shantanu srivastava

Journalist. Lucknow Boy. Words. Sports. Usual disclaimers apply. Currently @httweets. Ex @FirstpostSports @ani

[shantanu srivastava @journoshantanu]

"I am genuinely happy to be competing again. I thank God each day for this. So yes, in a sense it’s a rebirth for me and I can’t be more grateful for this,” says @SreeshankarM
#Athletics

https://t.co/gqdrhVNDmU

[Vinayak Padmadeo @Padmadeo]

When babus play favorites, sport suffers. Daughters of a forest guard, medical shop owner, forced deposit 3 lakh to participate in Junior World Handball championships because govt does not recognise Handball body. Sad!!

Story link 👇
https://t.co/dIQkPky6mb

[shantanu srivastava @journoshantanu]

.@Neeraj_chopra1 on his injuries, comeback and more
#Athletics
#Javelin

https://t.co/CBbUNLYzIN

[Vinayak Padmadeo @Padmadeo]

Chief just for info, a sitting additional solicitor general of govt of india appeared on her behalf in the court, and said "attending national camps or trials is not mandatory for selection for team India". Think she should use this for fer benefit this time

[shantanu srivastava @journoshantanu]

At the start of the season, Tejas Shirse created what he calls a manifestation board on his iPad, listing everything he wants to achieve on the track this year. Halfway through, the 110m hurdler has ticked off the first item on the wishlist: 13.27s.

https://t.co/AtP2Z4iBFi

[Abhinav A. Bindra OLY @Abhinav_Bindra]

Rest in peace, Jaspal - you will always be remembered with deep affection, respect and gratitude.

[shantanu srivastava @journoshantanu]

India’s entire Asian Games bound wrestling squad comes from one state, a barely-surprising but a bewildering stat nevertheless. Tell that to a Haryanvi wrestler, and they simply shrug their shoulders.
On what keeps Haryana's wrestling factory going👇

https://t.co/GMIa3cnBhC

[shantanu srivastava @journoshantanu]

Amid the high drama at the Asian Games selection trials recently, another wrestler with the famous surname went under the radar. Dipanshi Phogat is only 17, and she aced the 50kg bracket to seal her selection in her 1st senior outing. Her story 👇

https://t.co/74Gm1WWRfZ

[Ujwal @UjwalKS]

Hello. Firstpost is looking for experienced football writer who will be in USA for World Cup. Someone who has covered previous WCs and can write at intersection of football, culture and politics. If you fit the bill, please get it in touch...if not, RT for good karma. Thanks.

[shantanu srivastava @journoshantanu]

"You reach a lot of semi-finals but not enough finals. And you don’t win enough finals either. At the elite level, there’s very little that separates the best from the rest, and Indian wrestlers miss that cutting edge,” #wrestling HPD Ian Butler said.

https://t.co/hxm96ZuoXh

[nnis Sports @nnis_sports]

🚨 Haryana State Trials left us stunned.

The state that produced Neeraj Chopra is struggling to conduct a basic athletics meet:

- Officials checking finishes on mobile phones
- Two athletes at a time in hurdles due to lack of hurdles
- Decathletes travelling 40km for pole vault
- A football goalpost behind the long jump pit

Full story in this week's NNIS Sports newsletter.

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https://t.co/GQiRVdjXK5

#IndianAthletics #AthleticsIndia @afiindia #AthleticsIndia @Neeraj_chopra1 @Media_SAI

[Sundeep Misra @MisraSundeep]

First, let’s get one thing out of the way: James Hillier is an extremely good coach. Now that the mandatory genuflection is done, we need to talk about his recent online session with “hand-picked” journalists. Mr. Hillier saw fit to drop a slice of classic, defensive sarcasm, complaining that a few reporters “just try to find the negative in everything because they want a few clicks.”

​It begs the question: Is he entirely above criticism? Did he secretly coach a golden generation to Olympic glory in some other part of the world, earning lifetime immunity from accountability? Or has the classic Indian sporting trait of zero introspection finally rubbed off on him?

​More importantly, does he seriously believe that Indian track and field is a goldmine for “clicks”? Let’s be real. If a journalist wanted cheap traffic, they’d write a breathless 100-word aggregate piece about Virat Kohli’s haircut or Rohit Sharma’s expressions. Covering athletics isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. The reporters on this beat put far more on the line than the AFI or you, Mr. Hillier. You know why? We don’t get paid by the AFI or Reliance. We know exactly what dedicating our lives to the raw, unglamorous reality of track and field actually costs.

​Let’s look at history. At the 2012 London Olympics, UK Athletics chief Charles van Commenee resigned after British athletes won six medals. Why? Because he had publicly promised eight. He held himself to his own standard and walked. Meanwhile, in our ecosystem, the baton gets dropped (thrice), performances plateau (relay), and the blame is neatly deflected away from the coaching staff. Was it lack of exposure? Lack of preparation? Who knows. But the goalposts just get pushed comfortably forward to the next Asian Games or Olympic cycle.

​Taxpayers’ money funds national teams and national systems. Is anyone ever held accountable? Historically, NSFs act like they are completely untouchable.

​This isn't about “negativity.” It’s about the soul of the sport. Watching wonderfully talented sprinters like Gurindervir Singh and Animesh Kujur suffer when their performances drop is genuinely heartbreaking. They are the ones who bear the brunt when the system falters. The rest of the noise? I couldn’t care a fig. Clicks or no clicks; the athletes deserve a system that takes a hard look in the mirror instead of blaming the people holding the notebooks.
@JamesHillier78 @afiindia

[shantanu srivastava @journoshantanu]

Golfer Manav Shah, on the brink of quitting in 2024, rebounded to qualify for his first major at the US Open after overcoming self-doubt and adversity.
#Golf
@igplofficial

https://t.co/WTEV7OFoiR

[shantanu srivastava @journoshantanu]

"There will be those who’ll say, ‘Oh, he did it in India, what’s the big deal?’ I respect that opinion. Apne ghar me har koi sher hai. If I am able to do it in CWG, Asiad, Olympics, that’s when I’ll rate myself," says @TejaswinShankar

https://t.co/FVVQrEc56L

[K.P. Mohan @kaypeem]

Where we stand:

[World Athletics @WorldAthletics]

The road to Beijing is officially underway 🫨

Read more about the qualifications system and entry standards for the #WorldAthleticsChamps Beijing 27 here 👉 https://t.co/A97Gncmbqk

[Arnab Seal @arnabsTOI]

Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar might be the pole vault national champion and runner-up, as well as the joint national record holders, but their struggle with transporting poles continues.

To their good fortune, the toto driver did not object to carrying them after they assured him that they were just 'plastic pipes'.

#athletics #indianathletics

[nnis Sports @nnis_sports]

Gurindervir’s national record survives only for minutes!📷
Animesh Kujur storms to 10.15s in the 100m semifinal, smashing Gurindervir Singh’s freshly-set 10.17 NR and reclaiming the national record in style.
He also goes under the Commonwealth Games qualification standard. Indian sprinting is exploding right now.
#athleticsindia #Ranchi #110m #animesh #Gurvindervir

[Tanushree Pandey @TanushreePande]

No sir, we have. Unfortunately, many of us were thrown out of our jobs and stopped being counted as part of India’s “press corps” precisely because we asked tough ques to the govt.

India still has some of the finest independent journalists doing real journalism and asking difficult ques .. often at the cost of being silenced in more ways than one.

More power to Helle, absolutely. But even more power to those journalists in India who have been doing this for years, under far harsher circumstances, with far more at stake.

[shantanu srivastava @journoshantanu]

Pukhraj Singh Gill tasted his first professional success earlier this month on the Asian Development Tour and is focussed on earning the full card on the @asiantourgolf for next season. Spoke to the journeyman golfer on his win and the plans ahead 👇

https://t.co/nRR4svn0yX