Eminent sports personalities, across disciplines and eras, recalled their association with Sportstar magazine. The redesigned Sportstar magazine was unveiled at an event at The Taj MG Road here on Sunday.
“Keeping pace with the taste of today’s generation, brought up in a world of Instagram reels and e-sports thrills, we are unveiling a newer, bolder Sportstar, while still holding on to the ethos of honest journalism that we have always practised,” Ayon Sengupta, the Editor of Sportstar said.
Anju Bobby George, the long jump bronze medallist at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics, arrived at the event with Shaili Singh.
The young Shaili, a hugely talented long jump athlete, is trained by Anju and her husband Robert Bobby George.
Anju Bobby George and Shaili Singh, during the launch of the redesigned Sportstar magazine. | Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K / The Hindu
“Sportstar has been an integral part of my sporting journey. I was featured many times on the Sportstar magazine cover, and now I’m happy to see Shaili Singh on the cover of the latest issue.
Shaili is the future of Indian athletics,” Anju said, referring to the upcoming issue’s nine-part cover story.
Cricketer Yashasvi Jaiswal, shuttler Lakshya Sen, hockey player Abhishek, footballer Sivasakthi Narayanan, Shaili, squash player Anahat Singh, shooter Rhythm Sangwan, Paralympian Avani Lekhara, wrestler Aman Sherawat are the up-and-coming stars featured in this latest issue of Sportstar magazine.
M.M. Somaya, who won a gold medal with the Indian men’s hockey team in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, reminisced about collecting posters from Sportstar magazine.
“I put a poster of (former India hockey captain) Ajit Pal Singh prominently in my home. Ajit Pal Singh was my hero,” Somaya said.
The BCCI president and 1983 World Cup winner Roger Binny mentioned that Sportstar boasted of some of the best cricket writers. “Sportstar always brought cricket to the limelight. The articles were informative and interesting,” Binny said.
One big family: The Hindu group along with eminent sports personalities at the unveiling event in Bengalore. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Former Indian women’s badminton national champion Aparna Popat spoke about being featured in the Sportstar magazine at a young age.
“I was first featured in Sportstar magazine when I was 10, after winning an inter-school tournament. A few years later, Sportstar was the first publication to interview me after I won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships,” Aparna said.
Vimal Kumar, former Indian men’s national badminton champion and co-founder of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, said, “Right from my playing days, we all looked forward to reading Sportstar magazine.
I remember a lovely feature story written on (1980 All-England Championship winner) Prakash Padukone. I still have that issue.”
Vimal’s ward Lakshya Sen stated that it was his childhood dream to see his photo in a sports magazine. “And here it is now,” Lakshya said, pointing to his picture splashed on the cover of the redesigned magazine.
Shaili and Abhishek explained that the recognition will serve as motivation to bring more international laurels.
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