Author: S Kannan

What’s RevSportz? No exaggeration this, a few inside the Imperial Hotel lawns in New Delhi on Saturday evening and Sunday, just past 0000 hours, were asking this question. By the end of it all, when RevSportz won the biggest award, “the best digital sports news channel,” having swept five ENBA awards in digital category for sports, it became clear what this platform is all about. At the risk of sounding invidious, RevSportz has triumphed in a dense media field. There are big players, there are media houses with their own digital websites which are supposed to be massive. No doubting…

At a time when most elite Indian athletes preparing for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games may be a bit conservative in their approach vis-a-vis how much to compete before the quadrennial extravaganza, Rohan Bopanna has his own approach. ‘Level 44’ Bopanna, as he calls himself, will be playing the men’s doubles final tonight at the Miami Open, US, an ATP 1000 Masters Series event, with Australian Matt Ebden against Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in Florida. The match starts at 10-00 p.m. (IST). Speaking to RevSportz from Miami, the Indian ace sounded relaxed. When prodded on what it felt to…

If runs through fours and sixes were supposed to be an advertisement for the Indian Premier League (IPL), then what happened in Hyderabad on Wednesday night was mayhem. An aggregate of 523 runs scored, with 38 sixes, was a delight for fans as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by 31 runs in a heart-stopping game. Enough has been written about this match in the last 24-hour cycle, with some calling it a nightmare and others regarding it as a great contest. For those who say this was a bowlers’ nightmare, it’s nothing new. But then, men like Pat Cummins and…

Athletes knows their own body, be it in good or bad shape. Perhaps, that is the reason why the tennis fraternity – fans and players included – is shedding tears for Sir Andy Murray. He hobbled off the court after an agonising loss to Tomas Machac in the third round of the Miami Open, a high-profile event on the ATP Tour. “The end is nigh” is an old saying. In the case of Murray, he knows that his own tennis journey is coming to a close. For a man who bounced back after a major hip surgery – in medical…

It seems like yesterday. MS Dhoni was the first player sold at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, on February 20, 2008, in Mumbai. At that time, the value of US $1.5 million spent by Chennai Super Kings was much more than it is now. Today, players go for crazy sums even in the mini auctions, which, some feel, defy market logic. At the same time, some players are chased like blue chips on bourses. When the first auction happened, the late Peter Roebuck, former Somerset captain and well-known cricket writer, described the auction like “cattle sale.” Roebuck is no…

The decision of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to disband the ad hoc committee appointed to look after wrestling matters in the country is a step in the right direction. What happened at the selection trials at the NIS Patiala recently was a mess, as the committee had allowed Vinesh Phogat to compete in two weight categories – 50kg and 53kg. Clearly, the United World Wrestling (UWW) rules say that an athlete can compete in only one weight category. However, Vinesh had posted on social media that such rules are only for international competitions. For its part, the Wrestling Federation…

Lakshya Sen was defeated but not disgraced as he lost in three games to Jonatan Cristie in the semi-finals of the All England Badminton Championship in Birmingham on Saturday. The Indian looked jaded in the first game, but fought strongly in the second. What Lakshya had perhaps not anticipated, was how fast the Indonesian was on his legs. He also showed great anticipation to win 21-12, 10-21, 21-15 in 68 minutes. On Sunday, Cristie will face Anthony Ginting, also from Indonesia, for the trophy. The cynic may say Lakshya faltered in the semi-finals, but the truth is he had to…

In a shocking case of indiscipline, an international male weightlifter is under fire for scaling the walls of the National Institute of Sport (NIS), Patiala and breaking into the girls’ hostel, while major national camps are on in preparation for the Paris Olympics. Amar Ujala reported that the incident took place on Thursday night, when alert security guards caught the weightlifter. Now, it has come to light that the athlete in question is Achinta Sheuli, who won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. Before this, the sport of weightlifting in India had been in the news for…

The mess in Indian boxing, with just over 130 days to go for the Paris Olympics, is reason enough to ring the alarm bells. The women pugilists, led by Lovlina Borgohain and Nikhat Zareen, still offer hope. Both are hungry and in competitive mode, ready to fight hard for medals in Paris this July-August. The problem area is men’s boxing where, till now, not even one quota place has been clinched for Paris 2024. All those who have kept track of boxing news will agree that what has happened, a sharp decline, is not some overnight phenomenon. Harking back to…

Not often will fans find a picture of two tennis champions on the same flight together, notably in the middle of a major tournament. This was exactly what stirred up a hornet’s nest, as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were spotted flying out of Indian Wells together For Djokovic, the loss to Luca Nardi, a rank outsider, was a shocker. The winner of 24 Grand Slam titles has looked fallible in 2024, and this was not the first instance. For years, the Serb has looked rock-solid, unbeatable at the Majors. He has been the Teflon-coated champion who did not show…