Hard Tackle The Straits Times

Join in this passionate post mortem of the recently concluded 2023/24 English Premier League season.

Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the talking points in sport every second Wednesday of the month. 

As the dust settles on another thrilling English Premier League (EPL) season, the post-campaign analysis has begun at the Hard Tackle.

ST Sports reporter Deepanraj Ganesan and guest co-host Zia-ul Raushan - assistant program director for Money FM 89.3 - invited nine die-hard EPL fans and renowned sports presenter John Dykes to dissect the highs and lows of their favourite teams, reflect on the past season's triumphs and tribulations and eagerly anticipate what lies ahead.

Is there a world after Jurgen Klopp for Liverpool, and can we talk about Manchester City’s title win without mentioning their alleged breaches?

Will Arsenal return for another tilt at the title next season? We discuss all that and more on this special end-of-season podcast.

Highlights (click/tap above):

5:30 Has Manchester City’s title celebrations been overshadowed by Premier League’s 115 breaches of regulations?

12:44 After finishing second again, can Arsenal continue to challenge for the title next season?

15:04 Do fans agree with Phil Foden being crowned player of the season?

20:55 How are Liverpool fans feeling after the emotional final day farewell to Jurgen Klopp?

32:45 On Aston Villa balancing Europe and Premier League next season 

45:57 Will Newcastle be able to hold on to their key assets?

55:17 Erik ten Hag: In or out?

Guests/fans:

Arsenal fan - Eddy HironoLiverpool fan - Imran FarizLiverpool fan - Rishi BudhraniMan City fan - Haizam ShahMan Utd fan - Fauzie LailyNewcastle fan - Terence OngSpurs fan - Nitin NambiarAston Villa fan - Jod GillChelsea fan - Kalvinder GillSports presenter - John Dykes

Watch the full video podcast here: https://str.sg/cbY4

Read: https://str.sg/7aUq

Hosted & produced by: Deepanraj Ganesan (gdeepan@sph.com.sg), Zia-ul Raushan (raushan@sph.com.sg)

Filmed in: Studio+65

Edited by: Amirul Karim & Studio+65

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

Follow Zia-ul Raushan at Sports Minutes Podcast, Money FM 89.3: https://str.sg/umMD

Follow Hard Tackle every month here and get notified for new episode drops:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWRE

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRa

Spotify: https://str.sg/JW6N

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Follow Deepanraj Ganesan on X: https://str.sg/wtra

Read his articles: https://str.sg/ip4G

Catch visual snippets of the podcast from ST's sports Instagram page: https://str.sg/vn2F

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

---

ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

#hardtackle
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Diving into women’s football in Singapore

Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the talking points in sport every second Wednesday of the month. 

In this episode of Hard Tackle, we look at the state of women’s football in Singapore and what the Republic needs to do to improve its standards. 

In the Lionesses’ most recent international friendlies, they suffered 3-0 and 8-0 defeats by Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) kicked off on March 9 but lacklustre field conditions at the Choa Chua Kang stadium caused much frustration and anger to players, coaches and fans.

Join ST Sports reporter Deepanraj Ganesan, current women’s footballer Sara Merican, former national captain Charmaine Lim and former national footballer Chris Yip-Au who is now with Seychelles Football Federation as its head of women’s football and women’s national team coach.

They explore the current issues in women’s football and what the future holds for the ladies. 

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:45 How Yip-Au, Sara and Lim were introduced to football in the early days

9:55 Has access to information on women’s football increased in recent years?  

18:50 What is needed for countries including Singapore to progress up the rankings in women’s football? 

19:55 How do national team players balance work or school with playing football and get that aspect be improved or helped?

30:15 Discussion on the facilities in the WPL 

Read: https://str.sg/d3CE

Produced by: Deepanraj Ganesan (gdeepan@sph.com.sg) & Amirul Karim

Edited by: Amirul Karim

Follow Hard Tackle every month here and get notified for new episode drops:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWRE

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRa

Spotify: https://str.sg/JW6N

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Follow Deepanraj Ganesan on X: https://str.sg/wtra

Read his articles: https://str.sg/ip4G

Catch visual snippets of the podcast from ST's sports Instagram page: https://str.sg/vn2F

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

---

ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

#hardtackle
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did Singapore let its golden boy down in any way?

Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the talking points in sport every second Wednesday of the month. 

In this episode of Hard Tackle, we delve into the lessons from the recent retirement of Singaporean swimming sensation Joseph Schooling on April 2, 2024, at just 28 years of age.

Join ST Sports reporter Deepanraj Ganesan and assistant sports editor Rohit Brijnath as they host two guests - Singapore Aquatics president and former national swimmer Mark Chay and two-time Olympian David Lim.

They explore the implications of Schooling's decision and discuss how Singapore can draw valuable lessons from his meteoric rise to the 100m butterfly gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and his struggle after that historic win. 

Could the Singapore sports ecosystem have done more for Schooling?

Is there a conversation about national service and high performance athletes and crucially, who will be Singapore swimming’s next superstar after Schooling? 

We ask the hard questions, the guests respond, and now it is time for you to listen in on our debate.

Highlights (click/tap above):

3:00 Rohit Brijnath on how he felt after speaking to Schooling about his retirement 

12:10 Why retirement was the better option for Schooling rather than going for success at regional competitions?  

14:05 Could there have been better support for Schooling?

22:30 On how Singapore can do better in drawing on the knowledge, experience and ups and downs of our successful athletes 

28:40 Why we need to have a closer look at how Schooling became a success 

34:00 Will stakeholders have a conversation about NS and its impact on athletes?

Listen to our earlier episode with Joseph Schooling himself: https://str.sg/LFUG

Read: https://str.sg/JJJQF

Produced by: Deepanraj Ganesan (gdeepan@sph.com.sg) & Amirul Karim

Edited by: Amirul Karim

Follow Hard Tackle every month here and get notified for new episode drops:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWRE

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRa

Spotify: https://str.sg/JW6N

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Follow Deepanraj Ganesan on X: https://str.sg/wtra

Read his articles: https://str.sg/ip4G

Catch visual snippets of the podcast from ST's sports Instagram page: https://str.sg/vn2F

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

#hardtackle
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hear the tough questions posed to our sports stars or authorities in our studio, and how they react.

Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the talking points in sport every second Wednesday of the month. 

The Straits Times' sports podcast has been around for the past few years, in different formats - from Game Of Two Halves, to Sports Talk, and now...the Hard Tackle.

We've found that this format has worked the best for us, and the harder the tackle, the more our listeners come back for more.

Host Deepanraj Ganesan's boyhood Manchester United hero Roy Keane would be so proud to hear this.

He will engage guests from the local or foreign sports community as ST looks at the biggest talking points in sport.

Catch back episodes of Hard Tackle:

Olympic champ Joseph Schooling in his own words as he retires

The Lions’ Tsutomu Ogura era is underway

New Lions head coach Tsutomu Ogura talks his vision for SG football

Catch visual snippets of the podcast from ST's sports Instagram page: https://str.sg/vn2F

Connect with Deepan on X to give him your ideas/feedback: https://str.sg/wtra

Produced by: Deepanraj Ganesan (gdeepan@sph.com.sg) & Amirul Karim

Edited by: Amirul Karim

Follow Hard Tackle every month here and get notified for new episode drops:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWRE

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRa

Spotify: https://str.sg/JW6N

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read Deepan's articles: https://str.sg/ip4G

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

#hardtackle
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eight years after his stunning success at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Singapore’s greatest athlete has called time on his career.

Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the talking points in sport every second Wednesday of the month. 

In this special episode, we bring you an excerpt of assistant sports editor Rohit Brijnath’s interview with Singapore’s Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling. 

The swimmer who won the 100m butterfly gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics called time on his career on April 2. 

Listen to Schooling as he looks back on his career with honesty and relives the moment he stunned the world and put Singapore on the sporting map.  

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:13 Schooling on how life changed after the 2016 Olympic gold 

7:20 What was it like to deal with the cannabis saga that put Schooling in the headlines again? 

8:00 Is it fair to have expectations on sportsmen to have a certain level of responsibility in how they conduct themselves? 

11:04 How Schooling felt on the day he made history 

15:11 When did Schooling realise he had won that historic race? 

What Singapore can learn from Schooling's retirement: https://str.sg/Mor8

Read: https://str.sg/JJJQF

Produced by: Rohit Brijnath (rohitb@sph.com.sg) & ST Video

Edited by: Amirul Karim

Follow ST Sports Talk every month:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWRE

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRa

Spotify: https://str.sg/JW6N

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read Rohit Brijnath's articles: https://str.sg/wFu2

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

#hardtackle
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can the Lions roar under Ogura?

Synopsis: The Straits Times looks at the talking points in sport every second Wednesday of the month.

In this episode of Hard Tackle, Deepanraj Ganesan is joined by former Singapore international Noor Ali and Singapore Premier League commentator and Lions fan Zia-ul Raushan to dissect the Singapore national football team’s first two matches under new coach Tsutomu Ogura.

The Lions played out a hard-fought 2-2 draw against China on March 21 in front of the 28,414 crowd at the National Stadium. Five days later in chilly Tianjin, the Lions fell to a 4-1 loss, although there were signs of progress once again as the Republic showed grit and bravery in their play before being undone by a controversial penalty and two late goals.

So what do our pundits make of the start under Ogura and what is the way forward?

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:30 Why is there a positive feeling amongst fans despite the Lions not posing a victory against China?  

8:30 Noor Ali on how the team has shaped up tactically under Ogura 

17:15 The need for stronger mentality amongst players and the importance of leadership 

21:00 What Ogura and the Lions can improve on 

34:00 On the new standards in the national team and why players must step up

Read: https://str.sg/8Kmc

Produced by: Deepanraj Ganesan (gdeepan@sph.com.sg) & Amirul Karim

Edited by: Amirul Karim

Follow ST Sports Talk every month:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWRE

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRa

Spotify: https://str.sg/JW6N

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Follow Deepanraj Ganesan on X: https://str.sg/wtra

Read his articles: https://str.sg/ip4G

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

#hardtackle
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.