Saturday, September 20, 2014

Alpine Frost

Beyond banks, watches and milk, the Swiss flag had another reason to cheer last week. Back in 1992 when Switzerland first competed in the Davis cup finals, Marc Rosset and Jacob Hlasek could do precious little to make a dent in the firm of Sampras and Agassi. Though Rosset came through in a five setter against Jim Courier, the eventual result was never in doubt. Fast forward to 2014 and the two journey men have been replaced by a duo who have achieved stupendous success on the tennis courts. They have fought on opposite sides of the net but have also combined together to land laurels for the chocolate factory of the world. Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka have led the Swiss guard into another Davis cup title tilt and for a change, they would be favorites against their alpine neighbors. Their yellow metal winning performance at the Beijing games may be a tad in the past but their performance remains as superlative. Up against the Italians, Roger sliced through both of his singles and Stan accounted for the dangerous Andreas Seppi to leave the last semi final rubber inconsequential. They will be up against France who along with Spain boast of the best pool of players in the men's ATP rankings. In Jo who throws all the punches, La Monf and Richard Gasquet, the Gallic have a strong team that made mincemeat of the powerhouse Czech Republic. Even Tomas Berdych and Nadal slayer Rusol could do little to stop the French juggernaut. As comeuppance, we now go to Lille where the French will host the Swiss to decide who raises the toast. If current form is used as the yardstick for prediction, the white cross should be seen flying high in the north of France. Can Tsonga, Gasquet and Monfils play spoil sport to land a tenth title for the French? Bon Appetit, mes amis.

 
Conspiring to be champions



Incheon is not a name that springs to mind when one thinks of global cities. The opening ceremony of the 17th Asian games however dazzled the onlookers and skeptics alike. The Asiad is the second largest gathering of athletes after the summer Olympic games and a medal here is coveted as one of the biggest prizes in sport. As always, for India, the shooting stars and the wrestlers will hold forte. Gone are the days when PT Usha would light up the athletics arena and the track and field events hold little hope for the Indian contingent. A certain Vikas Gowda may have something to say about that. At the time of writing this, the up and coming star of Indian shooting, Jitu Rai has already bagged a gold in the 50m pistol and if this is a harbinger of things to come, he is in line to double the number of individual Olympic gold winners for India. Rio can't wait. Badminton is another discipline that can add to the medals kitty. With Saina, Sindhu and Kashyap leading the charge, one can hope that the shuttle falls India's way against the traditional powerhouses of China, Korea and Japan. The pugilists would also want to turn around the ignominy being faced by the Indian Boxing administration. Can they beat the haul of 14 golds from 2010. Hope lives eternal.

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