Chennai Open

A evening out at the Chennai Open (tennis) a few days ago watching Cilic and Marcel was quite a lot of fun. This is my second trip in the past few years and am I pleasantly surprised. The price of three tickets was less that what I would pay for one ticket for an IPL match -- yeah!
There is no fencing, so one gets to experience the match much more than in a caged in atmosphere at a cricket match.
The weather was pleasant (dare I say cool)? Parking, food etc. was much better organized that at Chepauk (though I guess, the number of people attending a tennis match is much lesser than a cricket match) and it looked like there were no mosquitoes in Nungambakkam!

However there were no tickets to be had for the weekend and tickets cannot be bought online, nor can daily tickets be bought a day in advance, making it tough to buy the tickets and requires detailed planning to watch a day of tennis!

A couple of years ago when Nadal came to the tournament, I foolishly assumed that one could walk in and get tickets for the weekend but none were to be had. But looking at the coverage this year, the stadium was not full though there were no tickets to be had for the weekend. So if the same had happened a few years ago, I would be very, very mad of being deprived of watching a player of Nadal's calibre, only because people had tickets but failed to attend!

There are lots of kids outside the court wanting tickets, so I wish the sponsors would give free tickets to schools nearby. With a general lack of interest in sports, I wonder why we spend crores on hosting CWG?

PS: Even DD sports did not cover this event during the week!

Yuki Bhambri wins another title

Have been reading on and off about this young tennis player. Appears to be performing consistently well. Well done Yuki! He has also won the Australian open junior title. BTW, does anyone know if he was brought up in India or abroad?

Davis Cup news

Australia has pulled out of the Davis cup tie in India (@ Chennai). Until the security hue and cry, I did not even know that the Davis cup matches were going to be held locally. Given it is a question of protecting a small contingent for 4-5 days, and a small crowd, I don't think it should have been a problem (unlike IPL with 100s or players, multiple locations and huge crowds for several weeks).
Several australian cricketers also transitted/trained in India before the IPL. So this move is bit surprising.

Doctorate - why?

Continuing the why series, I was quite surprised to hear that Sania Mirza has been granted an honorary doctorate. Why? She is in her 20s and has had a career marred by injury. I do believe she is a good sports person and needs to rewarded with appropriate sports awards, sponsorships etc. But a doctorate ??!

India Olympics: the racket sports

Badminton:
Did you see Deepika and Prakash Padukone play in a recent match? They seemed to glide across the court. Well I have recently resumed badminton for fun. And I don't seem to glide at all - far from it... ( the court seems so small, but when you play it is exhausting!) But anyway it is good to watch Badminton when the players are good :-) Here are the duo of badminton olympians from India.

Anup Sridhar: Anup is a 25 year old player from Bangalore with a career best rank of 24. Anup has his website, and trains at Tata Padukone academy. And he blogs as well. He has beaten the world number one and gold medalist at previous Olympics, so don't rule out a surprise showing.

Saina Nehwal: At 18, she is one of the bright starts of the future, and comes from a family where both parents are state champions. A Mittal trust athlete, she has recently broken into the top 20 in world rankings. She is also the brand ambassador for the Save the Girl Child campaign, - thats the way it should be!


Tennis:
My tennis stints, once every 5 years or so, are worse than badminton - It seems a futile attempt with me spending more time picking up the balls rather than playing. Anyways, our tennis stars need no introduction, so will just link to their wiki pages. While you are watching the "must see" Nadal - Federer match, don't forget to root for your bronze medalist, and grand slam doubles champions. Surprises are possible!

Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes: Doubles
Sania Mirza and Sunita Rao: Doubles
Sania Mirza: Singles


Table Tennis:
Love this fast paced game - and you guessed right - below average in this as well. India is going to be represented by these two stars.

Achanta Sharath Kamal: Singles - 26 year old from Tamil Nadu is an Arjuna award winner and a commonwealth gold medalist. He resides in Chennai and for the info of fellow chennaites, he is an alumni of PSBB and Loyola. And an A.R. Rehman fan who plays the guitar, his target is 2012 Olympics. Currently ranked 79, it may be tough to expect a medal, but you never know.


Neha Agarwal: Neha is a Delhi girl, is a newcomer, who’s surprised one and all with her unexpected qualification according to this report. Barely 18, from DPS, she probably hopes to win a match or two. Another bright star for the future perhaps?

BTW, if you find any press article in the next day or so with the player profiles, let me know - as I am running out of patience, and would just love to read and link it:-)

What a match

Yes the Federer-Nadal one. I watched it till the wee hours of the morning, managing to last nearly 5 hours of the match plus the rain delays. The quality of tennis was exemplary, there are so many points I remember. No wonder, no other tennis player comes close to them - the quality of tennis they have to play to beat either of them consistently is unbelievable. Both of them were gracious in their defeat and victory - alas a extraordinary string of victories comes to an end for Federer and maybe a new one starts for Nadal.

BTW, I was 0-3 for the weekend, everyone I was supporting lost :-(

Wimbledon :match fixing?

Just reading about this news makes me so sad. Can there be no sport/no event untouched by doping & match-fixing scandals? Tennis stars who qualify for the Wimbledon, must be decently paid, why should so many sportsmen throw matches?

This post is about the measures that sports authorities are taking. I am all for harsh penalties and life-bans. But most sports authorities practice double standards - Azharuddin has been banned but is invited to an event to "honour" the 1983 World Cup winning team. I used to be a huge Azhar fan, but there are no two ways about this - he was found guilty and therefore does not warrant any further recognition (unless he is proven innocent).

The measure I find most odd is the locker room ban (tennis is also restricting it to players and coaches). I don't think Shah Rukh should be in the dug-out/dressing room not because it gives an opportunity to corrupt players but simply because it should belong to the players. If the match-fixing was happening in the locker room, why can't you have a hidden camera and a sting operation? Are they serious that the first time a player is broached is in the locker room? Can't they very well contact them well before a match and outside the premises? What is the logic behind restricting the locker room access?