Sarfraz’s Shababs !

May 24,2018, Lord’s.The start of another long international season which sees three international sides touring in the English summer.The first of those sides, Pakistan had only four survivors of their 2016 touring party.They had squared that one winning both London tests.Long gone were the days they had Misbah and Younis (MisYou) in their ranks.

After England were comprehensively beaten in last winter’s ashes and then further embarrassed at 58 in the Auckland test against Kiwis,there were many who would have brushed aside those “away” losses in favour of an easy 2-0 win over a young inexperienced Greenshirts’ side to tour the British Isles for ages.The visitors set foot nearly a month ago after a preparatory camp in Lahore.They had already beaten Ireland in the country’s inaugural test a fortnight ago,albeit a characteristic stutter in the chase.

Misbah’s successor Sarfraz had tasted success on English soil last year as an Odi skipper after a historic Champions trophy campaign that rewarded him with the test captaincy amidst much pomp and ceremony. His first assignment though had ended in humiliation against a similar transitional Sri Lankan side in UAE last October.

Though much criticised by the local media at home, the side selected for the twin series had eight players under 30 and five awaiting test debuts.A notable exclusion was Fawad Alam who was excluded in favour of the highest domestic run scorer,Saad Ali.Faheem Ashraf and Imam ul Haq, handed debuts in the Ireland test had returned performances which temporarily numbed their critics.

England, though is a different setting altogether.They haven’t lost a home series since 2014.May,typically is England’s month.At the home of cricket,with the world’s media watching in a packed house, performance here resonates globally. The opening morning was ideal. Saifi didnt have to decide the toss.Pakistan’s bowling, their stronghold,was in play. They had England at 43/3 following Abbas and Hasan Ali striking early.Then after lunch Faheem broke though with Johnny Bairstow bowled.Cook in ominous form got taken by Amir for 70 and only Stoke with 38 led any resistance as the hosts had collapsed to 184, a 5/19 demise post tea.Mohammad Abbas and Hasan Ali claimed 4 each.

Now came the hard part. Pakistan had to bat post tea and survive nearly 90 minutes of play.Azhar Ali and Haris coped and ended with 50/1 at stumps.Jitteringly,as is the case with their willows, they had survived.The next morning they slowly raised the score to 87 before Haris departed.Azhar milked a fifty and in the process had provided a platform taking the shine away.Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam scored fifties as well but sufferred different fates to Ben Stokes’ deliveries.Asad was out to a lifting delivery while at 68, Babar succumbed to a ball which broke his wrist and he retired out of the game as well as the series.The skipper added little with a rash stroke before tea which saw them 5 down at less than 250.

Faheem Ashraf and Shadab Khan dashed opportunistically for a 72 run late blast which swung momentum towards the Greenshirts.It was a timely stand.They had posted 363 by the third morning, which was astonishing by their batting standards.They had enough fuel in the tank to give the hosts a good go at it. Cook had gone early to Abbas who was on song straigtht away and Stoneman was bowled to low leg break close to lunch from the leggie, Shadab. 32/2 meant the writing was on the wall.

Post lunch, Joe Root answered some critics with a 68. Pakistan though chipped away with wickets through the pacers.Amir had 2 in 3 balls. Malan out to Skipper’s scorching take and Johnny Bairstow lost his off stump to the inswinger.When Root was dismissed for 68 with the score at 110, it had left England six down with 69 to save an innings defeat.All over,right ?

In came Jos Butler and the debutant Dominic Bess. Jos banking his place on recent IPL performances played a mobile knock of 66 with his Somerset colleague managing a debut 50.Fatigue was setting for the Greenshirts.England had taken a weary lead at stumps of 56,still having four second innings wkts and all of a sudden another low unachievable chase looked on the cards.The fourth morning produced no such issues. Within 25 balls they had cleaned up the last four with Abbas and Amir sharing four each for the innings. The A A’s were too good.

Knocking in the last 64 runs in the chase, the Greenshirts achieved what only once in 1921,had been done.England losing a test that had begun and ended in May. The young guns had delivered.Mohammad Abbas, a leather factory worker from Sialkot, and the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in his seventh test was named man of the match. Mohammad Amir became the highest Greenshirt wicket taker at Lord’s with his 18th scalp.

Too inexperienced they might be, but they did what few Pakistan teams have done in the past. They maintained discipline in all areas session after session and fielded well, a testimony that they were fit for the job.Its been a few tests only and a much dangerous prospect up North in Headingley awaits.But for now Misbah’s Men of yesterday are sounding more like Sarfraz’s Shababs*.

(Shababs- arabic for youth )

Sijag PyeongChang !

The Winter Olympics always have had a concealed identity. The Games of snow and ice changed to an alternate even year in 1994 to gain a degree of spotlight from it summer counterpart.It seems half the nations don’t compete most of the times due to the nature of the sports.Sochi had a record 88 with 2873 attending.Nevertheless, its occupied an integral part of the sporting calendar and these year’s games have been rated as the event of the year.

With 92 associations competing and a record 2920 athletes,Pyeongchang, in the province of Gangwan-do,becomes the third Asian city to host the winter games.Ecuador,Eritrea,Singapore,Kosovo, Malysia and Nigeria are the newest entries to the fold.The hosts of the last olympics though Russia competed under OAR flag after their association was banned under state sponsored doping issues.

Its build up was never going to be easy being 40 miles from the border with North Korea and tensions on the rise.However as Sport has always proved in the past, it s the best uniter whereas Politics is the great divider.On February 9, The two Koreas marched together under one flag last as the hosts in a spectacle seen globally.They were competing as one team as well in the women’s ice hockey.

With Soohorang and Bandabi watching as mascots,a colourful ceremony took ot the olympic stadium outdoors in tundra like conditions.Following the parade of teams,the Olympic torch lit in Athens and brought from its global voyage to Korean shores before finally arriving to Pyeongchang where as expected the South Korean queen of figure skating from Vancouver 2010, Yuna Kim who set it alight following her mini routine .The Games had begun.The Koreans would have plenty of cheer in the first week.Even though its at 700 metre elevation, most of the venues had artificial ice and snow.

Not surprisingly their women’s ice hockey team struggled but the North Korean cheerleaders contingent set the stadium alight with plenty of K pop pumping and jumping.The home crowd cheers were responded to as Lim Ho-Jun first and then Choi Min Jeong took the 1500 metres short track double. They also captured the skeleton gold with Yun Sung Bin.

Norway and Germany have a good tradition in the games and Korea was no different. Norwegians’ strength was evident in week 1 in the cross country skiing scooping 5 golds.Germans had the luge sealed taking three with three more in the Biathlon in the first week.Sean White and Chloe Kim in the half pipe were convincing winners as Americans ran the snowboarding golds at a canter, picking four.The Dutch had skating glory with six golds.

Britain had a bronze in the Skeleton that Yun won through Dom Parsons, but its crown jewel event was the women’s version where the defending champion from Sochi Lizzy Yarnold took the nation’s first gold of Pyangchang.Laura Deas took bronze in the same event to double the overall medal tally.Lizzy’s 4 heat run was impressive and at times when Jacqueline Loelling of Germany and Janine Flack of Austria threatened to take the top medal away, she stormed back to line up clutch runs down the slide to take the title.

Though the perennial heavyweights are ruling, there’s plenty of cheer wherever you go.From the Jamaicans to the Swiss, the Argentines to Ghanaians.Yes, Korea has welcomed with open arms.The world is present in Pyangchang witnessing some great feats, thrills and spills, glory and defeat but all in the honour of healthy competition. Its only week 1, but some of fireworks are set ablaze and more surely are to come. Bring it on! Let the magic enchant you on the ice and snow!

Super Bowl 52- The Bell has rung !

In the state they call as having 10,000 lakes,February would have turned it more into frozen ocean so that Ice fishing would be the normal state of affairs in the week leading upto the “big game”.Its not common that TV’s biggest game gets played in cold area territories but US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis provided a popular setting nevertheless. No need to search for gophers here these nights.

The road to Super Bowl is always laborious. However, New England Patriots the “only” prevalent dynasty in a game that produces parity like no other north american sport does, hardly breaks a sweat coming here on a regular basis.Since 2000, they have won their division 15 out of 17 years and won five Super Bowls(tied second with Cowboys and 49er’s). They have unleashed a 21 game unbeaten playoff streak in 2003-04 bowl wins and an active nine straight division title run. Is it even worth being a team in AFC east these days?

The challenger to their throne could have been NFC’s who’s who.Carolina had Cam but they came across a rejuvenated New Orleans team in Louisiana led by Drew Brees who put an electric finish in place to knock them out and then a week later were nudged out themselves over a Stefan Diggs catch by the Super Bowl hosts. The hosts of the Super bowl would have been salivating themselves in getting to the finale had it not been for Nick Foles led Eagles attack that pulled out all the stops in a one sided conference final in Philly.Nick Foles himself was replacing almost a certain MVP nominee Carson Wentz whose season ended weeks before the playoffs began.Another perennial candidate Aaron Rodgers also broke down early which killed Green Bay Packers remote hopes of a berth.

Eventually, after all the deliberations, Tom Brady the lynchpin quarterback of the Patriots took the MVP and was on his way to break the jinx of the trophy holder winning the Bowl.They had the division nailed quite early and though missed some of their key performers to injury in the build up but Danny Amendola and Chris Hogan bailed them out with a somewhat come back win against Jacksonville. Their defence was a question mark at times.Even Tom at 40 though, it never looked that they could cease to amaze.

Nick Foles had stellar run as backup to Carson Wentz in the playoffs which carried in to the big event itself. Philly hadn’t won any trophies in the Super Bowl era and the city’s last major ring was the 2008 world series.They started their third straight being underdogs , ill conceived for a team who had a 13-3 record label. Like why,I dont know. They would give up 613 yards in Super Bowl to New England so it would justify the pundits that come Patriots offense, Brady would fire.

The Eagles receiving core were a strong unit.With Alshon Jeffrey and Nelson Aglahor performing in the season, it was apparent in the Super Bowl , one will have to fire.Jeffrey’s 34 yarder early in the game led Eagles to a 9-3 lead.LaGarette Blount made it 15-3 with his run in the second quarter. New England cut the deficit back to three with 12 points of their own courtesy James White’s run before the halftime. Then came a dazzler from Foles’ playbook. He received a touch down pass from Trey Burton’s pass with a minute to go in the half and Philly restored the advantage.It was 22-12 at halftime.

It was to and fro in the next 30 minutes. The Gronk making his mark alongside Chris Hogan’s TD catch sandwiched by a Corey Clement reception.Eagles at 29-26 headed with a field goal lead into the final quarter.This had all the chances of being a classic now. But no defence still.Despite a field goal put in, Brady and Gronk came back to manipulate New England’s next touchdown and take the lead 33-32. It was here that Nick Foles’ resolve was tested.Over the next seven minutes he would orchestrate a charge that ended with Zach Ertz catch and Philly had responded. Defences had clearly slept in this Super Bowl.

It was still an eternity of a time left on the clock for Brady to come back.With 2:21 left ,Brady tried to unleash the winning drive as so often he has in the past. This time the Philly defence hung on and stopped the Brady bunch. Philly retook the ball and converted another three which made it 41-33. It left Brady 65 seconds to come back still with potential eight pointer.He went for it on Hail Mary time as well but Philly had done enough. He had 505 yards and three touchdowns in the loss.They had stopped the “Mighty” one twice in the clutch and won their first Super Bowl !

The teams combined for 1154 total yards and 874 in passing, both records for post season.Amendola,Hogan and Gronk and Clement had 100 yard games. For his part, Nick Foles passed for 373 and three touchdowns and rightfully took the Super Bowl MVP trophy home as well.Philly’ s dream run ends with the most prized ring of all.Call it unlikely and against the odds. Maybe.They won’t be resenting that one bit of that for the off season.The wait is over.Philly is liberated.

A Swiss storm in Melbourne !

Five sets of tennis.It happens in a tennis grand slam tourney only in the men’s game. There are only 4 of them in a year and in very unique venues.Even though each Open occurs once annually,one can never get enough of it, it seems. Melbourne in mid to late January signals 2018 has truly begun.

In an Ashes year with BBL as well rising,would an Australian Open coming in the heart of the summer capture the same audience particularly in a commercially competitive climate ?Why not? Not only the crowds would flock into record admissions at the Melbourne Park in the heat of the day but would be departing late into the night sessions as some of the matches ended at 1 am.

One of the factors for that renewed interest has been the ongoing second wind of someone called Roger.Since he last won the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup in the epic final last year against Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer has had superb 2017.His “Sunshine double” and Wimbledon trophies were hallmarks of his success initiated from the Melbourne win.

This year,even though Rafa was No. 1 heading into the Open,he was making a comeback from the knee injury which ended his season last year.Roger was seeded and ranked world no. 2 for the event and his draw was somewhat supportive.Novak Djokovic was himself coming back after a long time himself and Sascha Zverev departed to an unheralded Korean by the name of Chung Hyeon who himself resembled Novak in style of play.That might helped as Chung knocked off the six time champion.

Seeded no 5, Dominic Thiem who was also in Roger’s half was ousted to conveniently named Tennys Sandgren, opening the door for an all unseeded quarter between Chung.Roger,meanwhile had no issues getting to the second week in Melbourne as is usual for him.He didn’t even drop a set.Looking relaxed as ever,he had all the time for post match press conferences which sparked their own by line.

Rafa had reached quarters with mild difficulties. Only Diego Schwartzman in round four pressured him but by the time he faced Marin Cilic in the last eight, his injury woes became apparent.A thigh tear in the fourth set led Cilic to enforce a deciding fifth but it was clear that Rafa would not be the same.He retired 0-2 down.Cilic advanced rather easily to the final ending Kyle Edmund’s dream run in the semi.

Chung was determined to reach his first semi and beat Sandgren in straight sets.Was he really the new Novak? Roger was resolute in his focus and after he steamed through with a 6-1,5-2 lead,Chung could not manage any more. A foot blister caused him to withdraw and Roger was through to his seventh Aussie open final.It would be a repeat of the 2017 Wimbledon Final.

A smooth first serve,effective and timely winners and cashing up on the break points had been his forte throughout the fortnight.This didn’t change in the final.He rolled again the first set just like last year in just 26 minutes,6-2.Marin came back in the second set and played a surreal tie break to level the match.Roger unscathed by this broke in the sixth game of the third set to reinforce the advantage.

Marin had to dig deep again.He was broken early in the fourth but fought valiantly twice breaking Roger to force the decider.Another 5 setter.Unreal.Oh,don’t they love that at the Rod Laver Arena? However as much as it was an epic last year,Marin just didn’t have much left in his tank. Roger broke in the second game and led 4-1. His next break of serve in game six set him clear and effectively killed the final.He won his last six points on serve that included 24 aces on the night.Roger nailed his sixth Australian Open with a service winner which equalled Novak’s record.

For what its worth,Roger Federer defined the meaning G.O.A.T. in tennis last season.If there were any remnants left for those meticulous statisticians,one could go find no better place than Melbourne.He has 20 grand slam singles now and on pace for more,with Steffi and Serena’s 22 in sight.Jimmy Connors record of 109 singles titles is 13 away.At 36,he is looking fresher than ever.

In the season of Grammy’s, BAFTA’s and Oscars,tennis has probably resigned all of these accolades and more to the eternal great from Basel who has conquered the Plexicushion Prestige “down under” yet again.He is still the biggest draw of Melbourne Park and for that matter all the tourneys he takes part in for another year.Take a bow and wipe the tears,Roger… for the Swiss storm is here and is in full force.

Banjaras No More !

In May 2015, when Zimbabwe came to Pakistan in a hastily arranged visit unsanctioned by the ICC and having considerable security concerns, it felt that it would still be a one off event and lot still needed to be desired from the hosts to regain confidence in hosting international sport let alone cricket. Amidst tight security, the five limited overs games were managed in sweltering conditions as many still took to stadiums to fill up Gaddafi waiting for long hours.After it was done,the wait continued. It looked like an eternity.

So when the PSL Cup final was held despite concerns to call it off earlier in the year considering Lahore’s recent winter’s threats and incidents ,it came to many as a surprise. It was a lacklustre final with Quetta Gladiators severely impaired by its contingent lacking their first tier foreigners. It was well attended and without any glitch and set the ball rolling for further strengthening of measures.PSL 3 was the 1^st target for more games, with a possible Lahore /Karachi weekend of double headers.

With the Greenshirts winning the champions trophy against the odds, it also enhanced the need to be associated with more cricket in the western half of the subcontinent.It was a bold move by the iCC to send a group of current international players something PCB had stubbornly put its foot down on . The South Africans led the way with 5.Led by Faf du Plessis, Morne Morkel, Hashim Amla,David Miller and Imran Tahir paved the way for others to join in. A 14 man squad landed in Lahore in the early hours of Monday morning to a rousing reception albeit tight security.The battle was already half won.

What transpired in that week were three interesting T20 games featuring the current champions of ODI cricket and a group of talented t20 World individuals. The cricket was again well attended despite ticket issues, long queues and the constant fear of the unknown.The whole city was in shutdown mode as transport was suspended. It caused great problems and inconvenience for the everyday lives of many,but it was accepted and acknowledged for the rebirth of the game.Sports triumphed in the end but the public were its crown jewels.

More than the Greenshirts display of cricketing skills, it was their amicable hosting of the event that was on display.It was going to be a classic Gaddafi pitch with the batsmen scoring huge totals.Babar Azam the hometown hero starred in the series with all round range of strokes.His 86 in the opener set the tone for the first win by the hosts .A resident of Gulberg, where Gaddafi is situated,he produced the knocks that would be pleasing for any crowd.

The World 11 were no pushovers though.In the second game,Thisara Perera knocked a huge cameo which set the chase alive alongside a famous Protean who shall long be remembered in Gaddafi folklore even though he was playing in the opposition.Hashim Amla was scintillating in his knock of 72 not out. The series had some spice at 1-1. It was a first t20 loss for Pakistan at the Gaddafi.Ahmad Shahzad starred in the final game regaining some form with an 89 to his credit as the hosts took the series with a much comfortable winning margin having restricted the World 11 to 150/8, chasing 184.Babar took the man of the series award however the men of the series were those World 11 players who came and presented their skills finally to a cricket thirsty nation.Faf and his men left just like they came, as heroes fully entertained in their short Pakistani stay.

World XI batsman Hashim Amla plays a shot during the second Twenty20 international cricket match between the World XI and Pakistan at The Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on September 13, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / AAMIR QURESHI

Politics divides.Sports Unite.It’s become an acceptable theme universally.The NFL players in their responses to a divide are a recent example.Faf and co. have paved the way for many to join PSL 3,for other teams to tour later in the year or some to re consider their future engagements.When all is said and done,the World took Pakistan by storm and its just the start of something much more comfortable and breezier than an Abu Dhabi sand storm.

The Fall Slam !

15 years ago in 2002,when Pete Sampras won at Flushing Meadows, he took his 14th grand slam in what was his career ending tourney.Roy Emerson’s singles slams record stood for about 29 years.Who knew Pistol Pete’s record was not going to last one decade even as by 2009 Wimbledon,Roger Federer had eclipsed this taking his 15th slam.Roger had taken this current record to 19 by taking two slams earlier this season.

If Roger’s record can be claimed to be insurmountable,US open provided the perfect scene to cap a possible 20th slam, something of an enigma.Tennis was rejuvenated this year with the return of the Swiss icon alongside his long time rival and tennis legend, Rafael Nadal who claimed his 15th slam earlier this year at Roland Garros, a slam Roger missed intentionally to concentrate on Wimbledon’s grass.With Rafa claiming the world no 1 ranking heading into Tennis’ Fall classic,the scenario was set for the 1st ever clash between the two veterans at Flushing Meadows.

However the organisers had other procedures to run.Andy Murray’s late withdrawal added to Kei Nishikori,Milos Raonic,Novak Djokovic meant only six of the top eleven players competed.In a decision that probably influenced a significant blow to the tourney,both Nadal and Federer ended up in the same half of the draw, which handicapped the bottom half.On top of that the bottom half seeds fell quickly including Sascha Zverev (No.4 seed) and Gregor Dimitrov(No. 7 seed)as well as former US open champion Marin Cilic (No.5 seed).

With the new roof in its second year and another one en route,the action was non stop on Arthur Ashe and saw the return of a former champion.Juan Martin Del Potro won a classic final in 2009 and he produced one of the comebacks of this tournament if not his career,with match point down against Dominic Thiem in the fourth round.Del Po rolled against the scoreboard and his fever to mark a five set return and generate a much needed life into the tourney.His reward was another match up on the famed centre stadium against Roger.

The bottom half minus all its stars whether through injury or knockouts was largely subdued.Amidst this,Denis Shapovalov appeared as a possible star until Pablo Carreno-Busta matched him three tie break sets win in the fourth round. Pablo had a dream run that took him to the semis where he met his match against a long time grand slam struggler,Kenneth Anderson.Anderson played some of the best tennis of his career to overcome Sam Querrey in the quarters which the home favourite was destined to win.Obviously there will be a huge question mark considering the absences but credit to Anderson still making it through to his first ever grand slam final.

Del Po lived a new life in his quarterfinal.Facing Roger under the wednesday night lights of a packed Ashe,the first two sets were split.Roger had a huge chance to take the third set but foiled on four set points in the tie breaker to give advantage to the Argentine.Del Po couldn’t be stopped after that.He had undergone four wrist surgeries in the time between that last famous 2009 duel at the US Open final.

Rafa on the other hand drifted well in the top half squeezing the life out of the Deco turf and playing it as if it was a cousin of the red clay he shines on in June.He blitzed the 19 yr old Andrey Rublev in a one sided quarter that saved quite a bit of time.The semi final against Del Po was hyped to be the match of the tourney.Del Po was in immense form taking the first set matching Rafa with aggression.However what came after was if all the gas had leaked out of his tank.Rafa in no time was level with a 6-0 comeback in second set. On a roll of nine straight games, he took the third set as well, 6-3.Del Po had nothing left it seemed. Rafa took the fourth set 6-2 to sail into his fourth US open final.

The final was a foregone conclusion.Rafa had too much power, experience and an all round game to nail it in straight sets.Anderson had almost no chance. It was Uncle Toni’s last match as Rafa’s coach.Rafa didn’t let him down.His 16th grand slam and third in New York ended a lean hard court run which stretched since January 2014.He retained his no.1 ranking and this completed a clean sweep of 2017 slams by the two leading grand slam winners ever in men’s tennis.Once again the deficit is reduced to two.

The US Open is a usually the grand slam climax of the year.We were denied a possible a first ever Nadal- Federer match up again at Flushing Meadows but more of that in 2018 will wet appetite of many heading into Melbourne in January.”Pistol” Pete and Roy Emerson will hopefully be watching.

Chariots of Fire !

When Usain Bolt ran the final leg of the 4×100 Men’s relay at the World Championships at London, there was no expectation from the British quartet of Chijindu Ujah, Adam Gemili, Danny Talbot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake to come anywhere close to the podium let alone stun the world with gold medal. Jamaica with Bolt running the anchor leg would have still been considered strong candidates and with the stadium in unison cheering the final ever race of the legendary sprinter, it would be unsurprising if many would have still left disappointed despite the home quartet winning.Bolt,the greatest sprinter of all time, pulled short of the finish with a cramp and did not finish the race as he took the baton behind the Brits at the final changeover.

That wouldn’t have been the dream of billions after the Jamaican thunderbolt had excited everyone across the globe with his theatrics and plaudits.Winning the triple double in Beijing, London and Rio and with such style and fervour, he won hearts everywhere he sprinted.What might have been a perfect swansong had a lot to say about the fitness of the 31 yr old.He only competed in the 100 metres earlier in the Championships and showed signs of struggle in the semis against a buoyant Christian Coleman.In the final, it was an anti climax of sorts though as his adversary Justin Gatlin who was defamed due to his previous doping counts claimed the gold ahead of Coleman and Bolt in 9.92 seconds.He then in an act of humility bowed to the King himself.The speculation continues.Maybe he left it too late to retire.Maybe Rio was the perfect time.

Whilst Bolt didn’t get any golds in his final championships,it wasn’t a tourney of double golds in any case.Mo Farah in the 5k’s(silver) and Dafne Scippers in the 100 metres ( bronze) missed a second gold after winning the 10k’s and 200 metres sprint respectively.It was Mo’s final championships as well and he left the home crowd buzzing with his opening night gold as the hosts eyed success from Rio.

In the absence of Bolt’s gold medal performance as well David Rudisha missing the championships , many turned to predicting potential successors to the throne. Those who will carry some of the elements of his legacy onto Tokyo in 2020. One such candidate was Wayde Van Niekerk from South Africa,the 400 metre record holder from Rio last year.

Wayde’s record breaking run in the single track lap of 43.03 from nowhere breaking another legend Michael Johnson’s record still echoes his credits going into London championships.Wayde cruised in the heats as well as the main event.With 0.43 of a second win in the final over Steven Gardiner of Jamaica, Wayde now confirms his place as the one of the top athletes again at a premier track championships.His smooth style was apparent in London however he also fell short of taking a second gold in 200 metres falling to Ramil Guliyev of Turkey by 0.02 seconds. Something to look forward to in Tokyo 2020,possibly.

Having no Rudisha left the 800 metres a bit of an open contest.Pierre -Ambrose Bosse of France took the gold.As regards to the women,Marie Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast took a sprint “silver” double in 100 and 200 metres losing to Tori Bowie in the 100 metres in addition to Dafne Schippers in the 200 metres who both blitzed to gold in their races.In the 400 metres, Alyson Felix reign ended with a loss to her compatriot Phyllis Francis whilst Castor Semanya solidified another gold in the 800 metres with national record.

It wasn’t the most eventful of championships for some, but USA looked as usual in top form claiming 30 medals,10 of them gold.Kenya had 5 golds in their tally of 11.South Africa had three golds in their six medals and were the other top performers.A sorrowful end to Bolt in his career which will stay illuminated by his accolades but definitely a void is left for many to fill in the next championships that will take place in Doha in 2019.Wayde will be quick to lead that filler role.

August & Everything After !

For many across the pond, August is not really baseball season.Its just an excuse for NFL pre season beginning soon and a month left before the ” America’s game ” finally kicks off. As for the national pastime, it will slowly trudge towards its climax.The Home Run derby and the All star Game are over and Aaron Judge’s hot streak is now also facing similar consequences.

But as the various races across both leagues are entering a possible showdown following trade deadline, one can’t defy what’s happening in one of the traditional hot beds of close races- the NL West. Its my favourite division and for a good reason, the Dodgers play in it.What a season they are having too.They have almost roasted the race by August producing 14 game lead amidst a streak which have them winning 20 games in July and 75 by the 1st week of August. And it not like their competitors are doing that bad. Both Rockies and Cardinals are almost locks for both wild card slots having won 60 plus themselves.

Dodgers’ pitching has always been good. Alex Wood has been a sleeper fantasy pick with 12-1 record, behind Kershaw ‘s 15 wins. Kenta Maeda is 10-4 and Rich Hill at 8-4 has this rotation in a frenzy. Kershaw’s injury has him out 4-6 weeks but with the acquisition of Yu Darvish,its been bolstered further.Not to mention Kenley Jensen 28 saves second only behind Greg Holland of the Rockies.

This year the batting also looks in form.Justin Taylor leads majors with .350 plus average.Chris Taylor and Corey Seager are consistently above .300 and Bellinger’s 30 bombs to date have them outscoring opponents by miles.Yasmina Grandal, Adrian Gonzalez and even Yasiel Puig are contributing usefully as well.The division looks wrapped up, even though plenty of games left still.Dave Roberts for Manager of the year again.The Bay area fans can’t wait for the weekend’s Chiefs/Niners pre-season opener soon enough.

If LA are the “Kings” of regular season currently, their AL counterparts ruled the kingdom for most of the season topping the majors and leading their division at a canter.Jose Altuve leads the majors with his batting average. Dallas Keuchel is solid as ever with able support from Brad Peacock.Both have nine wins each.Houston also have locks on their division.The Nats are stellar as ever and it looks like pennant race in the NL will be between them and the Dodgers.Bryce Harper is strong as ever and my pick for the NL MVP. NL East once again has not much left in it.Hopefully Tebow will play later on for the dwindling Mets to spark any interest.

Onto the more juicier races which is led by AL East. New York Yankees is a name that no one outside the Bronx would have mentioned this year.Aaron Judge though with a monster rookie season that he’s having have kept them in the hunt.No doubt he is the AL MVP pick for me. Look out though, Boston were the odds to win the season and wouldn’t bet against them taking it all down in September.Chris Sale has had an awesome season so far with 13 wins.It is a very close division with Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles not too far behind.

The defending champs Chicago Cubs have had difficult start to the season. Last year they were ahead at the same point but not by much.They had 63 wins at July’s end but were boosted hugely by 22-6 run in August and a further 17 September wins took them to 103 for the season.They have a small lead over the “Brew Crew” and the long time playoff specialists Cards, but amidst a good run heading towards the clutch end.Jake Arietta, John Lackey and Jon Lester who have 26 wins between them, will be able to carry them through, even though Zach Davies and Adam Wainwright have led their rotations well.

Cubs’ losing opponents in the Fall Classic last year in seven games were Cleveland Indians.Like the Cubs, they had topped their division with an impressive 94 wins.This year , they have done similarly though its a closer race. Jose Ramirez is hitting well with support from Lonnie Chisenhall. Carlos Carrasco has a 10-4 record.With Corey Kluber (8-3 ) and Trevor Bauer (9-8), they might have just enough to pip out Jason Vargas and the Kansas City Royals for the division though the Royals are in contention for the second wild card spot behind Yankees in the AL. That wild card should be an interesting fight as well. Seattle Mariners are within distance alongside Yankees division rivals O’s and Rays. A lot to look out for in the coming two months. Having said that, who could bet against a Red Sox -Yankees pennant race again.Not me.

So 3 races almost over but 3 close ones keeps the MLB season in good ranks. The AL wild card race is much competitive still and despite the gridiron beginning in September,there’s a lot to look out for in that month baseball wise.A clutch run by any of the mentioned teams could have them raking a good advantage leading up to the October playoffs. “Play Ball” till then.

Danube’s finest !

It might not be as thrilling a sight as Usain Bolt running in the 100 metres or Misbah doing press ups at Lords’ last July following a test ton but the pool has definitely got a buzz in the summer whether its the Olympics or World Championships.

As was the case this past week with the latter being held in the picturesque Budapest by the Danube, the scene was ideal for the world aquatic championships.Swimming usually at the fore front in the first week of the Olympics schedule was the jewel of the second week on this occasion. It didn’t disappoint. There was no shortage of drama alongside the banks of Danube.Similar to the Olympics in Rio, the world records were smashed left , right and centre. And for a certain Adam Peaty, even twice in one day as he managed with the 50m breast stroke.The Briton stole the spotlight on day 3 with his record swim sandwiched between evenings when he took his two golds. The first one being in the 100m breast.

Katie Ledecky was the shining star for the American team who led all countries in the overall tally. She had four individual golds in 200,400,800,1500m freestyles alongside two relay golds.The six gold tally matched her Olympic effort.Caeleb Dressel impressed even more, taking the 50 and 100 metre free style golds as well as the 100m butterfly.The 20 year old from Florida added four more golds in medley and freestyle relays to take his overall tally to seven matching Michael Phelps’ haul in 2007.

Sarah Sjostrom from Sweden broke two world records in the 50m and 100m free style although she lost the 50m finale to Simone Manuel,she rebounded to take second gold in the latter in addition to her 50m butterfly gold.For the home crowd which filled on every night , there was sweet success as well.Katinka Hosszu nicknamed the “Iron Lady” took the 200 and 400 m individual Medley golds alongside silver in the 200m backstroke and bronze in the 200m butterfly.

Lily King renewed her rivalry with Yulia Efimova in the breast stroke category. The American took two golds in the 50m and 100m whilst Efimova took the 200m gold.The Russians improved on the championship success after hosting at Kazan two years ago when they had 9 golds. This time,they swooped 11 golds with Yulia’s countryfellows Anton Chupkov and Evgeny Rylov matching 200m length golds in back and breast strokes respectively.The Chinese had lost a few golds on this occasion dropping from 15 to 12 golds overall.Hangzhou’s Sun Yang took two gold in the pool to match his Kazan tally in the 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley.

Camille Lacourt led the French resistance in the pool with final day backstroke win in the 50m, completing Le Blues’ six golds in the championships.They finished fourth overall behind USA,China and Russia.Britain rounded up the top five with Ben Proud’s gold in 50m butterfly and the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay adding to Peaty’s wins.

One of the most dramatic and sentimental wins in the pool came in the men’s 200 metre butterfly. Chad Le Clos.The London Olympics’ gold medallist took silver in the same event in Kazan and Rio Olympics.He was left gutted after the loss of his father last year and a rigorous training schedule pursued.In the Danube Arena this year, he went for the jugular attacking from the outset having just enough energy to hold out the home veteran Laslo Cseh in his prized event renewing his feat as South Africa’s most decorated swimmer.

Hungary, winning nine medals in the championships ,hosted the meet sensationally and there was a great atmosphere throughout the 2 week gala.With 21 golds in the whole aquatic championships,USA at 46 medals were miles ahead of the rest resuming their successful tally from Rio Olympics,nine better than the Chinese.This puts them in a healthy position for championships in two years in Gwangju as well as the Tokyo Olympics.Will Dressel or Ledecky overhaul Phelps’ cabinet of golds in those championships? Only time will tell.

The White Knight Rises Again !

I recall 2013 Wimbledon when Sergei Stakhovsky,a Ukrainian tennis player at best termed as a “lucky loser “knocked out Roger Federer in four tough sets at centre court at Wimbledon in round 2. Many had quoted the famous line ” end of the road “for the Swiss king of grass courts.He was the defending champion and ranked no.3 then. However in the slams following his 2012 Wimbledon success, his best was a semi final appearance at Melbourne earlier that year.He was to lose plenty of points and might fade away. He had back injuries plaguing his 2013 season. It was the first time in 14 years he hadn’t made a final in the first 4 months of the year. He needed a change in racquets as well as his coaching staff.Stefan Edberg came to help.

He journeyed next to a relative second wind thanks to Edberg ‘s company. He reached the semis of 2014 Aussie Open,a pair of Wimbledon ones twice in 2014 and 2015,the 2015 US Open final and Aussie open semis again in 2016. The latter four losses came to the in form Novak Djokovic.He was missing that final touch that could get him past the Serb and reach newer glories.What really was being exhibited that a player in his thirties was playing tennis at a different class.However that Aussie open loss left him with a torn meniscus in his knee that was to take over his entire season.He withdrew from the French ending his sequence of 65 straight slam appearances and his 2016 season. We didn’t know if we would see him again.

2017,however couldn’t have been fresher for him.He looked as robust as ever.The Aussie open as I have told about earlier in the year captured the s essence of Roger’s youthful form. A classic five setter with Rafa and his 18th slam.The fairytale was complete. That wasn’t over by a stretch though.In the spring he completed the sunshine double of Indian Wells & Miami.Then came a planned clay break.It has been quite clear that he’d be picky in his appearances and clay was never his sort of domain.A useful break from the French Open again would have helped ease off any strains for the grass court season.

It paid off.At Halle,he was exceptional.Nailing down his ninth title there,few would bet against a huge performance at SW19.He was looking again refreshed by the break.He breezed past all his opponents on the All England Club.Whilst in the second week, Murray and Djokovic had injury niggles and Nadal succumbed to a 15/13 final set stunner by Giles Muller,the veteran Swiss had no problems with Alexander “Sascha” Zverev and Gregor Dmitrov brushed aside in rounds 3 and 4.Next was Raonic and a rematch of last year’s semifinal which he had lost to the young Canadian.

Roger was maintaining his early season form.He avenged last year’s loss in straight sets.His serve was ominous and the strokes paralleled it with venom and dexterity on the low grass surface which he has dominated most of his life. IHe marched on towards his semi final opponent, Thomas Berdych.In 2010, he had lost the defence of his title to the tall Czech in fairly unfamiliar fashion to the surprise of many in the semi finals but exacting revenge was not an issue this time either. Berdych took him to the two tie breaks but Roger prevailed again.

So on to another Wimbledon Sunday where all pageantry was once again donning the centre court.It is always a huge occasion.Roger at 35 now didn’t have Stefan as his coach but had all his family with his pair of twins watching and urging him on.He wouldn’t have disappointed them.That element probably came from another injury ridden opponent in Marin Cilic.Funny enough Cilic on course to his maiden and only grand slam success of 2014 US Open beat Roger in a one sided semi in which he had lost just ten games.I don’t think Roger had revenge in his mind.

The first few games had Cilic give his best shot.However by game 6, when Roger broke for a 4-2 lead, it seemed the writing could have been making its way to the wall. Cilic seemed in pain and Roger had the first set 6/3.It has to be said though that the next two sets weren’t much to elaborate about as it looked like the Croat was nowhere close to his earlier tournament form.Roger ransacked the second set 6/1 and the writing was truly on.He broke early in the third as well and there was no turning back then. He took the championship with a 6/4 finish.

In his 70th grand slam which is a record for men’s tennis,he went onto win his eighth Wimbledon, his 19th grand slam and without losing a set.Beat that for longevity and form.He last won two slams in a single year in 2009. Due to his injury ending season in 2016, he had dropped to no.17 in the rankings.He now has become no. 3 again and has a chance to even finish no.1 as Andy will continue to lose his huge points he made up at the latter half of last year.

Roger is back on the main stage. Tennis rejuvenated. I would say to Christopher Nolan now that he should write about the White Knight who has risen than all those Batmans he has enriched us with in the last decade.

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