Experts dwell on sports, literature at PlayWrite

The eighth edition of a sports literary fest, The PlayWrite-2025, brought together sports legends, commentators and writers for a series of insightful discussions on sports and storytelling at the CII here today. The event was marked by engaging sessions, expert dialogues and inspiring anecdotes.

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The day kicked off with a discussion on “Sansarpur’s Legacy and Beyond”, featuring Col Balbir Singh in conversation with Prabhjot Singh, followed by “Net Flicks: India’s Smashing Affair with the Shuttle” where Vijay Lokapally and Akshay Lokapally discussed India’s badminton journey with Manjusha Kanwar.

A coffee break was followed by an insightful discussion on “The Art of Commentary: A Deep Dive into Sports Broadcasting”. The session featuring Dr Narottam Puri and Ravi Chaturvedi was moderated by Hardeep Chandpuri.

Importance of women sports took the centre stage next with ‘The Evolution of Women’s Sport in India’, which saw a conversation between Shireen Ahluwalia, Gurleen Singh and Pragya Rawat.

In the post-lunch session for chess enthusiasts, “Chess and the Young Indian Surge”, Pravin Thipsay and Arvinder Preet Singh discussed the new wave of chess talent. Calling India as emerging superpower in chess, the guests believed that the country’s potential talent can be tapped with more investments and active involvement of the government, especially after Gukesh Dommaraju winning the 2024 World Chess Championship. The role of storytelling in sports was explored in “The Intersection of Sports and Storytelling”, a conversation between Nandan Kamath and G Rajaraman.

Laughter echoed through the venue in “Funny Tales! Humorous Anecdotes from Sports”, featuring Vijay Lokapally, Dr HK Bali and Vivek Atray. The event concluded with a closing address by Atray, a motivational speaker, author and former IAS officer.

Organised with the support of XLScout, Vibrant Networking Forum, Novel Bunch and PlayWrite, the festival successfully blended sports and literature, furthering its reputation as a unique platform for sports storytelling. Media partners Glorious, Capital 90.8 FM, and The Daily Guardian helped bring the event to a wider audience.