sidelines

Twitter timeline tells a story: Sreesanth’s

Team India has made the final.

Team India may and should win.

However, in all the hype and hoopla and maybe premature celebration, spare a thought for a man who despite being in the 15 finds himself on the sidelines after just one bad game.

ShantaKumara Sreesanth could very well have been the wicket-taking bowler this Indian side craved. His recent exploits in South Africa were soon forgotten.

His suspect temperament relegated his other virtues to the background.

A peek at his Twitter timeline over the past week tells a story:

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Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer progress in contrasting styles: Djokovic, Murray and Soderling lurk in the wings

Image via Wikipedia

Sunday evening and it’s seven days into the 2011 Australian Open.

The spotlight remains focused on the rivalry for the ages. Federer and Nadal are on course for a shoot-out on Sunday, the 30th of January.

That is, if the drama on court plays out as the script their fans envision.

The No.1 and No.2 seeds have taken different routes to the much expected showdown.

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Soderling clinches Paris Masters in style: Heartbreak for Monfils again

Soderling takes home the Paris Masters for the first time.

Monfils could not use the momentum of the crowd to make inroads into the Swede’s game.

The first set was an one-sided affair with the tall Nordic breaking twice to take the set 6-1.

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Rafael Nadal: How Our Disbelief Obliterates His Many Achievements

Now that Rafael Nadal has staked his claim to being the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT), let us examine the reasons why tennis aficionados are still leery of anointing him the heir to  Federer’s not yet vacated throne.

Is it that he is a Spaniard not too familiar with the nuances of the English language?

Is it that he does not typify the usual tennis player? Is it that he appears to be a muscle-bound hulk?

Is it that he’s built more like a boxer or a sprinter?

Is that what blinds us to his ever improving court craft?

Or are we just peeved with the alleged illegal coaching by his Uncle Toni from the sidelines?

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2010 US Open: The Dad Versus The Uncle

A rain-delayed Monday US Open final dawns.

Can Djokovic repeat his moment of magic against the top seed, Rafael Nadal?

Nadal is the overwhelming favourite going into the Flushing Meadows final.

But Djokovic should look no further than his own box, more specifically his father wearing an extraordinarily loud T-shirt with the Joker’s mug smiling back at him for awesome motivation.

Djokovic’s dad , Srdjan Djokovic, dares to look ridiculous just so his son Djokovic can feel that he’s not alone struggling on that blue quad.

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A Soccer ThreeSum!

Image by gnews pics via Flickr

Three days into the 2010 World Cup and it’s time to pen a few random thoughts:

1. The vuvuzelas (pronounced vu-vu-ZAY-las) have become synonymous with the South African edition of the soccer World Cup. It’s such a nuisance that the television volume has to be turned down low to be able to enjoy the games.  Am I the only one complaining? The only way to have fun with the vuvus is to join them! (I’ve shortened vuvuzelas to vuvus; just so difficult to wrap my tongue around 4 syllables!)

2. The only teams to have scored two goals or more in their games have been South Korea and Germany. And I was starting to despair that this edition of the World Cup would see a goal drought. It took a team from the Far East to relieve the tedium. And though Germany may be considered boring, dull workhorses, they  rarely shy away from scoring goals!