Author: S Kannan

Collisions on the football pitch are part and parcel of the game, just that the way France’s superstar Kylian Mbappe was left with a bloodied nose sent shock waves through the fans watching Euro 2024. The Real Madrid star suffered a collision, in what looked an attempted head-butt, with Kevin Danso’s (Austria) shoulder, on Monday night. Sight of blood gushing from his nose did not make for great viewing on television. For the record, France won the Group D match 1-0. If football has referees who are ruthless and inhuman, there was proof of it from Monday night’s incident. Mbappe…

It was an evening to remember as two Indians, Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat, kept pushing each other in the recurve event of the Final Olympic Qualifier in Antalya, Turkey on Sunday. Given the depth in Indian archery, someone like seasoned Deepika Kumari was out of the reckoning early. The focus shifted to Bhajan and Ankita as they absorbed pressure in a rich field. At the end, even though Ankita lost in the quarter-finals, Bhajan oozed confidence and fired a gold to seal a quota place for India at the Paris 2024 Olympics. In any sport, to be kept hanging…

Sumit Nagal will scale a new peak on the ATP computer today as he will touch a career high ranking of 71 in singles. On Sunday evening, the boy from Jhajjar, Haryana, who turned tennis into a marathon of sorts, lost in the Perugia Challenger in Italy to Luciano Darderi 1-6, 2-6. For all those who have followed the exploits of Nagal since last year, his rediscovery and current run in 2024 has a lot to do with improvement in his game, to be bold and plan smart. “What a final. Left it out there on the court in the…

To say that there is a palpable sense of outrage among cricket lovers in the United States of America would be putting it mildly. Every league match scheduled in the ICC T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies is important, just that the way things have panned out has been the worst advertisement for the sport. What happened at the Nassau International Cricket Stadium on the outskirts of New York is well known, where the drop-in pitch was like a minefield. Yes, that stadium has been dismantled, so typical of the efficiency in the US, where assembling and…

If an Olympic medal could be given for preparation and commitment alone, Rohan Bopanna would be the first Indian to get it. As ‘Level 44’ Bopanna prepares for the Paris 2024 Olympics, the amount of effort he has put in, not just in terms of his own results on the professional tour but finding the right ‘partner’ from India, the tall and strapping Coorgi has shown how fair he is. He knew way back in January 2024, when in melting Melbourne, Matt Ebden and the Indian won the Australian Open, this year would be good for him. That was about…

For Manu Bhaker, shooting is almost like the hard, American boot camp which young military training recruits have to undergo. Discipline, slogging and trying to become the best, these are the goals set for the teenagers, boys and girls, in the United States of America. What is the comparison between the US Army process of literally putting the human through extreme conditions of hard mental and physical training, ask Manu Bhaker. After the complex matrix of Olympics selection trials held for Paris 2024 in New Delhi and Bhopal, the NRAI (National Rifle Association of India) selection committee decided Manu Bhaker,…

Cricket fans are a unique breed. It does not matter even if the star player they idolise belongs to another nation. Yes, for an Indian fan to praise a Pakistani cricketer would become a massive controversy, given the political climate today. On Wednesday, at the Nassau International Cricket Stadium situated on the outskirts of New York, India facing the United States of America in a league match of the ICC T20 World Cup had fired up all fans. The jerseys were a giveaway, as American citizens – both of Indian origin and otherwise – trooped into the stadium wearing India…

Vishnu Saravanan feels he is a more mature athlete going into the Paris 2024 Olympics. Replying to the first question asked by RevSportz at an interaction organised by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Tuesday, Vishnu, who is training in Marseille, in France, said:“Covid changed the Tokyo Olympics. The pandemic helped me grow as an athlete. I keep following my routine, keep moving forward. Tokyo was special, my first Olympics.” Having made the cut for Paris 2024 in style, Vishnu has enough time to train, and explained in a nutshell what his day is like. It begins at…

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), after racking brains over long hours on Monday evening, decided the pistol and rifle teams for the Paris Olympics in July-August. After a lot of conversation and poring over the trial scores and current form, a decision was made to go strictly by the best scores the shooters registered in the selection trials held in New Delhi and Bhopal. As of now, what is certain is that Manu Bhaker will shoot three events – air pistol, sports pistol and the mixed event. The pairings for the mixed event have also been done. One…

Sumit Nagal touched a fantastic career-high singles ranking of 77 on the ATP computer on Monday, and the timing couldn’t have been better. After he lost in the first round of the French Open in Paris, Nagal and his think-tank wasted no time in deciding making a last-minute dash to the Heilbronn Neckarcup 2024 Challenger in Germany. The results were there for all to see as the Indian star won the final on Sunday. For sheer presence of mind and effort, this was a great move. Agreed, as per the selection criteria drawn up by the ITF (International Tennis Federation),…