Author: S Kannan

S.Kannan in Paris Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh showed what it takes to conquer nerves in a razor-sharp contest as the Indian duo created history by winning a bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Up against Lee Won-ho and Oh Ye-jin, the duo from Haryana entered the Chateauroux arena with confidence on Tuesday. Sarabjot started shakily on the first shot but he settled down. This was indeed a tight match where the pair getting to 16 points would win. In all, the contest lasted just around 17 minutes as India defeated…

S.Kannan in Paris Rohan Bopanna did not need to be told when to stop playing tennis for India. On Monday morning, a few hours after Sriram Balaji and he had lost to a French pair in the first round of the Paris 2024 Olympics, Bopanna woke up and gave it a thought. He spent the day on a decision to be made, whether to play again for India or move on. Rightly, he said this Olympics at Roland Garros was his last appearance for India and he will focus on the US Open next. When asked on Monday morning by…

S.Kannan in Paris It was a (mis) match at the Roland Garros. This is the venue Rafael Nadal claimed to be his own, until 2022. Next year, injuries forced him out of the French Open. He came back this summer and flopped. On Monday, on the show court the Spaniard ruled, he was hunted down by the wily, old Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-4 in a second round match of the Paris Olympics. To say the stands were packed to the rafters would be stating the obvious. By tennis standards, both Nadal and Djokovic are old, yet one man stays younger.…

Babuta finished fourth in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle event at the Paris Olympics 2024. (PC: Team RevSportz)S.Kannan in Paris It’s not the end of the world, said Arjun Babuta, after finishing fourth in the men’s 10m Air Rifle final at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday. Such attitude and acceptance from Babuta, an Olympic debutant, showed that this generation of shooters is not going to weep after missing a medal. Speaking to reporters after the final, Babuta said he had worked hard in the trials and prepared all along. The mind went back to the Rio Olympics in 2016,…

S.Kannan in Paris Manu Bhaker hardly got time to celebrate her historic bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol at the Paris Olympics. After a long Sunday, to be back at the range on Monday with Sarabjot Singh in the 10m air pistol mixed team event was tough. Yet, the duo from Haryana shot well enough to make the cut for the bronze-medal match on Tuesday, as they aggregated 580 points. Manu shot 291, with 12 pellets piercing the inner ring and Sarabjot 289. “It was a nice match, slightly up and down but to be in another final,…

S.Kannan in Paris The great Indian tennis dream went bust at the Roland Garros late on Sunday. After Sumit Nagal had lost in singles, Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji faced tons of pressure against a French pair – Gael Monfils and Edouard-Roger Vessselin — on the outside courts. The Roland Garros resembled a Davis Cup theatre where local fans lent full support to the Frenchmen for a 7-5, 6-2 win in the first round at Paris 2024 Olympics. In the first place, when the match got postponed from Saturday due to rains, things became a bit bleak for the Indian…

S.Kannan in Paris From Tokyo to Paris, the comeback for Manu Bhaker has been fantastic. Spare a thought for personal coach Jaspal Rana, who broke down on Sunday afternoon while speaking to RevSportz on the Hindi YouTube show where two of my colleagues were also on air. “I did nothing wrong,” said Jaspal. He repeated it twice. Maybe, his words were unclear. By the time I had interviewed him the second time with my colleague Gargi Raut, late evening, Jaspal opened up. “I have done nothing. This medal is for India and Manu Bhaker. I mean, I just did it…

S Kannan in Paris Sumit Nagal had practiced in earnest before his match against Frenchman Corentin Moutet, on the clay courts of Roland Garros. Two hours before schedule, Sumit warmed up well, served hard and went through the motions, as the sun kissed the clay courts. Once into the main match in men’s singles at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Nagal had his chances before losing a three-setter on Sunday. It was a long contest, spread over almost two and a half hours, but Nagal was done in by errors and the inability to close it out. After rain on Saturday…

S Kannan in Paris Manu Bhaker wept at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. Riled and ridiculed, the girl gathered herself, step-by-step. On Sunday, at the 10 metres air pistol range, Manu was in combat mode: strong, fearless and focused. The air pistol weapons make less noise, but after the final shot, one could hear it loud. It resulted in a historic bronze medal for India in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Manu was composed, and even after sealing the first shooting medal for India as a woman athlete, she preferred to be calm. “I read the Holy Bhagavad Gita regularly.…

S Kannan in Paris Ramita Jindal soaked in the big stage pressure like a sponge, for the second day in a row. On Sunday, at the 10m air rifle ranges in Chateauroux, a three-hour trip from Paris, the 20-year-old showed remarkable cool as she registered a total of 631.3 points to make the final. It was an intense field with two Indians in fray, Elavenil Valarivan and Ramita. Elavenil looked good, but stage fright and pressure caught up with her for the second day in a row. For Ramita, who is competing in her first Olympics, the ability to shoot…