Hemanshu Chaturvedi

At 34, I am still hungry, says Divij Sharan

August 26, 2020

It was in Prague that Indian Davis Cup player Divij Sharan received the pleasant news of being nominated for the 2020 Arjuna Award for tennis. I have known Divij since the age of 12 and his nomination gave me personal pleasure as I have always admired him as a very...

Nandan Bal: A tennis star, coach and mentor all rolled into one

August 24, 2020

Senior tennis player Nandan Bal has been nominated for India’s most prestigious Dhyan Chand Award for ‘Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games’. It is indeed rare that a good player of high calibre is also a good coach and a mentor as well. And Nandan Bal has all the qualities...

The September saga of SGFI

June 24, 2020

On 6 June 2020, I had written a piece in The Daily Guardian wherein I had recommended that the recognition of School Games Federation of India (SGFI) should be given top priority as it would help lakhs of budding sportsmen to grow. The Ministry of Youth and Sports Affair had...

The reasons behind SGFI de-recognition

June 6, 2020

On 11 May 2020, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports released a list of 54 National Sports Federations (NSFs) as recognised till September 2020. However, the surprising part was that the Paralympics Committee of India (PCI), Rowing Federation of India (RFI), and School Games Federation of India (SGFI) failed...

Top athletes can resume practice by month end: Rijiju

May 5, 2020

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has said that elite athletes can return to their rigorous training for events, including the Tokyo Olympics, by the end of the month since they have not been included in the list of activities allowed yet. Speaking in a webinar organised by the FICCI sports committee...