Olympic evening, something scarcely believable was playing out in front of our eyes. Dipa Karmakar was in the medals bracket after the initial rounds of the women’s vault competition. She didn’t get one eventually, and finished fourth. But that effort catapulted her into the list of India’s all-time great efforts in the history of the quadrennial celebration of sports. Fourth place in the Olympics was no longer memorable for Indians in 2016. In 2012 in London, they had secured six medals and three of them four years prior to that in Beijing. Dipa was not performing…

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) will host an awards function at a premier hotel in Delhi this evening (July 19). It’s supposed to be a blue riband event, aimed at uplifting the image of the game in India and reward the best players, in several categories. Not an annual fixture despite being first held in 2016, it’s an occasion to celebrate Indian football. But, what is there to celebrate and who are the ones to be presented the awards? Indian football has flattered to deceive in the last year in almost every age-group, the most notable being the senior…

It doesn’t matter whether Spain or England become the winners of Euro 2024. There will be no doubt irrespective of the outcome of the final, that Spain have been the most standout team of the competition. It’s not only because they have won all six matches so far. It’s the verve, freshness and all-round ability they have displayed so far. The favourites of the bookies ahead of the battle to be fought in Berlin against a side which has reached the final of the competition twice in succession, Spain have played a refreshing brand of football. The style has been…

England lost the 1996 European football championship semi-final against Germany after Gareth Southgate misfired his shot in the penalty shootout. Wembley Stadium was the venue and England were the hosts that year. Twenty-eight years later, the venue has shifted to Germany. England are in the final under Southgate’s managership. They were in the final of the previous edition played in England as well and lost to Italy in the tie-breaker after having led for a substantial part of the game. This time, the script has changed. England have won three knockout games after having conceded the lead. It’s a rare,…