Chennai, 28 June 2022: The inaugural edition of the Sportstar South Sports Conclave, organised by the Hindu Group Publishing Pvt. Ltd., was held at the Taj Coromandel in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on Tuesday (June 28, 2022).
The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Shri M. K. Stalin was the Keynote speaker for the day, opening the proceedings with insight about the state’s sporting history and ambitions.
Speaking to the dignitaries and media personnel present, Shri M. K. Stalin spoke on the state’s eagerness to invest in sports and how important the upcomin Chess Olympiad in Chennai in July will be.
“A lot of countries worked hard to host the tournament. With AICF (All India Chess Federation), we decided to bring it to India. Our government was able to take quick decisions and did all the necessary work expeditiously and we got it [hosting rights]. More than 200 countries and 1000 players will participate for the first time in Chennai. Hosting the 44th Chess Olympiad is a matter of pride for the State of Tamil Nadu. “
N. Srinivasan, the co-owner of four-time Indian Premier League Championship-winning franchise, Chennai Super Kings, traced the journey of the team from its inception to scripting a legacy in the league’s history.
Legendary Australian pacer Glenn McGrath, the director of the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, former India and NCA bowling Coach, Bharat Arun later spoke on the role of high-performance centers in achieving excellence in sports.
McGrath also reflected on his time with spin legend Shane Warne, who passed away this year.
“Warnie was one of the most amazing guys we’ve ever met. He was just a normal bloke like the rest of us, but he lived an extraordinary life,” he said.
“Off the field, he got himself into a little bit of trouble. But on the field, he was the ultimate competitor.”
In the post-Lunch session, India table tennis duo A Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan, along with former Indian tennis player Ramesh Krishnan and 2016 Rio Paralympics High Jump Gold-medal winning athlete Mariyappan Thangavelu shared their Olympic journeys and addressed where India stands in comparison with other sporting superpowers at the Olympics and Paralympics.
Afterward, Sports Mechanics Promoter Ramky S, Tenvic Promoter Vasanth Bhardwaj, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research’s Dr. Sivaraman Arumugam and Kinvent (A French Health & Sports Tech Company) CEO Dr. Kevin Caillaud explained how they have used technology to enhance training experiences, recovery and performance for athletes at various levels.
Former F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan, FMSCI Sporting Executive Balakrishna Jayasimha, former F2 driver and Founder of x1 racing League Armaan Ebrahim and Dakar Rallyist CS Santosh addressed the affordability problems facing motorsports based on their early experiences.
Post the tea Break, former India Hockey Captain V Baskaran, Edusports Founder Saumil Majumdar, FITJEE Managing Partner Ankur Jain, and JSW Olympic Programme Head of Partnerships, Aman Shah, with examples from work they’ve done in their respective fields, highlighted the importance of work that needs to be done at the youth sports level and how vital private-public partnerships (PPP) are towards that goal.
Majmudar spoke about the need to expand the gambit of the PPP model.
“Promotion of sports to me means promotion of sports, not promotion of winning medals. There is a big distinction between the promotion of sports and winning medals,” he said.
“The winning of medals has completely overshadowed the promotion of sports. The PPP model is the government saying that there are certain public goods I have to provide but do not have the time, money or expertise to provide, dear Mr Private, please come, let’s partner. But that PPP should be for the larger public. Not only for a very small percentage of elite athletes. Currently, all the discussion is about the elite athletes.”
The need to encourage more women to take up sports was a common theme through the day. Former India cricket captain Mithali Raj, motorsport driver Alisha Abdullah, Olympian Anju Bobby George and Dr Anjali Chopra who teaches Sports Management at the KJ Somaiya Institute of Management joined former cricketer Sudha Shah to chart out ways to inspire girls to take up sports in schools and communities.
