8th edition of Playwrite Litfest opens at CII on Sunday
Sports celebrities including Chess Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, Capt Balbir Singh of Hockey, broadcasters Dr Narottam Puri and Ravi Chaturvedi to feature in Playwrite
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh: The eighth edition of the sports literary festival, PlayWrite, opens here on Sunday, 2nd March at CII. Noted sports personalities including Olympian hockey player Col. Balbir Singh , first Indian chess player holding the Grandmaster title Pravin Mahadeo Thipsay , women sports achievers, and the famous sports broadcasters shall be interacting with the sports enthusiasts in seven power-packed sessions.
Playwrite highlights would be the presence of two world famous sports journalists and broadcasters, namely Dr. Narottam Puri , and Padam Shri Ravi Chaturvedi , who reported from the fields numerous exciting sporting moments for the listeners and viewers across the globe.
Hockey Olympian Col Balbir Singh will share the legacy of village Sansarpur, where he was born, to the Indian hockey which has produced 14 Olympians.
The first Indian to hold the FIDE title of chess Grandmaster Pravin Mahadeo Thipsay along with Arvinder Preet Singh , World Amateur Chess Champion, and a chess coach, would talk about the young Indian chess players making a mark in the world arena.
The session on evolution of Women's Sport in India shall feature young city athlete Shireen Ahluwalia , Pickleball player Gurleen Singh , cricket player Pragya Rawat
Manjusha Kanwar is a ten-time National badminton champion with a team bronze medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, shall be in conversation with reputed sports writer, consulting editor for Sportstar and author of Virat Kohli's biography, Vijay Lokapally , along with his sports writer son Akshay.
Nandan Kamath, founder of GoSports Foundation, sports lawyer and sports communication professional; G Rajaraman who had also been the Media Attache of Indian Team in Paris 2024 Olympics, shall explore the way forward for the Indian sports in a session on intersection of sports and storytelling.
Playwrite shall conclude in a lighter tone with Vijay Lokapally , sports enthusiasts and cardiologist Dr HK Bali , with exIAS, author and motivational speaker, Vivek Atray , shall be sharing humorous tales from the sports field in a session "Funny Tales".
Playwrite is a unique sports literature festival, co-founded by Vivek Atray, Hardeep Chandpuri, and Chitranjan Agarwal, and is a regular natural feature that focuses primarily on sports literature.