Few can resist the excitement that comes with discovering snug, ageless memories in a new package.
For lovers of Sportstar, India’s premier sports weekly for over three decades, there were surprises of the most pleasant variety on Wednesday evening. A new-look Sportstar, in the magazine format, was released in a function that was at once elegant and warm.
Ramanathan Krishnan, India’s foremost tennis legend, released the first copy of Sportstar while Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor, The Hindu, received it. Also in attendance were quite a few former Olympians and Internationals.
In his address, Mr. Krishnan recalled his long-standing association with The Hindu group of publications, particularly Sportstar and its famed predecessor, Sport and Pastime.
“Back in 1948, I started learning tennis from my father. I used to read the Sport and Pastime and found itvery interesting. So I asked my father to subscribe to it. I remember reading a very good account of the Wimbledon final in 1948 between [Robert] Falkenburg and [John] Bromwich. Later, I had a collection of about 1000 copies of Sport and Pastime. The Hindu group of publications has always maintained a high standard, moving with the times,” he said.
New dawn
Mr. Varadarajan hoped the re-launch of the Sportstar with the Olympics round the corner, would coincide with a new dawn for Indian sports.
“With a magazine that can provide insights into Indian sports, I hope both Sportstar and Indian sports can grow hand in hand.”
Nirmal Shekar, Editor, Sportstar, and Sports Editor of The Hindu, assured the audience that the re-launch was “not old wine in a new bottle.”
“When it comes to change, the why, how, and what, are all equally important.
“We have tried to make the magazine more reader-friendly with new, trendy fonts, aesthetically pleasing design, and attractive new editorial features,” he said.
Arun Anant, CEO of The Hindu, and Suresh Srinivasan, Vice-President (Advertising), The Hindu, presented Mr. Krishnan with a memento.
So much written about tennis players like paes etc etc but still the greatest Indian tennis player is Ramanathan Krishnan who beat the greatest of his times like Laver,Olmedo,Fraser,anderson,Emerson etc and reached the Wimbledon men's semifinals twice and once ranked as high as in the top five at Wimbledon but unfortunately that year was not 100% fit and had an injury. The best part of it all is that R.Krishnan was NOT egoistic and selfish like today's paes and his ilk.
Sportstar, India's greatest sports weekly in English managed to capture the imagination of all people, not just the youth because it was able to encapture the spirit of sports, its nuances and subtleties in an endearing manner with fascinating articles by national and inter national writers, enchanting photos, captivating news items and interesting event coverage. The center page poster was always the star attraction, the starry shine and gloss was world class. Those of us who grew along with the magazine will vouch for the awe inspiring wonder it was able to generate each time we laid our hands onto it.
It's wonderful to know that it has reverted back to the magazine format.
Great going!
It resembles the Sports and Pastime,which was rechristained as Sports Star and changed into tabloid format a decades back.It will certainly be handy and easy to preserve.Best wishes..
Remember Ramanathan Krishnan during Inter-Collegeate tennis matches in
early fifties.He used to represent Loyola College.A great sportsman.He
will try his best not to give his opponents a 6-0;6-0, drubbing,but
would try to give them at least a game.Glad to see that he looks hale
and hearty and with that inimitable smile.God bless.
Sports & Pastime was a veritable delight and with stalwarts like S K Gurunathan associated with it, this publication from the Hindu stable was spot-on when it came to objective reporting on sports. Sportstar perhaps the only magazine exclusively for sports in the country today filled in admirably and whetted the appetite of sports lovers. Under the able editorship of a veteran like Nirmal Shekar the new Sportstar should turn out to be the last word where sports both domestic and international are concerned. Best wishes to Nirmal and his team.
Sorry to be writing this. It hardly matters, whether the Sportstar has a new look or continues with the old one. Page after page is devoted to 'cricket' (including the business activity called IPL), European Club football (which is another business activity) and F1 (with Zero Indian participation). Racquet sports, athletics, carrom, etc rarely get a mention. In fact cricket-peddling is the major activity of all newspapers. "Kapil back in BCCI Fold" is evidence of that. Rest assured, even if Indians win all the medals at Olympics, Indian media would ensure that National time waste cricket gets favoured mention.
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