US Open Dreams

The US Open starts next Monday in Queens, NY. I'll be in NYC starting Wednesday and I have tickets for the night session on Saturday. Yesssssssssss!!

I was talking to my cousin who lives in NY earlier today and we were discussing the possibilities of who might be playing on that Saturday night. On the men's side, we are certain to watch one of the top 5 seeds - Federer, Murray, Nadal, Djokovic or Roddick. On the women's side..... well honestly i don't care about watching any of the top seeds except for Venus. I'd love to watch her play.

For me, the ideal scenario would be - and please bear with me here while I dream for the impossible to happen - Sania Mirza & Somdev Devvarman both playing on that night against a high seed and causing major upsets. That's all. Is that too much to ask for? While I'm at it, should I also ask that the lottery ticket in my wallet be the one that wins the jackpot?

But seriously, the odds of me getting my US Open wish are higher than India winning the 1983 Cricket World Cup and I think the odds against us were 500-1 then. By the way, Devvarman isn't even in the tournament yet! He's just won the 1st round of qualifying and plays his 2nd game tomorrow. He has to win three games in the qualifying rounds to just enter the main draw. I do believe he's capable of doing that much. Once he's in the main event, there's no knowing what'll happen.

Sania, on the other hand, is already in, as she's ranked 71 at the moment. By tomorrow night, we'll know who she'll be playing in the first round as the draws will be coming out. Once that happens, I'll be charting the course for her to be playing a 3rd round match against Dinara Safina on Saturday night with me, Mrs. Sportsfan, my family & my friends screaming ourselves hoarse in the stands. Of course, we'll be saving our voices for the next game when Som Dev Dev Var Man takes Federer out.

Anybody wanna put money on that? ;-)

Indian Sports Fan: Y.E. Yang

Indian Sports Fan: Y.E. Yang

Y.E. Yang

I haven't posted anything since last week and a major event in the world of golf took place on Sunday. I had posted about the progress of Jeev Milkha Singh in the PGA Championship last week. He did make the cut but didn't play great during the weekend. In fact, he was downright awful on Sunday. However, Y.E. Yang of South Korea made history by beating Tiger Woods in the final round.

Mid way through the final round, Padraig Harrington looked like the one who'd challenge Tiger since he had started with pars on the first 7 holes. Then, he posted a scarcely believable 8 on the par 3 8th hole! So, that was that for his title defense. It looked like the tournament was Tiger's for the taking. But he didn't look his usual self all day. It never felt like he was going to crush everyone that stood in his path. But, Yang was the only one left in position to challenge him and everyone just kept waiting for him to crumble under the pressure.

I like Tiger Woods. But he always, always wins. So, normally I'd root for the guy playing against Tiger but, at first, I was reluctant to root for Yang. If he won, he'd become the first Asian player to win a major and I had been dreaming about Jeev Singh or another Indian being in that position. However, by the time he made the brilliant chip-in for eagle on the 14th hole, Yang had won me and the entire crowd over. There was no stopping him from there and his amazing approach shot from the rough on the 18th sealed it. When he made the birdie-putt to win the tournament, the crowd - full of Americans - went wild for the Korean-born Yang. In the same week when American soccer players had encountered some of the most dangerously partisan crowd in Mexico, it was just great to see the fans root for a man who had upset the American hero. I can't think of too many countries where an outsider would get such support from the fans. Granted, it's easier to do so in an individual sport as compared to a team sport. Still, it was a great sight to see.

Everytime an Indian plays in a major tournament, I dream about one of them winning it all. It always seems like it would be impossible for one of our golfers to win against such greats from all over the world. But, Y.E. Yang just did it. When will it be our turn to celebrate? I really can't wait for that day.

Saina & Jeev

Saina went down fighting to Lin Wang today. She had beaten Wang a few weeks ago but couldn't repeat that result today. She's still only 19 though, and I've been reading all the experts from around the world saying that she has it in her to reach the top. That is very encouraging.

Jeev, true to form, put me through a hell of a roller-coaster ride today. Alternating between birdies & bogeys, he finished with a round of 1-over 73 and a total of 3-over for the tournament. That puts him right on the brink of the cut line as it stands right now. Of course. Why would he make things easier for himself and his fans? Where's the fun in that? Just like the Indian cricket team, he always leaves things hanging till the last moment. And why do I even care so much??

Meanwhile, Tiger sits on top of the leaderboard with defending champion Padraig Harrington right behind him. It's going to be a great weekend at Hazeltine. Now, if only Jeev can make the cut and put together a couple of good rounds....

PGA Championship!!!

Jeev Milkha Singh tees off at 10:55 AM (PST) at the Hazeltine National Folf Club in ...... Chaska, Minnesota??? Who would have thought that such a great golf course would be in MN? I mean it gets so ridiculously cold over there in the winter. I didn't know where Hazeltine was until now. I have to say, I'm very surprised. I guess, because I've lived in Mumbai & Los Angeles all my life, I have this tendency to underestimate smaller centers. I'm just a big-city snob. I need to get out to the interiors ( that's an oxymoron, i think.). Although, my buddy Nirav went to Minnesota in the winter for work and absolutely hated the unbearably frigid climate. And everyone he met there and in Idaho said "Oh, you're from LA?!! Take me back with you!" I guess it means they hate it there too. On second thought, I'll shelve my plans to visit the interior. I'm going to NYC next month. That's very much in my comfort zone.

Back to Jeev. I can't wait for his round to start. Last year, he was atop the leaderboard at the end of Round 1!! He finished T-9th. That was a different course, though. But, I think that he'll find Hazeltine to his liking. He does well at the Masters and this course is even longer than Augusta.

I thought that Saina Nehwal would have finished her 3rd round match by now but I see no news of her match online. Hey, if the World Championships are being held in "Cyberabad", shouldn't there be a decent website which covers the tournament well and is updated on a daily basis?

Indian Sports Fan: Saina Nehwal in Round 3

Indian Sports Fan: Saina Nehwal in Round 3

Saina Nehwal in Round 3

Saina Nehwal won her 2nd round match with ease, as expected. She has her first challenge of the tournament in round 3 against the 10th seed, Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria. I just realized that she'll actually be facing Lin Wang, the 2nd seed, in the QF and not the SF. Well, let's just hope that she gets there first. Hopefully, the home crowd shows up in large numbers to egg her on. She's got the skills to win it all.

Badminton isn't really a major worldwide sport and there aren't too many great websites that I could find that would help me follow the tournament more closely. I have to rely on news of matches already played. Several websites posted the Order of Play for the first couple of days and there have been no updates since. I did dig up the info that Saina is playing her next match on Thursday. I also read somewhere that one of the organizers was pretty happy about the fact that they were able to sell 300 tickets on day 3 of the tournament. That's really sad. All this news coverage and they can't get people to come in and watch? I wonder why the place isn't packed with youngsters. Maybe people are worried about the Swine flu and are avoiding public places..... and every place in any Indian city is a public place.

Good luck Saina!!

I'm back, Baby!!

I swear to God it is just a coincidence that I logged into my blog today. It's the 11th of August and I noticed that the last post I made was on August 10th ..... of 2008!! Maybe, if no one notices the year, my procrastination will go unnoticed.

Instead of recapping the things that have happened in the last 365 days, I'll just look into the future. There are a lot of things that are happening in Indian sports. While the cricket team is getting a much needed break, our athletes have been performing very well in badminton, golf, tennis and many other sports.

Badminton
Saina Nehwal leads the Indian contingent in the World Badminton Championships in Hyderabad this week. The England players pulled out due to security threats and some Malaysian players have caught the Swine flu. That didn't improve our chances to win, though. A lot of first round losses for us. Saina is really the only top class player that we have and hopefully she'll handle the pressure well. She's the 6th seed and has a first-round bye. So, she'll need five wins to take the title. She faces the 10th seed in the QFs and the 2nd seed, Lin Wang, in the Semis. Anything less than the semis would be a disappointment for her.

Golf
Also this week, Jeev Milkha Singh will be playing in the final major tournament of the year, The PGA Championship. Jeev's been paired with Justin Leonard & Retief Goosen, both excellent players. Hopefully that brings the best out of him. (And why do they call them "pairings" when they are groups of three for Rounds 1 & 2 of the tournament. Whatever.) Jeev can be pretty inconsistent and following his round is an agonizing ordeal. He can have a great performance sandwiched between some lousy ones. But that's the nature of the game, really. He didn't play well last week at the World Golf Championship and hopefully he's due for a good one. Fingers crossed.

Cricket
The 5th test of the Ashes is more than a week away. Back in the old days, this would be normal ... To have two Tests separated by more than 10 days. But this too big a gap between matches. Fortunately for the organisers, it is a deciding test match and the interest is massive. In fact, my co-worker just told me that the Brian Lara cricket video game was the number one game of the week in England.

I really don't like Ricky Ponting much. I never really did. Then, the Sydney Test in 2008 and its aftermath left a really bad taste in my mouth. Now, I despise him. But, he is an all-time great. There's no denying that. There is much talk going on about the English fans heartily booing him whenever he walks to the crease. I remember that even the most inebriated Aussie was giving Sachin a standing ovation every time he walked out to bat during that last tour to Oz. Though, they did boo Harbhajan every chance they got. It's hard for the fans of the opposition to like the likes of Punter & Bhajji for various reasons. However, Ponting deserves better from the English fans, to be honest. He's turning 35 in December and this may well be the last time he plays a test match in England. Of course, when he comes to India in a couple of months for the ODI series, I'll be booing him heartily. But then I'll clap for and acknowledge all the boundaries that he'll hit .... which is hopefully just a handful.