U.S.Open Final 2016

The US Open final of 2016 was eagerly anticipated as it was a rematch of the 2015 French Open Final where World No.1 Novak Djokovic had seen his bid for a career slam set back by a year. It was supposed to be Djokovic’s moment of revenge, and he was set take it. He was the player who had spent least amount of time on court, due to 2 retirements and one walkover.

Djokovic vs Wawrinka! A clash of the titans! Djokovic was going for his 13th Slam(and 3rd U.S.Open) in his 21st final(second only to Roger Federer in number of finals played)and Wawrinka was going for his 3rd Slam(and 1st U.S.Open) in his 3rd final. The two of them had played 3 five setters in Australia and a 5 setter in the U.S.Open 3 years ago. Wawrinka was someone who had the game and mental strength to overcome Djokovic as his wins against enroute his first 2 titles saw him comeback from a set down to beat the world.no.1.

The first set saw Wawrinka looking tired and giving his shots a lot of air and was even broken early. Wawrinka was down 2-5 in the opener and Djokovic seemed set to just breeze through and claim his 3^rd U.S.Open title. Wawrinka awoke and raised his game. He broke back, took the set to a tie breaker which he lost.

Viewers would think that it’s all over now but Wawrinka has come back from 1 set down against Djokovic before. Losing the first set against Djokovic was like routine to Wawrinka. He had done it before and he had won the match. The second set saw Wawrinka play at a level unseen in the initial part of the 1^st set. Almost as if they were two different players who had gone out in Wawrinka’s  pink court attire. Djokovic wasn’t able to make a comeback and the tie was levelled. Possibly the memories of the French Open were playing in his mind.

Wawrinka raced ahead to a 3-0 in the third, only to lose the next 3 games. In the next game Djokovic had 3 break points but Wawrinka reeled of the next 5 in a row to win the game and the crowd was on his side. The crowd cheering for the opposition flusters Djokovic and he was broken in the 12^th game to lose the 3^rd set 5-7.

The second and third set saw Wawrinka serving well and his backhand which is considered to be the most lethal single handed backhand in the game today was on song. Djokovic was squandering break points and Wawrinka was capitalising on his break point opportunities. It was similar to the previous years final where Federer was blowing up break points and getting broken easily by Djokovic.

The fourth set started in a manner similar to the third with Wawrinka racing ahead to a 3-0 lead and having break point to go 4-0 up. A light lob by Djokovic which made Wawrinka believe the ball was out led to an even weaker return which Djokovic finished off in style and held serve.

Two medical timeouts were called for by Djokovic who could be seen limping. It was suspected to be blisters on his toes. However he gamely carried on but couldn’t pull off yet another of his superhuman comebacks. Wawrinka served for the match and on his second Championship point he won the match 6-7 4-6 5-7 3-6 and claimed the U.S.Open which was his 3^rd Grand Slam overall after his triumphs in Australia in 2014 and France in 2015. The match was error strewn but Wawrinka managed to capitalise and make the most of Djokovic’s errors

The loss meant that Djokovic had lost the summit clash in New York for the 5th time(vs Federer 2007; Nadal 2010 and 2013; Murray 2012;Wawrinka 2016) and it ended a 51 game unbeaten streak that Djokovic had at the U.S.Open after winning the 1st set. It also moved Wawrinka up to 3^rd in the ATP rankings and he improved to a 3-0 record in Grand slam finals and a 3-19 losses against world no. 1s (the 3 wins have come in grand slam finals. Big match player! Unfazed by the big stage) After the semi final Djokovic had called him a big match player and we can see why. He won all the big moments in the match and one the big prize. Questions to be raised here are that should the big 4 now be made the big 5 as Murray and Wawrinka have the same number of Slams.

Next year we can look forward to a race between Murray and Wawrinka as to who can get the career slam first. Murray needs wins in Australia and France. Wawrinka needs to win Wimbledon. Djokovic will be hungry for more and the next Grand Slam sees the return of Roger Federer to competitive Tennis.

However until now and Melbourne 2017 there is a lot of Tennis action as the ATP Tour continues with events in Tokyo, Shanghai, Basel, Paris, etc before culminating with the ATP World Tour Finals.

Manchester United: Derby Report

The Manchester derby on 10^th September was a highly anticipated game. Why wouldn’t it be? What was once upon a time a clash between Mighty Manchester United and their neighbours who lived in their shadow, was now a clash between equals. The managers who had previously clashed in the El Classico had now shifted their rivalry to Manchester. The two teams had spent the most amount of money in the summer transfer window. They had between them 7 out of the last 10 EPL trophies.

Both the teams had secured 9 points from 3 games. Also they sent out a combined 22 players which were the most expensively assembled starting line ups ever seen in a club football game.

United started the game with a 4-2-3-1 formation. They had the taller players on the pitch and commentators prior to the game were saying that they could pose a problems to City on set pieces. Another aspect of United’s game was to play on the counter and with speed, which was evident in their benching of Juan Mata in favour of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

City were without their main striker, Sergio Aguero due to a suspension. The signs all seemed to favour United.

City started the game with a 4-3-3 formation with 19 year old Kelechi Iheanacho leading the line, with Raheem Sterling and Nolito.

From the moment the game started United looked clueless. Their two holding midfielders seemed to be lost and Kevin De Bruyne was drifting past them at will. Mkhitaryan who had suffered a minor injury on International duty seemed to be off the pace throughout (he had put in a better shift against Dortmund on the pre-season). The first goal was partly his error as he did not press and allowed City an easy clearance. What followed was a passing masterclass, lack of communication between United’s centre backs and KDB just vroomed past and smashed the ball into the net. Daley Blind was just standing like a statue, he didn’t make any attempt to win the ball should Eric Bailly lose it, as he did.

Then what followed was just City passing the ball at will (like how Barcelona used to do in their prime) United looked like an amateur team who were giving City a practice match. The second goal was again the entire team, particularly Blind’s fault, as he played Iheanacho onside and could pounce on the shot from KDB which had rebounded off the post.

At 0-2 United were losing yet another derby at Old Trafford and even Jose Mourinho looked clueless at the touchline at that moment.

They did manage to mount some sort of a comeback and the height advantage caused problems for the City defence with Bravo (who was playing his first game for the club) leaping up to catch a ball, fumbling it and presenting it to Zlatan Ibrahimovic who smashed it in.

Score 1-2 42 minutes.

In the 46^th minute Zlatan was presented the ball on a plate and could have just walked into the goal as the goalkeeper who had gone out to stop Jesse Lingard failed to do so and was on the floor, but he took his shot too hastily and the ball was cleared by the defenders on the line.

The second half saw the withdrawal of Lingard and Mkhitarayn. Completely validated in my opinion as the duo had looked completely clueless. The formation shifted to a 4-1-4-1 with Fellaini moving forward from central defence to play along with Rooney. Rashford took Mkhitaryan’s spot on the right wing and Herrera replaced Lingard on the left.

Rashford looked the most threatening player on the pitch and one wonders why he didn’t start the game after his debut hat-trick on debut for the England U-21s. H even scored a goal but as it nicked Zlatan on the way it was ruled offside. Zlatan seemed to be non-existent throughout the game and kept getting in the way of his own players.

City shored up in defence and just protected their lead. United threw on Anthony Martial for Luke Shaw and shifted to a back 3. It didn’t work, time just ticked away.

United lost the game and also their 100% record in the League. Their noisy neighbours had gotten one over them yet again.

Looking back though, this was a performance that was much better than what we saw under Louis Van Gaal last season. His sideways passing game would have been dismantled by Guardiola’s pass masters.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s face shown on the TV in the 90^th minute summed up how every Manchester United fan was feeling at that moment. It was a devastating loss and something Sir Alex wasn’t accustomed to during his 26 year reign as manager.

What went wrong?

The Central defensive pairing of Bailly and Blind. Originally it was thought that Blind was going to be sold of be a 3^rd choice, but his form combined with Smalling’s pre-season injury and suspension led to him being promoted to 1^st choice along with Bailly. They did manage to hold out against Bournemouth, Hull and Southampton, but not against top quality opposition and to win the league you need to beat the top teams. Solution draft in Smalling with Bailly or even with Blind as last season the combination of Smalling and Blind were a feature of the meanest defence in the Premier League.

Lack of rotation of the CDM’s. Pogba and Fellaini have started every game. Why not rotate and give Schniderlin and Herrera a chance to play?

Reluctance to play Rashford from the start. Does Mourinho not trust young players?

Rooney. The biggest problem in the team who for the past 3 seasons just seems to be in the team because he is the captain. He has completely lost his place and is the 3^rd or 4^th best no.10 in the team. It is due to him that Mata, Herrera and Mkhitaryan were forced to play out wide.

Will Jose Mourinho address these concerns? It seems as if he may as he isn’t stubborn like Van Gaal which can be seem as he changed his tactics halfway and even was shouting out instructions at his team during the game. Let's hope that this result was just a minor blip.

Next game is in the Europa League against Feyenoord.

Thrid time's the charm? Not quite....

It’s been about 5 days since the Olympics got over and everone has been talking about Simone Biles, Usain Bolt, Micheal Phelps and all the great stories of the game. There were other great stories such as the diversity seen in the women’s beach volleyball competition, the awarding of the Coubertin medal for sportsmanship, the selfie between 2 athletes from the North and South Korean contingents.

But amongst all these stories lies one man, whose almost there story at the games continued. Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia was the losing finalist at the Beijing and London Olympics. On both instances he suffered defeat in the finals to Lin Dan.  However in Rio he managed to get the better of his eternal rival in the semi-finals (Third time’s the charm). However standing between him and the elusive gold medal was China’s Chen Long. Now that the “DAN” barrier was cleared many people around the world (myself included) thought that Lee Chong Wei would finally secure his long overdue gold medal.

He headed into the final as a favourite, on seeding and on form, but the 1 thing that was against him… was age. His opponent was 6 years younger and at 27 was at an age that is considered to be the peak age in a sportspersons career. Chen outclassed Lee in the final and won it in 2 straight games with the identical score line of 21-18(not quite)

 Lee Chong Wei had his 3^rd silver medal in the Men’s Singles competition at the Olympics and at 33 years old, he doesn’t have age on his side. He’ll be 37 at Tokyo in 4 years’ time and no matter how fantastic a player he is, 37 is too old for a badminton star to be performing at his peak.(we can’t say for sure though as sports has seen many age defying miracles of this kind before). Lee however even in defeat has made sure that he has more Olympic medals than Dan. Will the two be back in Tokyo? Or was this edition of the Olympics a passing of the torch between the greatest names in Badminton (Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan) to the next generation(Chen Long) and Viktor Axelson (the man who beat Lin Dan in the bronze medal match)

All we can do is wait and watch. Lee and Lin’s supremacy is waning, the chasing pack have almost caught up! Men’s Singles Badminton has never been this exciting for some time now.

The greatest Olympic career of all time !!

Lightning never strikes twice, but weather alert! Lighting has just struck thrice.
40 seconds of mayhem is what it was called. It was to be the final chapter of Usain Bolt's storied Olympic career.

Would it be a memorable one?

A total of 32 atheltes ran, but the world had eyes on only Usain Bolt who would be the star of the show. Mayhem it was indeed, but the star of the show shone brightest and signed off in style. Jamaica won gold!
Usain Bolt had won the treble of short sprint events for the 3rd time in succession, and in doing so has become the only Olympian to complete an Olympics golden triple triple in track and field.
Along with Usain Bolt, one mustn't forget that he was just 25% of the race that got him the record. Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade all played a crucial role in getting the baton to Bolt and did so, successfully, despite the immense pressure that was on them. The thought of,"What if I drop it?", must have been constantly going through their heads. They didn't drop it and ran with speed and perfection, they got it to the big man and he charged down the final straight in similar fashion to every single time he has ever run.(3-4 strides ahead of his closest rival)

Fans around the world savoured the moment (Usain Bolt charging down the track)as it was the last time they would ever see it in an Olympic games. The atmosphere inside the Estadio Olympico was electric when the baton was handed over. They knew that just a single digit number of seconds were left for the greatest Olympic career to conclude. It was his final sprint and turned out to be one to remember.

I have called Usain Bolt the greatest as he has a 9 gold medals out of 9 in olympic finals  contested, which is a 100% success rate.
On the eve of his 30th birthday he has done something that no sprinter may ever be able to even match, let alone beat.
The race could be called as the perfect finish to a perfect career, a career that will never be repeated.

A career that truly is 'Once in a lifetime !' A career that the writer has been privileged to witness, throughout his teenage life. A career that will inspire a generation of athletes!! A career that due to its sheer consistency and dominance across 8 years and in Olympics in 3 different continents be called as 'the greatest Olympic career of all time.'

Silver to the world, Gold to the nation

The game ended 21-19 12-21 15-21. To the world, India had lost the gold medal, but to 1.3 billion individuals India had won silver and to over 7 billion in the world India's 21 year old P.V.Sindhu had won their hearts with her display of sportsmanship after losing the final point.
With the exit of London 2012 Bronze medalist Saina Newhal in the group stages, the burden of landing a medal in badminton fell on the young 21 year old P.V.Sindhu's shoulders.
She entered Rio ranked at no.10 in the world and no one would have even expected her to reach the quarter finals, based on her ranking.
However Sindhu continued to defy the odds and notched up memorable wins against higher ranked opponents such as World no.2 and London 2012 Silver medallist Wang Yihan and World no.6 and reigning All England Chanpion Nozomi Okuhara.
She reached the gold medal clash and the nation dared to dream. Standing between her and glory was World no.1 and World Champion, Spain's Carolina Marin.
With nothing to lose whatsoever all the pressure was on Carolina's shoulders and she felt it. The way she threw away  a 16-19 lead in the first game to lose it 21-19 was a sign of her nerves. They get to the most seasoned athletes and this was a clash between 2 first time Olympians.
Score: India 1-0 Spain.
People who had their doubts too began to believe. She was a minimum of 21 points away.

The changeover between games lead to a discussion with her coach and Marin stepped out like a caged animal unleashed and wrecked havoc in the 1st half of the 2nd game with smashes, deceptive lobs, net dribbles and headed to the mid game break with a 11-2 lead. The next 20 points were competitive with both players winning 10 each but that wasn't enough to overcome the 9 point deficit.

Score: India 1-1 Spain
The momentum was with Carolina Marin. She was making amazing line calls to leave the shuttle and was finishing off points with unseen sharpness at every opportunity that she got.
She carried on the same level of intense play into the final game and stormed to a 9-3 lead. only to get pegged back to 10-10, but crucially won the 21st point of the game to take a 11-10 lead into the break and with it held the psychological advantage over her opponent.
It was anyone's game now as there was just a point in it. Sindhu had been down 6-11 in the first game and had made a successful comeback. True to her ranking Marin kept playing her game and luck favoured her. She took a 20-14 lead and had 6 championship points. 1 was duly saved by Sindhu, but the inevitable could only be delayed for so long as Marin claimed the match, and the gold medal on the next point.
Score: India 1-2 Spain
P.V.Sindhu had gone down fighting. She was the only player in the Olympics to win a game against Carolina Marin.

Indians felt a moment of disappointment after the match as it was once again that feel of 'so close yet so far' from Sushil kumar's Silver 4 years ago. After the first game many of them had claimed, "1 down, 1 to go. Halfway there."

While the world thinks of it as an almost, it isn't an almost. This silver is a spectacular achievement. It came on a day where Indian Wrestler Narsingh Yadav was handed a 4 year ban for doping thus depriving him and the nation a chance at a medal. The nation was furious at the late appeal. The Silver medal is the best return by any member of the Indian Contingent in this edition of the Olympics(till now)and also the best ever return in the sport of Badminton , eclipsing compatriot Saina Newhal's bronze, 4  years ago. It is the best placed finish by an Indian woman (the previous 4 women medallists from India
2000: Karnam Malleswari- weightlifting
2012: Saina Nehwal- Badminton
2012: Mary Kom - Boxing
2016: Sakshi Malik- Wrestling
 had all won Bronze)
P.V.Sindhu at the age of 21, with her win also became the youngest individual medallist from India.
She went for gold, she hit silver . She punched way above expectations and broke glass ceilings. A proud nation awaits the return of its youngest ever Individual Olympic Medallist.
It was a Silver to the world, but in the eyes of every single Indian it is a gold.
Congratulations  to the golden girl, Olympic Silver medallist P.V.Sindhu !!

Badminton Men's Singles Rio 2016

   When the men’s singles quarterfinals commenced on the 17th of August, all eyes were on the first 2 contests. Everyone knew that if the favourites got through we would be treated to a repeat of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic final.

   Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and double Olympic Silver medallist got though his match with ease, he seemed to be sending a loud message to his eternal rival China’s Lin Dan who was in action in the next semi-final against India’s Srikanth Kidambi. 

The next quarter final match started with Kidambi winning the first point only for Lin Dan to reel of the next 11 in succession and win the 12th one immediately after the changeover.(Wow!! What dominance!) Kidambi’s nerves began to show as, after going 4-1 down as he was just lobbing the shuttle back into play and kept on hitting the net. 

After a minor fight back, he took a total of 5 points from 12-1 down and lost the 1st game 21-6. It seemed like the second set would be a mere formality now and Lin Dan had activated what fans around the world fondly know as “SUPER DAN.”

In India, I could hear a person from the neighbouring flat yelling out “shut the television and get back to studying, the match is over.” Boy! How wrong that person was! 

The second game saw Lin Dan completely clueless and Kidambi never even seemed to be troubled. He had a comfortable lead throughout. Maybe Kidambi was told by his coaches to go out swinging? Or had he finally gotten over the early jitters that players get when they go up against people who they have grown up watching? Or was Lin Dan just getting some real match practice for his semifinal against Lee Chong Wei? I say this as throughout the second game I noticed that the sharpness of the upward flicks and volleys and the injection of pace in the rallies from Dan’s side were non-existent. Also his sharp volleying had vanished. Did he just want some extra on court time? In sports it is said that even if the opponent isn’t playing well, you have to be there and playing well to win and Kidambi’s game had picked up. He won the 2nd game 21-11.

GAME ON !!

Kidambi had momentum on his side. Lin Dan seemed flustered, but raced out to a 5-3 lead and then the two began trading points going head to head till 8-8 following which Kidambi reeled off the next 3 points in a row to head into the break with a 11-8 lead.

Dan’s coach began ranting at him in the changeover and he won 9 of the next 13 points, starting off with a body smash to make it 11-9. The sharp volleying, sharp angles, and injection of pace had all returned. Kidambi wasn’t going away and maintained the level of play he had attained in the second game and kept within a point of Lin Dan right up to 17-16. Experience played a crucial role as Dan did just enough at the end and took 4 of the next 6 points to close out the game 21-18 and advance to the semi-finals with a 2 games to 1 win. 

Lin Dan wasn’t playing as well as Lee Chong Wei had played in his quarter final, but did just enough.

The semi-final against Lee Chong Wei will prove a much much tougher challenge and going on current form I would predict Lee to finally get past Dan at an Olympic event. However there are some players who just raise their game to the next level when they come up against a particular opponent. Lin is an example of that statement. When up against Lee he has always been under pressure and yet like a true champion has done just enough at just the right moment.

Lee wants to beat Lin Dan. Lin Dan wants to go out with a bang by winning his 3rd straight gold. Expect a thriller between two greats of the world game. ONE LAST TIME !!

The Immortal Bolt

In Beijing 2008, Usain Bolt was just unstoppable in the 100m and many say he could have obliterated the then world record of 9.72 seconds with a time in the 9.5s or possibly even  the 9.4s, but he began to celebrate even before crossing the line. Such is the man’s swagger and confidence, that despite his celebration he broke the world record by 0.03 seconds!

In London 2012, there were doubts regarding whether he would defend his crown, and as usual he just strolled to wins in round 1 and the semis and in the finals he broke his own Olympic record of 9.69 seconds by 0.06 seconds.

In Rio 2016, there were more doubters than there were in London as Bolt had to his name only the fourth fastest time of the year and he had had a hamstring injury just a month back which caused him to miss the national trials.

Many questions were being asked about his chances of capturing the medal in the event for the 3^rd straight time.

 In the heats Bolt had a time of 10.07 which was the 4th fastest overall and was 0.06 seconds off Justin Gatlin’s 10.01. The semi-finals turned on the heat a little bit for Bolt, but just like in the round 1 he actually slowed down towards the end and seemed to jog past the line with the fastest time in that round of 9.86 seconds. He had sent a message across to Gatlin, his rival and the fastest man in the world across 100m in 2016.

The world now believed that the impossible dream of 3 consecutive Olympic wins in the same sprint event could  be realised. An hour later the athletes took their places on the starting blocks for the final. The gunshot sounded and they were off.

I heard the following words on my television set with a background noise of over 80,000 people cheering on the 8 athletes in the 100m finals. (I say 8 but the whole world knows that just one man was being cheered for)

Gatlin’s got a good enough start, Bolt was a bit slow to begin, he’s got some work to do. Gatlin’s in front, Bolt’s stretching out now, he’s coming after him….. HE’S IMMORTAL NOW!

You can picture the final in your head by reading the bold lettering. Bolt was slow out of the blocks and had the second slowest reaction time of 0.155 seconds. After about 40 metres Gatlin was about 3-4 strides ahead and looked like a man on a mission, and then Bolt did what only he can do and he began effortlessly stretching to complete bigger strides and started breezing past his competitors but he had only 1 person he was coming after and that was Justin Gatlin With 10 metres to go, billions of people around the wold saw it. Bolt was ahead of Gatlin and was continuing to extend his lead with those long strides. He crossed the line 0.08 seconds ahead of Gatlin who secured a silver medal and 0.10 seconds ahead of De Grasse in bronze, and had won his 3^rd consecutive 100m Olympic title. The impossible dream had been realised.

Like a true champion he did just enough to get to the finals had saved his best for when it was needed and had triumphed.

It was his 3^rd Gold Medal in as many 100m Olympic finals and in defending his  title for the second time he secured his third Olympic gold  which enabled him to beat Carl Lewis’ record of 2 consecutive 100m Olympic Golds (1984 and 1988)

By winning it for the 3^rd straight time, he had immortalised himself in the history of Olympic track events. Never before had we seen such a spectacular series of performances across games and such a record will be hard to even be equalled, let alone beaten. In the words of the commentator…..

HE’S IMMORTAL NOW!!!!

Men's Singles Semi-Fnals Rio 2016

The 2 semi-finals on Saturday evening  were so contrasting in nature. Defending champion Andy Murray breezed past Asian number 1 Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-4 and was crucially able to rest ahead of the 5 set Olympic final. To see who would be Murray’s opponent in Sunday’s final, the 2008 Olympic Gold Medallist Rafael Nadal took on the 2012 Bronze Medallist Juan Martin Del Potro in what was a titanic clash lasting over 3 hours. Del Potro is no stranger to epic Olympic semi-finals having been a part of one with Roger Federer in 2012 in which he lost 19-17 in the 3^rd set. That must have been at the back of his mind as he continued to pummel down forehand after fore hand to counter Rafael Nadal as this time he wanted to be assured of a medal. Having lost the first set the pressure was on Del Potro and my word he played the match of a lifetime. He broke early in the 2^nd set and held on to win it 6-4.

The nerves were showing on both the players at the end of the 3^rd set Nadal was broken for Del Potro to take a 5-4.In the following game Del Potro was broken to love as he attempted to serve for the match. Nadal in the next game was down 0-40 but managed to hold on to take a 6-5 lead. In the final set tie-break(the writer is so glad that the ITF introduced this as in its absence the old rule of playing until one player has a 2 game lead in the final set was used and that resulted in Roger Federer being completely depleted of energy in the final having been exhausted after a four and half hour marathon which ended 3-6 -7-6 19-17) Del Potro had 2 chances to close out the match on his own serve and squandered them, Rafael Nadal with the score now back on serve was attempting to nail his 2 serves and take a 7-6 lead to put the pressure on Del Potro, faltered and gifted the match to the Argentine.

The final 4 games and the tie break featured both players gifting the other the opportunity to win and the opponent returning the favour in what seemed like a game of chivalry.(you take it. No you take it)

What’s next?

Rafael Nadal will take on Kei Nishikori in the bronze medal match and will attempt to add to the gold he won in doubles in Rio 2016.

Juan Martin Del Potro who hadn’t played tennis for 2 whole years due to a series of wrist injuries, will attempt to make a statement by winning gold for Argentina and announcing to everyone on tour that he truly is back!  But the hurdle in front of him is not an easy one. Andy Murray is in the form of his life having reached the finals of all the 3 majors this year (winning Wimbledon)

He seems to be able to reach any ball wherever it is hit and return it back to make his opponent play that 1 extra shot in a bid to draw an error. However he never seems to want to go to the net and finish off a point as even after picking up a ball near the service line, he will charge back to the baseline and defend. Del Potro could present a serious problem if his forehand is on song like it has been throughout the tournament where he has knocked out Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. For Andy Murray he can take solace that the hard hitting game of Del Potro means that there will be the occasional long forehand and free points.

Even though there aren’t ATP points on offer in the Olympics, expect both players to give it their all and not have the upcoming US Open in August at the back of their minds(Del Potro isn’t even sure of a US Open spot as he is way out of the top 32 automatic qualifiers with a ranking of 141). Don't let the disparity in their rankings fool you(world no.2 vs World no.141)

 Two Grand Slam Champions will battle for Gold.

Vault to Glory

The Vault is an apparatus on which the gymnasts perform a vault which is known as vaulting. To perform what we know best as a summersault the gymnast runs down a carpeted runway, leaps onto a springboard, cartwheel over onto the vault with their hands and then perform one or maybe a series of twists and turns into the air. Following this routine, commencing from the run to the vault which lasts about 6 seconds they must land cleanly on the mat with no hops and steps.

Why do we care about this though? Indian Dipa Karmakar will be competing in the finals of the women’s vault having squeaked into the final by. In 8^th place. This marks the first time an Indian gymnast has made it into the finals of any event in Olympic gymnastics. The achievement alone is a victory as India isn’t a country one associates with in gymnastics. Even though she clinched the last qualifying spot with the lowest aggregate score among the 8 finalists, there will be global attention on her for she is the 5^th woman in history to successfully complete the Produnova vault(Front handspring off the vault table followed by two and a half summersaults).It seems simple enough but if the handspring doesn’t give the gymnast considerable height they risk landing on the back of their neck which may result in paralysis and hence the vault is also known as the death vault and there have been calls among the gymnastic community to ban it or devalue its scoring in order to dissuade gymnasts from risking their lives.

The scoring in gymnastics is done on 2 grounds.

1^st  Level of difficulty of the vault. D score

2^nd Execution E score

Dipa Karmakar is guaranteed the highest possible score on level of difficulty as she has openly stated that she will perform the vault in the finals. Uzbek Oksana Chusovitina who will be appearing in her 7^th and final games reportedly will attempt it.(Neither Dipa nor Oksana are considered favourites for the medal) The execution of the produnova as well as the level of difficulty and execution of the other vault will play a crucial role as in finals 2 differernt vaults must be displayed.

The main medal contenders include the favourite 19 year old American Simone Biles who qualified with a score of 16.050(when asked about the Produnova, she simply stated that she doesn’t want to die), Swiz Guilia Steinburger who is in the final with a score of 15.266, and 2008 Olympic gold medallist who makes a return after missing the 2012 edition, North Korean Hong Un-Jong with a score of 15.683.

I name them as the main medal contenders as they performed vaults with lower level of difficulty and have still secured very high scores due to their flawless execution. As an Indian, I hope to see India win a medal!

If the medal is won, maybe the standard of gymnastics will improve and India will have quality coaches and no one will have to take a decision to risk their lives in the pursuit of Olympic glory because let’s face it, she won her Olympic berth on the back of a Produnova vault in a qualification event in April. The American contingent have proper facilities and hence can rely on perfection in execution and don’t have to risk their lives. That system wins them medals. When will the sports authorities in India realise that cricket isn’t the nation’s only sport?

Will order prevail? Or will India awake to a surprise medal on its 70^th Independence Day? Will Dipa Karmakar’s Produnova be a vault to glory?

 

Top Buys of the EPL

With the 25^th Season of the EPL kicking off in just a few short hours, the wait of fans the world over to catch this exhilarating action of the toughest league in the world will soon be over. Let’s look at some of the buys of the season and believe me there are some huge names in this seasons list as the so called big clubs look to get back to the UEFA Champions League and are hoping Leicester City were a one season wonder.

Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City): An injury troubled CDM but someone who has always had manager Pep Guadiola’s liking will be an integral part of city’s midfield base. He will be the lead player in his preferred position upon returning from injury (mostly by the months end). Pep Guardiola has succeeded in replacing Yaya Toure  and although Gundogan isn’t a figure as imposing as the Ivorian expect him to be charged with supplying the ball to Manchester City’s stellar attack(Sergio Aguero, Nolito, Kevin De Bruyne) and controlling possession in the midfield(midfield control of games has been a feature of Guardiola clubs)

Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United): The Bundesliga players’ player of the season (a remarkable achievement considering he played in a league which had Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller) is now a red devil. He will have high expectations on his shoulders to replicate last season’s stellar performances in the league alone which saw him bag  15 assists making him the leading assister and 11 goals in just 28 starts. The pressure will be on him to deliver after two wide players purchased by the club in the past two summers have failed spectacularly. He however has one factor in his favour. He will be able to get to work without the pressure faced by his predecessors as all the attention will be on Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the world’s most expensive player Paul Pogba

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United): The man who not only scores, but who scores spectacular goals. A the age of 34 last season he scored 50 goals in all competitions which is one more than the 49 managed by Manchester United in the entirety of the English Premier League. In need of a physical presence upfront who also has experience and is surprisingly still at the peak of his game Manchester United would appear to have struck gold. But will the soon to be 35 year old be able to cope with the rigours of the EPL and 4 years of smashing goals past hapless Ligue 1 opponents? The spotlight will surely be on him

N’golo Kante: Also could be known as the man who never stops running. He was everywhere, literally everywhere last season and was the largely unsung hero of Leicester City’s fairy tale title triumph. He was honoured with the best player award at his club over Golden boot contender Jamie Vardy and PFA Player of the year Riyadh Mahrez. A lack of goals but the man is someone who will always fight for a second ball and will always through himself into a tackle. Chelsea who were cut open last season could use Kante in partnership with Nemanja Matic and the have got a defensive midfield of steel which opens up the full backs to tear down the flanks in support of the wingers.

Granit Xhaka: With the club investing heavily in attack one would argue that they needed a defensive midfielder as cover for the forever injured Jack Wilshere and first team regular Francis Coqulein. With the departures of Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini, the gunners needed reinforcement and in Xhaka they have got a 23 year old player who at that young age was the captain of Borussia Monchenladbach and is a good passer (which will fit in well with Arsenals style of play) and a ball winner (something Arsenal have been in need off). Arsene Wenger with this 30 million investment has killed of two birds with one stone and may possibly

Paul Pogba: The most expensive footballer on the planet will be in the Premier League and the expectations will be high. He will be expected to deliver match winning performances week in and week out with no let ups whatsoever. A sports player needs motivation to succeed and here Pogba will be motivated by his desire to justify the huge fee splashed out for him. Also on his agenda will be the need to perform in front of current club director and ex manager Sir Alex Ferguson who just 4 years back allowed him to run his contract down and join Juventus for a compensation fee of less than a million. With this signing the writer believes that Manchester United have finally replaced Roy Keane and finally won’t miss Paul Scholes.

These are just the transfers that were made before the start of the Premier League season and we can expect many more to come across to the Premier league before the 1^st of September.

The edition of the premier league promises to be one of the most exciting. Will the old guard reign supreme or will the new forces continue to prevail? Can Leicester repeat their fairy tale once more?