World Sports Journalists Day: Celebrating India's top Sports Journalists of all time

Sports journalists, unlike today, functioned as the primary source of information when television broadcasting had not yet boomed in India. Every Indian household did not have a television set either. 

Even when people had a television set, accessing and watching every sports event was impossible.

Hence, people had to depend on sports journalists to know about the happenings in sports across the world.

They were the ones who made sports popular in the early days of the profession when people were still far from feeling the emotions of sports.

These sports journalists fought the dogged fight to get sports writing recognised as a form of journalism. Today, sports journalism has a prominent presence across all forms of media, with dedicated sports magazines and websites.

In their honour, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) established World Sports Journalists Day on July 2, 1994.

While Indian sports journalism has predominantly been dominated by cricket writers, there are those who undertook the hard task of reporting and writing on Olympic sports.

Over the years, several sports journalists have been honoured for their immense contributions to the field.

We, at The Bridge, on this special occasion, recollect the pioneering sports journalists of India.

Harpal Singh Bedi

An affable person and an erudite journalist, Harpal Singh Bedi was known for his extensive coverage of Indian sports in a career spanning over four decades.

Bedi served as the sports editor of the United News of India (UNI) and was among the tallest figures in Indian sports journalism. He worked as a consulting editor for The Statesman newspaper for the last couple of years.

In his illustrious career, he covered eight Olympic Games and several Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, among other tournaments.

Bedi also served as the national Olympic contingent’s press attache in 2012 at the London Olympics, charming the media box with his inimitable wit and warmth.

He passed away after a prolonged illness on June 16 at the age of 72.

Sharda Ugra

One of India's finest sports journalists, Sharda Ugra is a renowned figure in the spectrum of Indian journalism. Her writing is not merely about the celebration of sports.

She has carved a niche for herself with her sharp-witted, anti-establishment writing about the shoddy state of Indian sports administration, drawing the attention of millennials to the clandestine aspects of sports.

In her 35-year-long career and counting, Sharda has worked for several organizations, from Mid-Day to ESPN Cricinfo to The Hindu.

An award-winning sports journalist, Sharda is now a columnist who writes for several organizations, often exposing malpractices in Indian sports.

Her probing style of writing is spot-on.

Many regard her as the 'best sports writer' of the time. Noted Indian musician TM Krishna said, "She writes with so much acuity about the intersection of sports, people, and politics."

Norris Pritam

Another distinct name on this list is Norris Pritam, a sports journalist par excellence.

He chose to cover and write about Olympic sports in India at a time when the movement had a scant presence in the country, and success in the Olympics was few and far between for Indian athletes.

From the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to the 2016 Rio Olympics, Norris covered six Olympic Games, bringing a ringside view to his readers back home and keeping the flame of the Olympic Movement alive in India.

Besides the Olympics, he also covered seven Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and multiple World Championships.

One of his pioneering works is the biography of India's golden boy, Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic and World Championships gold medal-winning hero.

In India, where the sports publishing industry is dominated by cricket books, Norris's ‘The Neeraj Chopra Story’ came as a trendsetter.

His simple yet nuanced writing style is a big hit among readers.

Sundeep Misra

A journalist with a flair for writing and a brilliant sense of humour, Sundeep Misra is one of the doyens of Indian sports journalism. His passion and intelligible understanding of sports are reflected in his writing.

While there are several sports that he writes about, hockey is his specialty. 

The former editor of Editor-in-Chief of Sports Illustrated India is a magnificent storyteller.

He authored three books: 'Forgive Me Amma', the biography of Dhanraj Pillay, 'Mohammed of Benares', the stories of the 1982 Asian Games final, and 'Fiercely Female', the biography of sprinter Dutee Chand.

Besides being a distinguished writer and editor, Sundeep is also a well-traveled journalist, covering several Olympic and Asian Games.

Such has been his love for sports stories that he is presently associated with the celebration of Indian sports writings by recognizing the work of Indian writers on the platform of Ekamra Sports Literature Festival, which is also the world's biggest sports literature festival.

V Krishnaswamy

Another entry in this list is V Krishnaswamy, a senior journalist with more than 40 years of experience.

He covered eight Olympics, ten Asian Games, nine Commonwealth Games, and over 30 Majors in golf including 13 Masters in 40+ and more than 40 World Championships spreading over numerous sports.

Like Norris, he has also authored a book on one of India's Olympic sports icons, PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medal-winning shuttler, named 'Shuttling to the Top - the story of PV Sindhu’.

While Krishnaswamy has covered several sports, his book detailing the story of Sindhu is one of his greatest contributions to the culture of the Olympic Movement in India which has been translated into more than five languages.

Novy Kapadia

Late Novy Kapadia was a crusader in Indian football. A professor of English at the St Stephens College in Delhi, Novy was an affectionate, well-informed, and versatile commentator of the game.

Throughout his life, he dedicated his time and attention to the cause of Indian football, presented rich programs, and wrote articles with different perspectives. 

One of his finest and most comprehensive works on Indian football is 'Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football'. In this book, Novy detailed the journey of Indian football depicting his simple yet fascinating style of writing. 

Rohit Brijnath

Renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle regarded him as the 'best Indian sportswriter by a long margin' for his narrative style of writing.

His informed opinions and observations made sports writing more attractive as a profession, making him an inspiration to young and aspiring journalists.

Rohit Brijnath began his career at the now-defunct magazine Sports World. He was part of a team of journalists who would go on to make it big in their careers.

In his illustrious career, Brijnath developed himself as a top sports columnist.

His long form of writing is the most popular among his readers.

Brijnath wrote for esteemed media organisations like India Today, BBC, and Sportstar. His column 'Game Theory' published weekly in Mint is quite popular.

He is also the co-author of the biography of Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra titled 'A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold', published in 2011.

KP Mohan

When it comes to fighting the maniac of doping and exposing scandalous acts in sports, no one comes close to KP Mohan.

A former athletics correspondent for The Hindu, KP Mohan hails from Kerala. He is a pioneering journalist who has been reporting and writing on doping and cheating in Indian athletics.

Moti Nandi

A journalist par excellence Moti Nandi is a distinguished entry in this list from the vernacular press of India.

He was known for his marvelous storytelling. Throughout his career, he worked for the Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika and had also been the sports editor at the publication.

While Nandi's journalistic work was distinct and objective, he also excelled in sports fiction writing. He has written several books on Indian sports, especially football and swimming, with many of them being later translated into English and adapted to cinemas. 

For his powerful stories of the daily struggles of Indian athletes, he was bestowed with the Sahitya Akademi award in 1991. 

Needless to say, Nandi and his writing are one of the reasons that people felt attracted to sports journalism.