Author: S Kannan

As a journalist, who began his career in July 1987, I was always taught that the usage of “I” must be avoided. Storytelling, news writing, features and interviews are not about the scribe, but the athlete, coach or sports official. I guess it’s time to break that rule, after so many years. It is my privilege to write about the Founders’ Day of RevSportz. Before anyone jumps at me for the use of “I”, it is because I’d like to capture something personal. The narrative has always been about sports stars, hits or flops. This time, it is about a…

Indian tennis has languished in the doldrums for decades. Each generation has seen a champion emerge, despite an almost non-existent system – thanks in the main to the incompetence of the All India Tennis Association (AITA). From the Krishnans, Ramanathan and Ramesh, his son, to the Amritraj brothers, Vijay and Anand, players shone. None of this was due to a robust tennis infrastructure but sheer individual brilliance. Players over the past four or five decades have complained of no support from the federation and zero coaching systems. If there was a national tennis academy, it was far from professionally run.…

The cobwebs of uncertainty surrounding Gujarat Titans ended in one fell swoop on Monday evening, when the team let Hardik Pandya head back to Mumbai Indians, and anointed Shubman Gill as captain for the 2024 IPL season. For nearly 24 hours, the news cycle and social-media speculation focussed on Hardik. It now shifts to Gill, Punjab da puttar, who takes on the responsibility of leading one of the league’s hottest teams at the age of just 24. As a batter, he has been dynamic and devastating and is one of India’s few all-format players. But Gill’s rise to a leadership…

Choker? Don’t say that again. Far from the madding crowd, Aditi Ashok clinched a big title at the Andalucía Open de España on Sunday. Aditi came into her own over the weekend to exorcise ghosts of the past in the sylvan, coastal settings in southern Spain. A win on the Ladies European Tour (LET) has to be accorded importance. It features some top players of the world. The win in the season-ending event in Malaga fetched €45,000 and lifted the Indian to third on the LET earning list for 2023, with €672,337 (according to LET website). This was her second…

Great performance in Indian sport seems to be in a complicated relationship with good governance. Close on the heels of the mess in wrestling, where an ad hoc body is now running the sport, the administration of hockey in India is on a downward spiral. After the high of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in October – where the men won gold to qualify for the Paris Olympics in 2024, and the women a bronze – there is negativity in the air. The reason is easily apparent – Bholanath Singh, Hockey India Secretary, has too much power and is…

Hockey India is again in the news for the wrong reasons. A witch-hunt against Janneke Schopman, the women’s team coach, has become more glaring. Even before the Asian Games in Hangzhou, where the team won bronze, Bholanath Singh, Hockey India Secretary-General, started a tirade in private against Schopman, an Olympic gold medallist who is widely respected for her technical and tactical acumen. She has been with the team for quite a while and assisted Sjoerd Marijne when the team finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics. Yet, a lot of hockey fans are worried for Schopman as she faces needless pressure.…

Manu Bhaker, India’s pistol-shooting queen, capped a brilliant year by winning four medals at the National Championships in Bhopal. This has been a year where Manu has seen highs and lows, yet regaining control of her emotions and making her own decisions has worked out well for her. In an exclusive interview with RevSportz, Manu opened up on the year gone by. If you thought this was the end of her competitions in 2023, she is mentally ready to participate in one more trial, if the National Rifle Association of India decides to conduct one. Is it not tough that…

S Kannan in New Delhi Anish Bhanwala is just 21, yet, if you looked at his bio, it would seem that he has been around for ages. The 13th shooter to clinch a quota place for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the rapid-fire pistol shooter is an extremely calm individual. His persona is in sharp contrast to squeezing the trigger in a fast-paced pistol event which makes the fans’ hearts beat faster. In an exclusive interview with RevSportz, Bhanwala opened up on what lies ahead for him. With the selection criteria changed for the next Olympics, there is no guarantee that…

There was a full house at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Bleed Blue was the theme. In the end, all that flowed was not joy but tears down the cheeks of over one lakh fans inside the stadium, and millions of Indian cricket fans all over the world. Was it a script gone wrong, or was planning a party a mistake? No, Team India led by Rohit Sharma played their hearts out for ten matches in a row. Just that the 11th game against rough-and-tough Australia ended in heartbreak. Fans had burnt holes in their pockets to buy match…

Rohan Bopanna and Matt Ebden, his doubles partner, capped a brilliant year by bowing out at the semi-final stage of the ATP World Tour Finals. On Saturday, the duo, ranked No. 3, lost 5-7, 4-6 to Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, the No. 5 seeds. Even though the result may be disappointing for Indian tennis fans, the duo of Bopanna and Ebden have enjoyed a stellar year. At over 43, Bopanna, currently the oldest player on the circuit, has been enjoying his tennis. “I repeat, I am 43, that is Level 43,” he told RevSportz. “This has been a brilliant…