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Prior to the pandemic, for the past few years, there had been a steady and happy trend in the rise of women’s sport. Will the pandemic curtail this trend?

In this issue

27-06-202026 STORIES

Arup Ghosh is still surprised how Bundesliga chose him as one fan among millions to gift a jersey.

From Lothar with love

Arup Ghosh has been a fan of German football and Bayern Munich for over 50 years and he was recently rewarded with a Bayern jersey and a special messa

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Roger Federer is probably the most rhythmical, efficient tennis athlete ever and also rarely hampered by injuries. Unbelievably, Federer has never retired in 1,513 career matches.

Why rhythm is important in tennis

In this comprehensive interview, Dr Mark Kovacs shares his eclectic sports expertise on the seldom-covered but highly important subject of rhythm in t

Paul Fein

Squash star Joshna Chinappa.

Food For Thought

Covid-19 lockdown side effect: Six-pack to family pack

The Indian gene is prone to high fat deposition in periods of no exercise or high calorie intake. Most of this fat deposition is focused around the be

Ryan Fernando

Same blow for everyone involved

I don’t think this (the coronavirus outbreak) would be of any particular hindrance on the participation of women in the sport.

Aishwarya Pissay

“There is not much mingling with the outsiders. Also, we don’t generally allow mobiles there, so our girls are virtually cut off from social media and hence from many things that could make them anxious,” explained P. T. Usha, who produced former Asian 800m champion Tintu Luka and talented quartermiler Jisna Mathew.

The effect of COVID-19 on sports academies and coaches

With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing the world to a halt, women’s sports academies and the coaches are doing their bit to keep the morale high.

Stan Rayan,Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya,Lavanya Lakshmi Narayanan

Budding athletes going through fitness drills at the Police Parade Grounds in Guntur. “I cannot say that it has affected women specifically, it has affected both genders. Everything is okay, we have not faced any critical situation specific to girls,” says Latha, the secretary of the Tamil Nadu Athletics Association.

COVID-19 has affected every athlete across sports

These are tough times for the sportspersons — irrespective of gender — and the associations are taking every step to help them during the crisis.

Uthra Ganesan,Stan Rayan,Y. B. Sarangi

Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan was 20 years, 350 days old when he led his side against Bangladesh in 2019.

The youngest and oldest Test captains in numbers

In the fourth part of the analysis, we take a look at the youngest, oldest captains and the best all-rounders in Test cricket while leading a side.

Starting sporting activity is a great way to take the fear head-on and bring back a much-needed sense of normalcy.

Sports: The natural remedy against a virus

Prior to the pandemic, for the past few years, there had been a steady and happy trend in the rise of women’s sport. Will the pandemic curtail this tr

Ashwini Nachappa

'The only way to overcome this phase is to be mentally strong,' says Jhulan Goswami.

Jhulan Goswami: Coronavirus has hampered our World Cup preparations

For players like us who only feature in the 50-over format, it is also challenging because it takes time to peak.

'Everything was shut all of a sudden and it took me a while to adjust to the fact that sport is not happening anytime soon and I am not stepping on the court soon,' says N. Sikki Reddy.

N. Sikki Reddy: Coronavirus will have no bearing on future tournaments

As days progressed, we saw Lockdown 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0. It was unexpected, but COVID-19 is so dangerous that these measures had to be in place.

From a business point of view, women’s sport is no longer a corporate social responsibility project, it is about engaging new and diverse brands and audiences to grow the following of a particular sport or sport in general.

Can women’s sport survive in the post-pandemic world?

Half the population in the world is women and girls, so if you want society to grow in every sense, this is the opportunity.

I have been at home (Chennai) for the past two-and-a-half months, training regularly at our terrace with a few dumbbells and target training with a dummy partner to maintain my fitness and fencing movements, writes Bhavani Devi.

Bhavani Devi: Women need to be strong mentally

I take this period as an important one to analyse my game and myself better. I had back pain a few months ago, so will take this period to recover wel

'I think in order for the game to start back up again, we will have to make some minor changes — more so on a hygiene level, to fit in with COVID-19 rules and restrictions,' says Megan Schutt.

Megan Schutt: Preparation for ODI World Cup will be different

As long as the women’s game is treated equally with the men’s, the game will go on without a hitch — players will adapt and we can go back to normalcy

'As for international football, with how things are right now, I think it’s a more long-term resumption process. It is not a priority now,' writes Aditi Chauhan.

We are staring at a new normal, says Aditi Chauhan

India being a developing country where the women’s game was just rising, I do fear the game is going to take a back seat amid COVID-19.

How will sports broadcasting adapt to this new normal? Mayanti Langer Binny tries to make sense of the challenges that lie before the media in a post-COVID world.

Mayanti Langer Binny talks sports broadcast post COVID-19

When live sport begins, the guidelines for broadcasters are something that we will have to discuss. You may not be able to have so many people in the

Mayanti Langer Binny

Pooja Rani Bohra has already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

Pooja Rani Bohra: I have only one fear - cancellation of Olympics

If the COVID-19 pandemic does not subside, then there is doubt over the Olympics even in 2021.Having won a quota place, I do not want to let go the op

Pooja Rani Bohra

Anjum Moudgil displays some of her paintings.

COVID-19: No hurries, no worries for shooter Anjum Moudgil

I don’t think anything will get affected much once we come out of the pandemic, only the Tokyo Olympics-special training plan will change.

Ankita Raina: I’ve not faced a financial burden

...the major expenses of a player are travelling for tournaments and the travel expenses of the coaching staff. Since there are no tournaments now, th

The National Women’s Soccer League was about to begin in March in the United States to build on the popularity of the country’s fourth World Cup triumph.

The state of women's football amid COVID-19

Efforts are now on to resume sports in regions where the virus is seemingly under control, but where does women's football stand in the scheme of thin

Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin (above) and US Open winner Bianca Andreescu are featuring in a 16-player invitational tournament in Charleston in South Carolina beginning on June 23.

Covid-19: The state of women's tournaments across the world

From a string of cancellations to fears of a fall in investment in the women’s game, here are the developments from biggest tournaments from around th

Lavanya Lakshmi Narayanan,Shyam Vasudevan,Aashin Prasad

“Right now we are trying to make the best of a bad situation. So we will have to live with it for the moment,” says tennis legend Vijay Amritraj.

Vijay Amritraj: Having spectators makes a difference

Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj feels live sport has that physical element to excite someone sitting at home. It is education and entertainment.

Badminton star H. S. Prannoy has expressed his displeasure after his name was ignored for the Arjuna Award nomination by the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

On The Write Line

Gavaskar: Calling the country a joke over award snub is unpardonable

It was shocking to hear that a badminton player went to the extent of calling the country a joke after he missed out on an award nomination.

Sunil Gavaskar

The former England batsman, and then selector, Ed Smith has written a whole book on the question of luck. A talented cricketer, he played just three Tests, getting a poor decision in the final one which he would have been able to overturn had the DRS existed then. He broke an ankle, was wrongly diagnosed and quit the game at 31, ending a career that initially seemed fated to take him to England’s captaincy.

The element of luck in sports

Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott was famous in his playing days for insisting that luck had nothing to do with success. He believed it was ab

Suresh Menon

Former South Africa quick Morne Morkel believes for the bowlers, the biggest challenge, post the pandemic, will be on the field, when they try to shine the ball without using saliva.

The road ahead: Morne Morkel talks cricket post pandemic

Morne Morkel, who after quitting international cricket a couple of years ago went on to feature for Surrey, speaks to Sportstar on a range of issues.

Sarfraz Nawaz featured in 55 Tests and 45 ODIs for Pakistan.

Cricket can lose reverse swing to COVID-19, says Sarfraz Nawaz

Former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz, who pioneered reverse swing, admits the rule change of not shining balls with saliva will have an impact on

Matt Doherty has made more than 250 appearances for Wolves.

Bowlfuls of apple pie later, Wolves' Matt Doherty back to realise Champions League dream

With the Premier League set to resume in a fortnight, Wolves have nine games to close down the gap and storm to a debut Champions League season.

Shyam Vasudevan

Shyam Vasudevan

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