Author: Boria Majumdar

Yet another forgotten hero who made an Olympic final after Milkha Singh (1960) and Gurbachan Singh Randhawa (1964) was Sriram Singh, who finished seventh in the final of the 800 metres at Montreal in 1976. A protégé of the dynamic Ilyas Babar, one of the best Indian athletics coaches of all time, Sriram moved to middle-distance running at Babar’s insistence. He won silver at the Bangkok Asian Games of 1970 and followed it up with a gold in Tehran in 1974. However, Montreal was surely his finest hour, though he failed to win a medal. That Sriram was a medal…

KD Jadhav’s bronze-medal winning effort in wrestling never found a first-page mention in leading newspapers in 1952. The celebrations were muted and were restricted to the sports pages, which were often inconsequential and insignificant. Only the men from his native village, who escorted him with a cavalcade of over 150 cows, gave him a memorable reception. In contrast, Leander Paes’ effort in 1996 was perceived as a ‘national’ triumph, one that was celebrated nationwide amid all classes and vocations. In terms of significance, an Olympic medal in the 1990s appeared to matter much more than in the 1950s when sport…

PV Sindhu had just won her quarterfinal in Rio in 2016 against the legendary Wang Yihan of China and all of us, members of the Indian media contingent, were euphoric. One more win and Sindhu could finally end India’s medal drought. It was late evening in Rio that same day when I met Gopi at the gate of the Olympic Games village. It was past 9pm and I had just finished a round of interviews with some of our boxers. Gopi was alone and was pacing up and down rather aimlessly. He hadn’t seen me and was somewhat surprised when…

It was early morning in Paris – or rather, a little distance away from the French capital – and Mirabai Chanu and her coach Vijay Sharma had just finished the morning warm-up. First things first, Mira is injury-free and ready to go. They reached Paris on July 7, and have used the week to get acclimatised to the weather and the conditions. “We used this week to get going and will now start to build load in the coming week,” said Sharma. “We have time at hand and if things go well and we have God’s blessings, August 7 will…

A RevSportz Exclusive The draw had finished and Pullela Gopichand had just completed a training session. That was when we managed to speak to each other. “I will take this draw if I was Prannoy,” said Gopi. “Even for Lakshya [Sen], I will say it is much better to play Jonathan Christie at the start of the competition than later on.” Even before I could ask him about PV Sindhu, he started talking. “Look, for Sindhu, this is the first time that two players from the same NOC is permitted to be in the same half. As a result, she…

A few days ago, one of our viewers sent me an itinerary and said India would play Pakistan in Lahore on March 1, 2025. He also said that talk of the fixture was viral in Pakistan. My first response was to go back to a tweet I had put out in November 2023. I had said India would not travel to Pakistan unless there was a radical rethink at the Government of India level, and would ask the ICC to host the Champions Trophy on the same hybrid model as the 2023 Asia Cup. I told him the same, and…

Why did France or, more specifically, Paris decide to bid for the Olympic Games? Is it simply a mega sports extravaganza or is it much more? Are these games also an experiment at urban revitalisation and social regeneration? Is France winning a few more medals the only goal or is there more to the event? Have the goals of urban revitalisation been fulfilled? Finally, what does the experience of the Olympics tell us regarding the organisation of mega sports events in a post-Covid world? A caveat is needed here. To comment on the possible legacy of Paris 2024 as the…

HS Prannoy has been one of the best stories in Indian badminton for a while now. Despite being plagued by a condition similar to acid reflux, he has fought his way to the top. The bad news is that, as of last week, he was laid low by a bout of Chikungunya. And the good news is that he was back to training from yesterday, July 10. “Yes, he has had a full training session today and will start to be in shape for Paris,” said Pullela Gopichand from Hyderabad. “Dealing with Chikungunya isn’t easy and it is a tribute…

I have had the privilege of speaking to Sunil Gavaskar all through my career. And I can say he has always been generous with his time. But on his 75th birthday, it is fitting to celebrate him with this interview on his career and more. It is the perfect tribute to Sunny bhai on his birthday. Q: Will do it in two parts, Sunny bhai – you as a commentator and, of course, as one of the greatest cricketers ever. Celebrating you in totality. As someone who defined Test cricket for us, do you think this team has it in…

On May 14, 2024, on my show 5@5, one of my viewers asked if Gautam Gambhir can make a good India coach. It was an interesting suggestion and got me thinking. That’s when I first got to know that Gautam was being looked at as a possible successor to Rahul Dravid. The IPL was still on and Gautam was doing duty for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Everyone was tight-lipped but the grapevine had it that the BCCI was keen on Gautam. And he, on his part, would never say no to an India job. It was a marriage waiting to…