Author: S Kannan

America, the land of milk and honey. This is a very old phrase, which applies to the United States of America (USA), a real sporting powerhouse in every sense. The USA has been top of the pecking order at the Summer Olympics for decades. Historically viewed, the fight between the USA and the erstwhile USSR – now broken up into several nations, post Glasnost and Perestroika – was fascinating. Times have changed, but the USA still continues to dominate the field of play in every sense. The traditional sports at home are basketball, defined by a robust league (NBA), the…

When Novak Djokovic is angry, then there is something which has seriously hurt or troubled him. On Monday evening at Roland Garros, the defending champion picked up a knee injury and yet showed the fighting skills of a warrior as he outlasted Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to hobble into the quarter-finals. There is a serious love-hate relationship, over the last few years, between Djokovic, fans owing allegiance to Rafael Nadal and, now, the French Open organisers. What happened during the course of the win on Monday was bizarre, rightly called ‘absurd’ by John McEnroe, the former…

There is a ruthless streak when Iga Swiatek is on the tennis court. For three years in a row, the Polish star has topped the charts in women’s tennis, bringing back memories of previous ladies’ champions who would show no mercy. At the hallowed precincts of Roland Garros in Paris on Sunday evening, when there was sunshine and not rain, Swiatek set the court on fire. The way she dismissed Anastasia Potapova was scary, for a 6-0, 6-0 demolition job in 40 minutes is not what you expect on the second Sunday of a Grand Slam. Then again, for those…

A famous line used by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) to showcase its strength has been “punch mein dum hai [there is strength in the punch].” Indeed, after the high of the latest Olympic qualifiers, which concluded in Bangkok on Sunday, India can feel proud that the number of pugilists who have made the cut for the 2024 Paris Olympics has swelled to six. For two male boxers, Nishant Dev and Amit Panghal, to secure tickets for Paris is affirmation that Indian boxing is back on the rails, after the turmoil witnessed as recently as three months ago. Chaos…

If you were born in the late 70s, you would have been hooked to an all-time fav number, ‘Stayin Alive’ belted out by Bee Gees. Those were the days of disco, tight shirts, and narrow pants. To capture the spirit of that number, one movie stands out for its production, Saturday Night Fever, which had John Travolta as the superstar, with this song an integral part of it. At the Court Philippe-Chattrier, even as Novak Djokovic was struggling against Italian Lorenzo Musetti, from Saturday night 11pm till 3.08 am, Sunday, Paris local time, one song was being played: Stayin Alive.…

Tulika Mann, the Delhi-based Commonwealth Games silver medallist, will head to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as India’s sole Judo competitor after receiving a Continental Quota in the women’s 78+ kg class. With a 36th place in Olympic Games ranking at 1345 points, the 25-year-old pipped Avtar Singh, who was 43rd in the men’s 100kg class with 1244 points. Tulika, daughter of Amrita Singh, a widowed Delhi Police Assistant Sub-Inspector, capped her run by logging 320 points with a pre-quarterfinal appearance at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi, UAE, last week. She also had a fifth-place finish at the Asian…

Modern-day sport is fast and furious. No matter what the discipline, the increase in speed and more furious action does give the fans an incredible adrenaline high. Hang on, we are not taking about Formula One, where the F1 beast’s speed is raw and tests the nerve. F1 was always like that, just that technology has souped it further. Move to cricket, and the T20 version is indeed about better bats and batters where the poor bowler is at the mercy of the man across the 22-yard strip, almost waiting to club the white ball. Gone are the days when…

Nishant Dev brought massive cheer to India as he punched his way to an Olympic quota place for India in the 71kg weight category against Vasile Cebotari of Moldova at the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifier in Bangkok on Friday. Nishant has been in sublime form for the last three days. And in the most important bout of his life and a hugely significant one for India, he showed punch and poise on Friday afternoon. He had reach and the right footwork to keep going through all three rounds. Cebotari was not at his best. That was mainly because the Indian…

What an evening it was at the Roland Garros in Paris, on Thursday. No spirit, no wine, no champagne. After the boorish behaviour from fans at the arena for three days in a row, the organisers, led by former Grand Slam champion Amelio Mauresmo, came down hard on the fans – no booze. What? You gotta be kidding, said a few. No, this was real stuff, a first of sorts, where a Grand Slam banned booze, as tennis fans had converted into lager louts, abusing Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek. There was a palpable sense of outrage at this decision…

In what could be termed path-breaking, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has finally decided to allow private coaches on board with shooters who wish to use their services in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the last fortnight, there has been plenty of chatter from the shooters, across disciplines, that they wished to rely on private coaches to optimise their performance. Proof of the pudding came at the selection trials held for rifle and pistol in New Delhi and Bhopal recently, where Manu Bhaker, Anish Bhanwala, and others like Elavenil Varivan and Arjun Babuta gave their…