Author: S Kannan

Max Verstappen has threatened to slam the brakes hard on his Formula One career after the latest controversy. The FIA, the world body which governs motorsports, decided to pull him up for using the ‘F’ bomb two days before the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend. The three-time world champion, whose daring driving and master control at the wheels of the Red Bull beast have seen him dominate the past few seasons, was upset his car was not up to the mark in the qualifying phase of the previous race in Azerbaijan. For those who think athletes are supposed to be…

How much tennis is too much tennis? If you are going to ask that question to Carlos Alcaraz, winner of the French Open and Wimbledon this year, he is already complaining about a taxing schedule which will get worse in coming years. This being a leap year, which included the Paris 2024 Olympics programme, the Spanish hero also had to participate at the Summer Games as he promised to pair up with Rafael Nadal. The gap between Wimbledon ending and returning to the Roland Garros for the Olympics was too short. Someone like Novak Djokovic managed to pull off massive…

Even though this was a mini-election of sorts, Kalikesh Singh Deo had to fight a hard battle to defeat VK Dhall 36-21 to become President of the National Rifle Association of India in the Capital on Saturday. The term is till 2025. What this also means is, Kalikesh, who was deputy chef de mission of the Indian shooting contingent in Chateauroux for the Paris 2024 Olympics can focus on what needs to be done in the next Olympic cycle, leading up to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. After winning the election, Kalikesh outlined his plans. “We intend to take…

There is one week to go for elections to the All India Tennis Association executive board. If you go through the list of past presidents, there has been some political link or the other, whatever be the party. What has not changed despite all this over four decades is the relationship between the national sports federation and players. And the latest of the lot is how they have handled outgoing coach Zeeshan Ali. For those who have followed Indian tennis, there has been a strong link with the South Club in Kolkata. From Late Premjit Lall to legend Jaidip Mukherjea,…

It is shocking the All India Tennis Association is running a malice campaign against Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri, two players who have taken pride in representing the country as well as pursuing their professional careers. Since the time India were decimated in a Davis Cup away tie in Sweden over the weekend, there has been a sustained onslaught, first from non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal and then AITA secretary general Anil Dhupar. First things first, Nagal did not make himself available for the Davis Cup tie as he had a back injury and was advised rest by the medical team.…

Twenty-four years ago, on this day (September 19), Karnam Malleswari became the first Indian woman athlete to win a medal at the Summer Olympics, in Sydney. A day before, weightlifter Sanamacha Chanu had not done well, so the focus was not on Malleswari, really. “I know that very few media people turned up for my event as people were expecting Sanamacha to win the medal,” said Malleswari, taking a trip down memory lane. “After she had not done well on September 18, I was told there were more important events on the day I won a medal. They had to…

In what could be termed good news for lovers of sports, Glasgow raising its hands and saying it was willing to host the Commonwealth Games in 2026 was a massive relief. Since the time the state of Victoria in Australia backed out as hosts of the Games in early 2023, the clouds of uncertainty hanging over the Commonwealth Games (CWG) had left people in power in the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) very anxious. Even a country like Singapore refused to play host and there was a worry about what would happen to the 2026 Games. Strangely, even on Tuesday afternoon,…

The National Sports Awards are usually presented on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand. For many years, this was a fixed date to present the awards, be it the Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award or the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement. Three years ago, the Sports Ministry had decided to make a change, that in years when the Asian Games or Olympics were held, the award presentation dates would be changed. It made sense, as if the Asian Games or the Olympics were not over by August, then rushing through the process and picking…

Indian hockey continues to make waves, post success at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Winning two back-to-back bronze medals in Tokyo and Paris has made people sit up and take notice. If you thought winning the bronze medal at the Yves Manoir Stadium in Paris against Spain on August 8 would mean the players would ease off, quite the opposite has happened. On return to India, there were felicitation functions and much of the focus was on a grand farewell for goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. What was refreshing, the team got a short break, and most key players, skipper Harmanpreet Singh included,…

This has turned out to be a year of silver coating on Neeraj Chopra’s big medals in the 2024 season. On a chilly Saturday night at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, the Paris 2024 Olympics hero looked good physically, but his best effort of 87.86 metres was agonisingly one centimetre short of what Anderson Peters produced to seal the deal in the season-ending finale. For all those who were watching it live inside the stadium and tried to keep themselves warm with the temperature hovering around 12 degrees Celsius mark, it was not going to be easy for the…