The Neeraj Chopra Classic (or NC Classic in short), India’s first World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event, was originally set for 24 May 2025, but military tensions between India and Pakistan forced a postponement to 5 July. That reshuffle turned my calendar into a puzzle: I was in the U.S.A. for a week-long conference, then off to Malaysia for a family vacation. After days of juggling time zones and airline apps, I landed in Bengaluru and headed straight to Sri Kanteerava Stadium, the venue for the international event. Naming the meet after Neeraj, a double Olympic medallist, felt perfect. Just as the Prefontaine Classic honours Steve Prefontaine and the Paavo Nurmi Games salute the Finnish legend, the NC Classic celebrates the athlete who changed the face of Indian athletics. The line-up reflected that ambition: Olympic champion Thomas Röhler, former world champion Julius Yego, Sri Lanka’s rising star Rumesh Pathirage, and India’s own young guns raring to test their arms against the best. 

The opening ceremony songs, drums, and dance were colourful, although a touch long and a tad bit boring for me, as I felt my impatience grow to watch the javelin fly high and far. However, when the athletes began their warm-ups, the stadium atmosphere shifted from festival to frenzy. Every practice throw drew cheers; every clean release drew the crowd a little closer to the edge of their seats. The much-awaited hour had finally arrived! When the official start list flashed on the big screen, a roar rolled through the stands. As Neeraj Chopra turned up for his throw, the audience waited with bated breath. Despite being a strong favourite, Neeraj’s first throw was a heart-stopper, a foul. A murmur rippled through the 14,500-strong crowd, a record attendance. But he soon steadied himself to hurl himself to the top spot with an 82.99 m distance. Then came the plot twist as further drama ensued. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage launched an 84.34 m missile, vaulting into the lead and silencing the stunned tricolour wave. Neeraj answered like a true champion. As he stepped onto the runway for his third attempt, the stadium hushed; even the evening breeze seemed to stall. Chopra came out all guns blazing as his spear soared through the Bengaluru sky and landed far at 86.18 m. The raucous stadium erupted with thunderous applause, chanting “Neeraj! Neeraj!” That throw sealed the deal as Neeraj Chopra took home the gold, followed by Julius Yego and Rumesh Pathirage for the podium finish. Indian Sachin Yadav was unlucky, finishing fourth. 

Walking out of the stadium satisfied, heart still racing, I could not help but appreciate Neeraj’s dual role. He wasn’t just the Olympic hero we came to watch; he was also the meet’s architect, the host who proved India can smoothly stage an elite global athletics event. This wasn’t just another competition. It was proof that Indian athletics has arrived, spearheaded by the champion Neeraj himself, and I was fortunate to witness it from a few metres away. 

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While I could not wait to watch Sharath Kamal wield his weapon in his swansong, my trip turned out to be more than just about the matches. It was a journey laced with serendipitous encounters with stalwarts of the game. As I made my way from Chennai to Kanpur, I had a short layover in Delhi. Usually, I loathe layovers (I am all for direct flights), but fate had other plans. I met the Paralympian Sonalben Patel at the airport, who was returning after winning the Khelo India Para Games in Delhi. If this was not already inspiring enough, when I reached Chennai, I had an absolute fan-girl moment meeting Olympian Neha Aggarwal Sharma, and was instantly overcome with nostalgia. Back in primary school, I was anything but sporty. I would come last on sports days and shy away from the games classes. But it all changed one fine August evening in 2008. The first-ever sports match I watched was Neha Aggarwal’s table tennis at the Beijing Olympics. That was the spark, the trigger point for me. From then on, there has been no looking back, as I have been a national-level footballer, a district-level table tennis player, a college-level tennis and squash player, and recently completed my first half-marathon. I owe my fitness, and especially my table tennis interest, to her. This is the magic of the Olympics. While they say never meet your idol, my short and sweet moment with Neha Aggarwal proved otherwise. It was a crash course in humility. She truly embodied Rudyard Kipling’s words: “…If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same; if you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue or walk with kings nor lose the common touch; yours is the earth and everything in it…”

Coming back to the matches, the Indian contingent had a decent outing. While the focus was on crowd-favourite Sharath Kamal, Snehit Suravajjula (also Kamal’s doubles partner) shone brightly by coming from behind to get the better of higher-ranked Yukiya Uda in the round of 32, before halting Kamal himself. Suravajjula finally went down in the quarterfinals, but not without putting up a solid fight, and looks like a promising future prospect. For me, the real charm lies not just in the matches (which, truth be told, often look more cinematic on TV with the slow-motion replays and expert commentary), but in watching the pros practise before their matches. The intense sessions are an exercise of relentless repetition, a pursuit of nailing the basics perfectly, to the extent that they hardly miss a ball. They then tactfully execute the skills learnt in the matches, do not fear taking risks, and trust their hard work. These, my friend, are valuable life lessons under the garb of sports entertainment.

The fan engagement was stepped up in this edition, with the implementation of meet-and-greet sessions. The organisers were even distributing wooden blades for getting autographs, although, sadly, I could not get one for myself :(. Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal attended to every fan present with warmth and made their day by obliging with autographs, photographs and answers to their starstruck, wide-eyed questions. There was a mini table for friends to have fun, and free delectable delicacies were available in the VIP section, but ironically, the service lacked the speed associated with table tennis! As I walked away from the venue with memories for a lifetime, I had moist eyes and a sliver of remorse for not making it to the professional circuit. In these reflections of mine, I find my way of connecting to the gritty world of sports, along with pushing myself as a college athlete.

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The growing popularity of the sport, thanks to the revolution spearheaded by Mr Pullela Gopichand, was visible as the KD Jadhav stadium (named after the legendary wrestler who won independent India’s first Olympic medal) was sold out for the semis and the finals. I must laud the organising committee for ensuring proper management and good fan engagement. The online ticketing system was smooth, with seats numbered instead of the first-come, first-served (or rather grabbed) model. This is such a simple and useful feature but I wonder why events do not like to follow it. Is it because they want to overbook to maximise profits? Free seating has always been a hassle, especially for a solo traveller like me as I fear not getting any seat, let alone one of my choice. Fan engagement zones involved fun games like a mini badminton court and activities like reflex checking, target hitting, and video games. Yonex put up official merchandise stores with the option of customising with your name. The food stalls were offering delicious food, albeit having skyrocketing prices. But alas, there were no queues in place You had to wrestle your way (it was a wrestling stadium, after all) to grab your bite. It took me over half an hour to get a pizza, which would normally get delivered by Pizza Hut to my doorstep much faster! I felt sad for the foreign visitors with zero experience in dealing with such a crowded place with no queue management. And litter was thrown just about anywhere, even though dustbins were placed. Why do we lack such basic manners? And then we blame the administration for all our problems— irony at its peak! 

Anyway, enough of my rant on the lack of civic sense amongst Indians. Coming back to the sport, I got the opportunity to watch the exhilarating duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, popularly dubbed as Sat-Chi, although they lost in straight sets to the eventual champions from Malaysia, ending India’s campaign. No Indian contender for the podium at India Open, a sorry state of dip in the form of Indians who are currently struggling to get back their mojo after the Paris Olympics heartbreak. The highlight for me was Chochuwong, who came from behind to overcome Miyazaki in an exciting closely-contested three-setter. Axelsen followed in her footsteps to conquer Christie in a similar fashion, providing the much-needed thrill to the fans. Sports truly symbolises “it’s never over until it’s over.” As cameras were allowed, I got to capture some of the fast-paced action and explore the genre of sports photography. BWF should get on-court interviews, just like in tennis tournaments like the Grand Slams, at least from the semifinals, when only one court is in play. This will enhance the experience and provide insights into the player’s thoughts. 

All in all, it was a good day of enjoying quality sports action. This was until I headed to exit the stadium. No, it was not the melancholy of the day coming to an end, nor was it the sorrow of a fan seeing their country’s athletes lose. It was the nightmare of every girl travelling solo that spoiled my happy outing. I was subjected to eve-teasing with two men touching me inappropriately. Although there were many people around, I froze on the spot and couldn’t let out a scream. I ran towards my car at the first opportunity of escape and would have probably beat Usain Bolt’s long-standing record. I strongly hope and pray this does not happen again to me or anyone else, but if it does, I would be better prepared to create a ruckus, click the perpetrators’ photos, and lodge a complaint, although I do not know how much it would be beneficial given the current state of affairs in our country with women feeling increasingly unsafe. I would request greater security during such large-scale events. A wonderful sporting experience was marred by the horrifying ending. 

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The Good:

1. It was good to see Indian women upping their game in the Olympic season, with Sreeja Akula reaching the quarterfinals and Manika Batra reaching the pre-quarterfinals. Both of them put up a good show, before eventually going down fighting hard. 
2. The food in the lounge (accessible to VIP and Premium ticket holders) was lip-smackingly good as it was being prepared fresh and hot. The variety available also catered to different needs, ranging from the usual packaged beverages and tea/coffee, to pav bhaji and chaat, to sandwiches and corn salad and sweets. The taste buds were satisfied. 

The Bad:

1. It is appalling to see that in a tournament on home soil, the legendary Indian men Sathiyan Gnanasekharan and age-defying Sharath Achanta Kamal were not given wildcards. Instead, they had to battle it out in the qualifiers, where lady luck was not on their side, as they narrowly lost. 
2. Indian brands should be promoted, especially Stag, which is a globally recognised table tennis equipment manufacturer. In fact, last year, Stag Americas Gold tables were used. I wonder why the shift to Stiga tables was made this time. 
3. The Chinese contingent was completely absent from a tournament that had previously hosted Fan Zhendong. What is a Table Tennis tournament without a single Chinese player? 

The Quirky:

• This one is absolutely absurd and drove me bonkers, for want of a better word. Premium and VIP ticket holders do not have access to matches held at other tables. This was a problem with the seating arrangement and the way the tables were lined up, which was not the case in the previous edition. Also, the practice tables were in a different room, meaning you could not get a view of the pre-match training of most players. 

As an amateur table tennis player myself, I pay close attention to the different techniques used by the players. In particular, I analysed the Sreeja Akula-Cheng I-Ching matchup. Before her quarterfinal encounter with Sreeja Akula, Cheng I-Ching, the eventual champions, practised playing against defensive techniques with her coach. This is because Akula uses long pimpled rubber on her backhand. In the video I recorded, you can see Cheng I-Ching hitting topspins against her coach’s defence and then finishing it up with a strong inside-in forehand down the line. This strategy was successfully implemented by her to win the match, the highlights of which can be watched on the official YouTube channel of World Table Tennis (WTT). 

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With many tricks in his arsenal, including crazy no-look, behind-the-back half volleys coupled with between-the-legs shots and underarm serves while holding six balls, it is easy to get tricked into thinking that his childhood would have been as fun. Sadly, born in Iran in 1956, the tumultuous times spearheaded by the country’s political leadership prevented Bahrami from reaching the pinnacle of the sport in his teens and tweens. His significant achievement measured by the yardstick of Grand Slams came in his thirties, reaching an epic French Open doubles finals. Talk about late bloomers, and here you go. He grew up playing with a rusty frying pan, and retrieving balls for the affluent, while watching his father labouring at a sports complex in Tehran. Before he could display his prowess in wielding a real racquet, the religious revolutionary group overtook the reins of the government, only to ban Tennis as anti-Islamic. Any ordinary man would have resigned himself to fate, but not Bahrami, whose love for the game supersedes adversity. He managed to fly away to France (where he had his best results) to make a meagre living playing local tournaments and giving lessons. Currently, an active member of the invitational tournaments for masters, the poster boy of entertainment considers himself to be lucky doing what he likes: playing tennis, having fun, and delighting the audience. 

His autobiography titled The Court Jester: My Story is available on Amazon, which I am currently reading. It is indeed an inspiring read, laced with trademark Bahrami humour. Stay tuned for a detailed review coming your way soon. Until then, keep enjoying Tennis. 

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South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) organises a biennial championship for eight teams. This year, the nomenclature included “Bangabandhu” for sponsorship reasons. The title sponsor hailed from Bangladesh (Bashundhara Group), hence the naming after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh, popularly known as “Bangabandhu.” The event was held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore (the home ground of Bengaluru FC), from 21 June to 4 July, 2023. India has been the most successful team, winning nine titles, with the highest goal scorer (no prizes for guessing) being the captain of the Blue Tigers, Sunil Chhetri. Despite being the defending champions, the competition was not easy for the home team, with the inclusion of invited teams Lebanon (highest ranked) and Kuwait adding the much needed toughness. India sailed through the group stage, with the solitary stalemate against Kuwait. The semi final against Lebanon proved to be the first litmus test of preparedness, which was passed with flying colours. Thank god, because it made my purchase of the ticket for the final worthwhile. 

As a PhD student researching in the field of Quantum Optics, I was selected to present my work at Photonics 2023, an international conference which was held at IISc Bangalore during the same period as the SAFF Championship. This meant that my travel and stay in Bangalore was fully-funded, a lucky coincidence indeed! Upon entering the stadium complex on the most eagerly-awaited day, the final vs (once again) Kuwait, the excitement and enthusiasm of the fans made me optimistic about the progress we are making as a sporting nation, since all these people turned up for a match other than cricket. As I was not familiar with the geography of the complex, I realised that I had booked tickets for East Block, whereas, the better option would have been West Block, since all the celebratory functions were facing that end. Another lapse was carrying a camera. It turned out that cameras and bags were not allowed, but there was no information about it anywhere! On top of it, there was no cloak room facility! Fortunately for me, I had booked a half day taxi, and I was able to keep it safely there. 

The match kicked off, and so did the drums and trumpets of the fans to cheer on the players. While the amplitude did get to a point of bursting my ear drum, I do not particularly mind any form of celebration, as long as we remain dignified. I strongly feel we need to evolve as humanity to accept decisions which may not be favourable to us. Chanting (pardon the profanity) “f*ck off referee, f*ck off” is not cool. With the progress of the match, both sides created pressure and chances for attack, and it was Kuwait which drew the first blood sending the entire stadium into pin drop silence. The equaliser just before half time got everyone back up on their feet, and it ended in a 1-1 draw at the end of regulation time. The teams were so well-matched that the scoreline remained unperturbed even after added time, and it all boiled down to a penalty shootout to decide the outcome. Despite the atmosphere of nerves, everyone took heart from the semi final victory on penalties. It was time for the wall, keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to stand up once again. And rise up to the occasion he did, like a true hero. It went down to the wire, into a nail biting sudden death. As Sandhu stopped the Kuwait captain, the crowd roared into rapturous applause. Winning is a feeling which is shared with all, the players, staff, Government and fans. 

India under Igor Stimac had a good run of performance in 2023. The team entered SAFF Championship on the back of successful victories in the Hero Intercontinental Cup and Tri-Nation Tournament. Winning the SAFF Championship completed the hat trick, Furthermore, India has been the most illustrious team in the history of SAFF Championship. This demonstrates that we are heading into the right direction, but we cannot get complacent or satisfied with just this. We have a long way ahead, to achieve the holy grail of FIFA World Cup qualification. We have miles to go before we sleep… Let us ring in 2024 with a promise to provide greater support to football. 

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WTT (World Table Tennis) is the new events and commercial entity of the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) with the aim to popularise the sport by conducting events across the globe. Created in 2019, the first event was held in Macao in 2020. The event structure involves Grand Smashes, Cup Finals, Champions Series, Star Contender, Contender and Youth Contender. The Goa event, held from February 27 to March 5, 2023, was of the Star Contender category, hosted and brought to India by the tireless efforts of Stupa Sports Analytics. Thank you, Stupa. If you have not already, please do check out their app; it offers great match insights and analytics, for your own practice sessions as well. The event boasted a star-studded lineup featuring Fan Zhendong, Tomokazu Harimoto, Truls Moregard, Patrick Franziska on the men’s side and Wang Yidi, Hina Hayata, Ying Han, Adriana Diaz on the women’s end. Sadly, Ma Long, Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng withdrew, which would have added more star power to the starry event. The Indian challenge was spearheaded by legends Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra. Although the Indians had a lacklustre, forgettable performance, Manika Batra showed some spark to defeat Adriana Diaz, before succumbing in the subsequent round. As expected, the Chinese players took home the silverware in the singles event (Liang Jingkun and Wang Yidi), while the Koreans and Japanese walked back happily with the doubles victory. 

I purchased the VIP level tickets for quarterfinals and semifinals from bookmyshow. Why not the finals, you may ask? Well, I am a Physics PhD student at IIT Kanpur, which sadly has a silly attendance policy and provides limited number of holidays. Being on the college team myself, I utilise those holidays for participating in tournaments. Also, travelling from Kanpur to Goa seems to take aeons! So, I had to keep a day in backup for travel :(! While at the event, I met Ms Madhu Pandey, one of the senior volunteers. She is a fantastic trailblazing umpire from India in her own right (check out her interview here). She was kind enough to provide me access to the stadium a day earlier, to watch the poster girl of Indian table tennis, Manika Batra live in action. And also to some lip-smacking food. Hope to meet you again soon, ma’am. 

Sports teaches us important life lessons, apart from staying fit and healthy. Take for example, the first match played by world rank 1, Fan Zhendong (after receiving a Bye in the first round) against the then-rank 193 (and still outside the top 100), the left-handed Cho Daeseong. Fan was leading 2-0, with a match point at 10-9 in the third game. Cho staged a herculean comeback to take the match 3-2. Do watch the match highlights here. Never give up; keep fighting till the end. Fan swallowed the disappointment to emerge victorious in the next tournament, the prestigious Singapore Smash, where the Chinese clean swept all the singles and doubles, men’s and women’s events. Bounce back stronger from failure. During the practice sessions, I noticed some interesting characteristics. The players would definitely train under the watchful eyes of their coaches and practice with fellow teammates, but they would also hit a few balls with players from other countries. Felix Lebrun did an entire warmup session with the rising Indian paddler Manav Thakkar, just before his match was scheduled. It is a competitive world, but it is imperative for humanity to have camaraderie and friendship, to grow together. 

The WTT Star Contender, Goa, was a massive first foray made by India. There is some scope of improvement in the fan engagement section, and I hope Stupa is taking notes and actively working towards making the subsequent WTT events an even bigger success in India. The on-court interview was conducted somewhat awkwardly. The players were facing away from the VIP box. The same was the case with the player entry as well. For someone who is paying a premium to get the best possible view of their favourite players, this is not great news. Further, there could be some small collectible souvenirs, like autographed balls. It would be nice to have a mascot, and get one’s hands on a stuffed toy of the same. 

Goodbye Goa. Now, back to work: research in experimental Quantum Optics. 

PS: While the match replays and highlights are available on the WTT YouTube channel, I have some exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the practice sessions for you. If anyone knows about some sports photography or content writing internship/volunteering opportunities, do inform me. 

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After a briefing session with our guides, we headed towards our camp site.

As part of the Dagala Thousand Lakes trek, the excursion for the first day was a 7km (more like warmup) excursion to Gur. The following day, we walked a substantial 12km (upto an altitude of 4300m) to Labatama for our second camp.

That evening, I saw snowfall for the first time in my life! The experience was simply breathtaking. All of us came out of our tents to enjoy nature’s gift of white pearls.

The joy of snow was short-lived. It snowed all night which hampered our chances of venturing out for the trek. Our able trek guides informed us that the routes have been blocked due to the slippery ice formation. After much deliberation, we decided to continue with the planned route as far as we could go before returning back. Nature seemed to have different plans for us! The trek would then be modified from “Dagala Thousand Lakes” to “Chakula Pass” trek.

Towards the end, we halted near a village. The kids were enthusiastic to interact with us, despite the language barrier. We learnt a few words and phrases in Dzongkha, like ‘kuzo zangpo’, ‘kadrin chhe la’; and were offered really tasty ‘ja’ (tea).

To conclude the wonderful trip, we planned a visit to the famous Tiger’s Nest monastery in Paro on the last day (March 22). The adventure, however, was far from being over. We received information that our train back to Kanpur had been cancelled, not only for March 23 but for the entire week! It was another tussle to obtain some tickets in another train (general class, of course).

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