Kerala State Sports Council (KSSC) president Padmini Thomas on Wednesday released the new-look Sportstar at a simple yet colourful ceremony attended by an array of former sportspersons and administrators.
The KSSC president and former Asian Games medallist handed over the first copy of the redesigned Sportstar to Olympian K.M. Beenamol at the function held at the Press Club here.
The new issue of the magazine takes an in-depth look at the London Olympics, all set to commence on Friday.
Ms. Thomas said it was appropriate that the magazine, which has a huge readership among sportspersons, was re-launched on the eve of the London Olympics. She expressed hope that the fortunes of the six Keralites taking part in the Olympics would be covered in detail in the coming issues of the magazine.
Ms. Beenamol said she felt happy that Sportstar was being re-launched as it was the only magazine which gave an exhaustive coverage of prominent international, national, and local events.
Ms. Beenamol said often after reading articles in the magazine she felt that she was being transported to the scene of action.
Former BCCI secretary S.K. Nair, in his felicitation address, said Sportstar with its experienced writers had build up a sufficient reader base in the country.
He said the sports fraternity in the country felt sad when Sportsand Past Time , predecessor of Sportstar, was closed down in the late 1960s. But Sportstar was able to regain the loyalty of readers like Sports and Past Time had with its incisive writing and excellent display of action pictures.
Mr. Nair said the new design of the magazine was in tune with the times and wished the endeavour all success.
KSSC secretary P.S. Abdul Razak, international volley player Jaisamma Muthedan, former Indian basketball captain Unwin Antony, international athletes Subash M. Geroge and Bobby Aloysius, international table tennis competitions manager N.Ganesan, international footballer V.P. Shaji, former KFA secretary K. Bodhanandan, former Santosh Trophy captain G. Balakrishnan Nair, former Kerala Ranji players K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan, V. Narayanankutty, O.K. Ramdas, Ranjith Thomas, Arjuna awardee in powerlifting P.J. Joseph, Hockey Kerala president Sunil Kumar, treasurer of Swimming Federation of India S. Rajiv, Deputy Director of Sports Authority of India G. Issac, and international fitness expert Pradip Dutta were among those present at the launch function.
Senior Assistant Editor of The Hindu and Sportstar A. Vinod welcomed the gathering. Regional General Manager of The Hindu T.S. Lakshminarasimhan proposed a vote of thanks. The event was sponsored by premium builder Mansions.
