Author: S Kannan

It’s hard being Manu Bhaker. Winning two bronze medals in the Paris 2024 Olympics and finishing fourth in the sports pistol event has made her a big celebrity. But it has come at a massive price, she gets trolled for anything and everything she does. If social media be a court of law and its ‘users’ judges seated in the chairs, the trolls have gone berserk. For, anything she posts, be it on X (Twitter) or Insta, there is a pack of hounds waiting to prey on her. Some samples. When Neeraj Chopra finished second in the Diamond League finals,…

Protests seem to have become a norm rather than an exception. On Friday, almost a dozen wrestlers had to resort to a protest outside the residence of Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi before things moved fast. A day before, Wrestling Federation of India Sanjay Singh had announced he was pulling out the 12-member team from the World Championship (non-Olympic weight categories) to be held in Tirana, Albania from October 28 to 31. RevSportz has learnt legal options had also been explored in the Delhi High Court, before protest seemed the only way out. Around 6pm, Friday, Mandaviya gave…

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has finally come out with the notification for the annual sports awards. This time, again, there is slight tweaking, with the Dhyan Chand lifetime award being done away with. It will henceforth be called the Arjuna Award for lifetime achievement. Tweaking award names and nomenclature is nothing new. It is a government decision. What is strange is that under existing rules the big stars from the Paris Olympics who have already won the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in the past, will go empty handed. It means, javelin king Neeraj Chopra, who won…

Just 10 disciplines at the 2026 Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2 is bad news for Indian sports. After Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Chris Jenkins came to India recently and met Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha, it became well known that the Glasgow Games would be a condensed affair. In one swoop the Glasgow Games hosts knocked off cricket, badminton, hockey and wrestling from the programme, and it hits India badly. Reactions have started to come from athletes at home but nothing can be done…

S.Kannan Shooting as an Olympic sport is battling hard to stay relevant for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Even during the Paris Olympics, ISSF (world shooting body) president Luciano Rossi told RevSportz there was a need to adapt, change and be more visible. After the recently concluded ISSF World Cup finals in New Delhi, where India won four medals, there is optimism that the momentum can be carried forward. That is just one part of the story. The ISSF is looking at how the sport can be visually more attractive and making the finals more TV friendly. One complaint…

The last chapter in one of the most fascinating tennis rivalries, between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, was played out in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night. Forget the result, as Djokovic won 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) in the Six Kings Slam exhibition, for the tennis was riveting. For all those who have raved about Nadal’s ravishing forehand, it was on view, again. If one thought an exhibition match would only be about pleasantries, this one still produced sparks and tears. And when Djokovic said in an interview after the match: “Don’t leave tennis, man,” it was straight from the heart.…

Forget the feuds and war of words. To watch Indian tennis’s two superstars of yesteryear, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, share platforms today is a joy. For a duo which gelled well on the ATP Tour and also won Grand Slam titles, there was much more than unease between the two. Harsh words were spoken, and fans were left to wonder if India could have won an Olympic medal if the country’s best-ever doubles’ tennis exponents could have patched things up. If the past was tense, the future looks bright. No, Paes and Bhupathi are not going to partner each…

The recalcitrant All India Tennis Association is still not in a mood to give up and go for wholesome changes as promised. At least, that is the impression one got from the court room exchanges in the Delhi High Court on Monday, after notices had been issued to the AITA as well as the Sports Ministry last month over the sports code. It is well-known, some of the former players like Somdev Devvarman, Mahesh Bhupathi and Imran Mirza, father of Sania Mirza had slammed the AITA last month. Somdev and Purav Raja had also dragged the AITA to court. Around…

It was a proud moment for Swapnil Kusale and coach Deepali Deshpande as they received the much-awaited cash awards from the Maharashtra state government in Mumbai on Monday. Needles controversies had emerged after Swapnil, bronze-medal winner in the 50m Air Rifle event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, was kept waiting for the recognition. His father had demanded Rs 5 crores, plus some land in Pune. As per the policy of the state government, Swapnil got an award of Rs 2 crores and his coach, Deepali, got Rs 20 lakhs. In a chat with RevSportz on Tuesday, Deepali spoke of the…

Manu Bhaker allayed fears she had lost focus after her path-breaking efforts at the Paris 2024 Olympics where she won two bronze medals and finished fourth in the sports pistol event. On August 3, 2024, Manu Bhaker shot her last competition in Chateauroux and has not touched her pistols after that. Prescribed a 100-day break by coach Jaspal Rana, she has enjoyed the rest period. The number of felicitation functions she has attended are countless, yet the return to her alma mater, Lady Shri Ram College, in New Delhi on Thursday was beautiful. To be back with the faculty and…