B Shrikant anchors the Mumbai sports desk. A journalist for more than two decades, he covers hockey, chess, athletics, basketball and volleyball.
Articles by B Shrikant
FIH Olympic Qualifiers: Mandeep’s brace saves India blushes against Russia
Mandeep (24th, 53rd minutes) scored two field goals while Harmanpreet Singh (5th) and SV Sunil (48th) also hit the target for India.
Updated on Nov 01, 2019 11:24 PM IST
Bhubaneshwar | B Shrikant
FIH Olympic qualifiers: Near-flawless show against USA sees India all but seal Tokyo spot
India scored four goals in 11 minutes after halftime to kill the tie as Gurjeet Kaur scored a brace.
Updated on Nov 01, 2019 11:00 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
Sreejesh and his quest for a third Olympic Games
With India set to play the crucial FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers against Russia on Friday and Saturday, Sreejesh will once again be the last line of defence, though if the home team’s current world ranking is an indicator, they should have little trouble making it to the Tokyo Olympics.
Updated on Nov 01, 2019 01:38 PM IST
Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
Apprentices the key in the battle of Dutch masters
As the Sjoerd Marijne-coached India take on the Janneke Schopman-trained US team in a do-or-die clash for both, the hosts would be hoping to forget the disappointment of the failed Olympic bid at the Jakarta Asian Games last year.
Updated on Nov 01, 2019 01:26 PM IST
BHUBANESWAR | B Shrikant
Russian hurdle on road to Tokyo
Do-or-die: India would hope drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh comes good on return in tie vs Russia.
Updated on Oct 31, 2019 10:13 AM IST
Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
India hockey benefits from ‘high intensity training’ in Netherlands
The idea behind a joint training session was to inspire both sets of players and trigger the competitive juices between them, making them exert a little extra.
Updated on Oct 10, 2019 08:10 AM IST
Hindustan Times, Mumbai | B Shrikant
When NBA giants came calling to enthral Indian fans
It was thus ‘hit the court running’ with a difference when basketball royalty landed in India for the first time earlier this week, with Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers playing two pre-season games.
Updated on Oct 06, 2019 11:56 PM IST
Thrills & spills as Pacers win on NBA India debut
After the regulation time ended at 118-118, the match was decided in the extra five minutes when the Pacers, who were trailing throughout the match, went ahead for the first-time and managed to eke out a close win.
Updated on Oct 04, 2019 11:29 PM IST
Mumbai | B Shrikant
NBA all set to woo India fans in Mumbai
Despite that the NBA India Games—two pre-season matches involving Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers here on Friday and Saturday—have a special significance as it is the first time it is being held in India.
Updated on Oct 03, 2019 10:26 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Mumbai | B Shrikant
Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings upbeat about India trip
The games will be played at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai on October 4-5 and both Barnes and McDermott said they were looking forward to playing in India.
Updated on Sep 27, 2019 11:44 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Mumbai | B Shrikant
‘Want to make the sport more accessible to help build an ecosystem’: Gagan Narang | Exclusive interview
On Thursday, the 2008 Olympic Games bronze medallist received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar from President Ram Nath Kovind on behalf of the foundation that has trained around 50 international shooters.
Updated on Aug 31, 2019 07:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times, Mumbai | B Shrikant
With swift backstrokes, Srihari stokes big hopes
Srihari Nataraj says he wants to focus on the senior national championships and the Asian age-group competition in Bengaluru, and will continue training to qualify for the Olympics
Updated on Aug 29, 2019 09:32 AM IST
Hindustan Times, Mumbai | B Shrikant
Marzban Patel: Kudos for a lifetime of coaching hockey
Marzban Patel—better known as Bawa—has been doing this for almost 40 years, and he did not change it on August 17, when it was announced that he had been awarded the Dronacharya in the Lifetime category.
Updated on Aug 30, 2019 08:57 AM IST
Mumbai | B Shrikant
In Tokyo test, India hockey team to look for key insights
It is a particularly crucial event for the women’s team under Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne, as they take on world No 2 Australia, world No 11 China and world No 14 Japan.
Updated on Aug 16, 2019 10:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times, MUMBAI | B Shrikant
India hockey team feels the heat in Tokyo
With a severe heatwave across Japan, the weather remained topmost in the mind of the men’s team chief coach Graham Reid.
Updated on Aug 15, 2019 10:37 PM IST
Mumbai | B Shrikant
Women’s hockey team: Tips from ex-air force pilot to take wings
Handling pressure, especially in the dying moments of a match, has proved a major issue for Indian hockey teams.
Updated on Aug 05, 2019 11:54 AM IST
Mumbai | B Shrikant
Brilliant Viswanathan Anand finishes second in Grand Chess Tour
The 49-year-old Indian recovered ground in the blitz competition by scoring 10.5 points from a possible 18.
Updated on Aug 02, 2019 09:52 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Mumbai | B Shrikant
IOA writes to Sports ministry, wants to boycott Commonwealth Games
Ever since shooting sport was dropped from the 2022 CWG curriculum, voices of discontent have grown as the sport had given India 16 medals out of a total of 66 at the 2018 Gold Coast edition.
Updated on Jul 27, 2019 08:12 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Mumbai | B Shrikant
India hammer South Africa 5-1, claim FIH Series Finals title
India registered a comfortable 5-1 victory in the final against South Africa to claim the top spot in the competition.
Updated on Jun 15, 2019 10:49 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
FIH Series Finals: Few surprises as India reach final, clinch Olympic qualifiers berth
India outplayed reigning Asian Games champion Japan 7-2 to storm into the summit clash of the FIH Series Finals hockey tournament.
Updated on Jun 14, 2019 10:52 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubneswar | B Shrikant
FIH Men’s Series Finals: Much-improved Japan in India’s path to the final
India are ranked fifth in the world while Japan are 18th, so when they meet in the semi-finals of the FIH Men’s Series Finals on Friday, the hosts will be overwhelming favourites to advance to the summit clash and clinch a spot in the Tokyo Olympics qualification tournament
Updated on Jun 14, 2019 08:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
Japan crush Poland, to face India in semis
Japan, who have already qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as hosts, are playing here for ranking points and had reached Bhubaneswar hoping to meet India in the final.
Updated on Jun 13, 2019 09:45 AM IST
Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
Forward Akashdeep wants to sharpen decision-making
The 24-year-old from Punjab had stepped on to the hockey field following his brother Prabhdeep Singh, a former India international.
Updated on Jun 11, 2019 10:46 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
India’s challenge in Tokyo build-up? Penalty corners
Though drag-flicks have replaced penalty hits, many believe PCs have overtaken field goals as the most popular form of scoring, at times reducing matches to a PC slugfest.
Updated on Jun 11, 2019 10:46 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
Brittle Indian hockey team seeks mental toughness
The main reason for the questions regarding mental toughness is that India beat Poland 10-0 in the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia three months back, but struggled to quell them on Friday.
Updated on Jun 09, 2019 06:14 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
Despite setbacks, Japan’s hockey team aims high
Japan’s is the Cinderella story of hockey that could inspire a Hollywood blockbuster, but it has created barely a ripple in their country.
Updated on Jun 08, 2019 12:23 PM IST
Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
Indian hockey team kick off Olympic build-up against Russia
The hosts are the highest ranked team in this tournament and favourites to win the title and clinch one of the two berths for the Olympic qualifiers at the year end.
Updated on Jun 06, 2019 01:35 AM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubneshwar | B Shrikant
Stakes high for but India up for FIH series finals
Stakes are far higher for hosts India. Failure to finish in the top two would be a big disaster that will likely push Indian hockey back a couple of years.
Updated on Jun 05, 2019 10:37 AM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
India beat Japan 4-1 in final warmup tie
The Indian men’s team for the FIH Series Finals has played two warm-up matches in the last two days, winning both comfortably. They beat South Africa 3-1 on Monday and Japan 4-1 on Tuesday.
Updated on Jun 05, 2019 10:37 AM IST
Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar | B Shrikant
‘Focus on limiting changes to hockey,’ says FIH’s CEO Thierry Weil
Change is the only constant in international hockey, a sport that sees such frequent tinkering in its rules and tournament formats that even its ardent fans find it hard to keep up.
Updated on Jun 04, 2019 11:37 AM IST
Mumbai | B Shrikant