Author: S Kannan

It turned out to be a mixed day at the Australian Open, where Coco Gauff, the defending US Open champion, sailed into the second round on Monday. However, there was no such luck for Andy Murray, one of the grand old men of world tennis, or Naomi Osaka, the comeback queen. Back to the Coco flavour first. Gauff whipped Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-0. To borrow a tennis phrase, it was a regulation win. She had torn the form book to shreds in New York last year when she won the US Open. Some feel she is the perfect replacement…

Even Novak Djokovic can have a hard day at work. On Sunday, in melting Melbourne, the winner of 24 Grand Slam titles was kind of down under, in a different sense, as he needed four sets to prevail in a first-round encounter lasting four hours and one minute. The young man who rocked the Novak boat at the Australian Open was Croatia’s Dino Prizmic, a wild card from Split – Goran Ivanisevic’s hometown – who was almost unheard of till Sunday night. That the Serbian king could pull off a win was due to his experience, especially at the year’s…

Like a whiff of fresh air on a cold, wintry Sunday evening in Ranchi, the Indian women’s hockey team showed pluck and poise to flummox New Zealand 3-1 in a Pool B match of the FIH hockey qualifiers for the Paris Olympics. After the poor performance against the United States of America on Saturday, this looked like another Indian side on view. Energy, enthusiasm and effectiveness – all the ingredients were on view as the girls in blue pumped in goals through Sangita Kumari, Udita Duhan (penalty corner) and Beauty Dungdung. The reducer for the Kiwis was scored by Megan…

Trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu’s dreams of qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games were dealt a massive blow in Kuwait on Sunday when the tournament director refused the Indian permission to shoot with his regular gun. “I have shot with this same gun and the same stock for several years at World Cups, the Olympics and more events. This is a vendetta against India and me by the tournament director Abdullah Hamadi,” Manavjit told RevSportz on Sunday. “My stock is modified but it was cleared by the equipment control on Saturday. But the tournament director told me I will not…

Call it panic or call it nerves for India, but they lost 0-1 to the United States of America in the FIH Olympic qualifiers in Ranchi on Saturday night. Playing at home in an important assignment, the Indians were funnelling back and forth, earning penalty corners as well. Yet, to make a hash of it was painful viewing for the spectators inside the stadium, as well as those watching on television. History was against the USA as, during the qualifying phase for the Tokyo Olympics, they had been edged out by India. On…

Vijayveer Sidhu sealed the 17th shooting quota place for India at the Paris Olympics by entering the 25m rapid-fire pistol final at the Asian qualifiers in Jakarta on Saturday. His score of 577 may not be very high – and he finished fifth in qualifying – but he sealed an important slot for India. The quota he earned meant that India would field two shooters in the rapid-fire competition. Indian shooting has soared in the last year phenomenally. The rich medal haul of 22 at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in September-October was run down by the uncharitable since…

Sumit Nagal stormed into the men’s singles main draw of the Australian Open on Friday. Playing his final qualifying match, the 122 ranked Nagal was in rip-roaring form as he defeated Slovakia’s Alex Molcan, 6-4, 6-4. “Yeah, it’s a proud feeling,” an excited Nagal told RevSportz on his voyage and return to the Grand Slam arena. “I have worked very hard to be here. It is never fun for any tennis player to have a start and stop (career) but I guess I had no choice than to fight through this,” said Nagal, happy to be back in the elite…

The Indian women’s hockey team is very well aware of the pressure of expectation as they compete in the FIH Olympic qualifiers in Ranchi from January 13 to 19. After the highs of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when the girls played their hearts out before ending up an agonising fourth, support for the sport has been massive. Yet, the failure to win a gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in October 2023, meant the team has to go through the grind of the qualifying phase. There was plenty of muckraking during the Asian Games, and later,…

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returning to cricket’s T20 international fold for the series against Afghanistan serves as a reminder that age is not a barrier, and that fitness cannot be measured merely by showing off biceps and bulges. At a time when two players in their prime, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, are out with injuries, treatment, rehab and strengthening, Kohli at 35 and Rohit at 36 are ready to prove many points. The first is, that T20 cricket does not mean you have to be young, brash and full of attitude. For all those who felt Rohit was…

We have all heard of the phrase “too many cooks spoil the broth”. This time round, the English cricket team which will soon travel to India for a five-Test series will have a chef on board. “My goodness,” as the Brits would exclaim – this is not the first time they are doing something so bizarre to up the performance in India. Bazball has been on the menu but bringing a cook/chef is an attempt to ensure the Englishmen do not end up eating too much “curry”, as the average Indian meal is referred to. To be sure, if you…