Thursday, September 25, 2014

Li Na – the phoenix who dared to dream!

I know that this post is a week too late, but to be honest that is the exact period of time it took me to realize what a loss Li Na’s retirement has been to the tennis fraternity (especially Asia). The ‘Chinese Sensation’ as she was fondly known to her fans decided to hang her racquet due to ongoing injuries and thereby in the process ended one of the most glorious and momentous careers in the sport’s history.

Believe me when I use the word “momentous” to define Li’s career because quite frankly I could not come up with a better word to suit her undying dedication and ruthless grit when it came to playing a sport that meant so much to her. Not only did she manage to exceptionally effectuate a plan that would lead her to distinctive eminence, but she also managed to bestow tennis in an unprecedented manner that will forever be talked about.

Her contribution towards tennis has been nothing short of being immense. Her trailblazing act of popularizing the sport in an “uncharted” territory like China (and even Asia to an extent) clearly speaks volumes of the kind of personage that Li Na possesses. What I guess today is that 10 years from now a pack of tennis fanatics will remember that the 5’7” Li Na mesmerized people with her exalted crouching forehand. However, I say with extreme surety that the world and its people will always remember her as an epitome of resistance.


Coming from China and choosing a sport that has not gifted the country with a “medal” since like forever would be a tough decision to make for any sportsperson. But nevertheless Li Na chose to go down that path. Not because she was forced to (unlike many Chinese Olympians) but because she wanted to stand out and make a difference. She wanted to grab a sport, which in her own words was in “infancy” in her country, by the throat and take it upwards to notability. And that’s exactly what she did.

I still remember watching the 2011 Roland Garros final when Li Na vanquished the exploits of then defending champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy to become the first ever Asian and Chinese Grand Slam singles champion and etch her name in history. Even though the sport of tennis is not uncommon in India and we’ve had our share of legendary Grand Slam champions, I have to admit that was indeed a proud moment for me as an Asian.

What’s extraordinary about that tournament in specific is that in addition to taming Schiavone in the final and romping her way past top guns like Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova in the process, Li Na was successful in drawing the attention of 116 million Chinese in watching the sport. That’s a win for any sport any day of the week and I guess the fabulous Chris Evert put it brilliantly and said it out for everyone when she said, “That kind of exposure is crucial for our sport; and it never would have happened without Li.” And it has indeed reaped great benefits for tennis in China.

From two professional tournaments in 2008 to ten today is just one of the many accomplishments of Li Na’s endurance and continuing fortitude. Her stirring list of “firsts” that include being the first Chinese to win a WTA title, the first to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal, the first to reach a Grand Slam final, the first to compete in the WTA Tour Finals, the first to be ranked in the top 20 and top 10 and the only till date to been ranked as high as World No. 2 has helped her country boast of having four players in the top 100 today– a feat that needed Li Na’s unflinching and indispensable perseverance.

Another achievement that Li Na can be proud to have under her cap is having the Rod Laver arena boo a defending champion in the final. The 2013 Australian Open final against the then defending champion Victoria Azarenka not only won Li millions of hearts around the world but also portrayed her as a phenomenal fighter (or ‘phighter’; now I know what Mary Kom a.k.a Priyanka Chopra meant). As mentioned before, the Chinese Sensation would hardly be remembered for her double-handed backhand. But what she will surely be remembered for is her crouching forehand. Because for a player to stay that low and smash the ball cross court with inconceivable speed clearly deserves some praise.


Undoubtedly the match that made Li Na’s unbreakable persona was the Azarenka final. After having won the first set comfortably, Li was down 0-3 in the second. Her valiant game play helped her level the second set at 4-4 even after twisting her ankle in the process and hopping her way to her chair en-route a medical timeout. However, Vika edged Li there to force a deciding third set.

The third set started with a literal “bang” as the match was interrupted due to the Australia Day fireworks celebration just at the point when Li had taken a 2-1 lead. When it resumed, she twisted her ankle for the second time and “banged” her head on the surface while tumbling over. Amidst the crowd support, Li Na distinctly appeared bleary during her second medical timeout and eventually gave in 6-3 to allow Azarenka lift her second straight Australian Open trophy among the Melbourne hostility.

That’s the kind of presence that Li Na had on the court. It’s really sad that the sport of tennis will now be deprived of the jolly and gleeful charisma that she brought to every game. But I guess like Bollywood’s unrivalled aura of making dismal sport movies, recurring injuries too had taken over Li Na’s body. Her journey by all means has not been easy. It never is for champions actually. But those who are the “bird that sticks out” will always stride towards victory with slicing brilliance and master the impossible.

“Not many people believed in my talent and my abilities, yet I found a way to persevere, to prove them (and sometimes myself!) wrong. Whether you want to be a tennis player, a doctor, a teacher or a business leader, I urge you to believe in yourself and follow your dream. If I could do it, you can too. Be the bird that sticks out. With hard work, your dreams will come true.”

Thank You Li Na! Thanks for being the change the world needed!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

When Coincidence Meets Controversy!

At a time when the whole world is struggling to come to terms with the fact that Roger Federer lost to Marin Cilic in straight sets at the US Open semifinal, I don’t know what is more distressing - the advertisement of that ludicrous Akshay Kumar show Dare 2 Dance or the fact that my channel is still airing a show called ‘Motorsports & Petronas’ that shows Mercedes teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton chatting around having gala time and playing like kids with remote-controlled racecars.

Agreed that the show was shot before the Belgian Grand Prix with an aim to target the lighter side of Formula 1, but it’s just downright disturbing to see two drivers faking out a friendship. Let’s not get things wrong, they were good friends in the past. But the key word to note in that previous sentence is ‘were’. The same is no longer true now and as a preacher since times immemorial of the certitude that F1 is not a team sport, I would like to take this opportunity to shout out loud and say “Ha! Told Ya So!”

The timeline, if one was to draft such a thing, of the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg clearly can be depicted with a downward slope graph on an x-y axis with the horizontal line representing “time” and the vertical line representing “trust”. And as an ardent Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen fan I should be jubilant to see such a graph for a rival team. But unfortunately am not. Maybe it’s because I have developed a slight liking for Mercedes (Not because of their car; but because they finally broke Sebastian Vettel’s championship winning streak and halted Red Bull’s ridiculously boring dominance).


It all started at the Bahrain Grand Prix when a riveting duel saw Rosberg, though being on pole position, squander the summit to an over-aggressive and "out-of-line" Hamilton who piloted his Mercedes home with sheer brilliance and notch up his second win of the season.

Next up was Monaco where defending champion Rosberg brought Hamilton's 4-race winning streak to an end. Nothing wrong in that I suppose. Of course that is only if one is willing to naively overlook the Qualification botch where the German "conveniently" went off a corner in Q3 with less than 10 seconds left to force a yellow flag and disallow Hamilton's (who was faster till that point) time.

The Canadian Grand Prix saw both drivers, who despite being sternly warned by team officials, push each other to such an extent that Hamilton was forced to retire due to overheating brakes and Rosberg eventually ended up frittering the lead to Daniel Ricciardo as his Mercedes "ran out" of power.

The Hungarian Grand Prix, where Hamilton defied team orders and did not let Rosberg pass ahead, forced Mercedes to come out and announce that they’ll let both drivers loose for them to carry on with their ‘impending’ battle. Good job! Only the move came a Grand Prix too late guys.

The Belgian Grand Prix, where ‘point-proving’ Rosberg felt that sabotaging Hamilton was probably the best way to be taken seriously as a driver, forced the silver arrows to condemn the Monaco-born German driver and in an unprecedented move declare that a punishment was in order.

And finally the Italian Grand Prix, where Rosberg expediently overshot the same chicane twice (once in practice and once during the race) in order for Hamilton to snatch victory, made the team say it out loud that both drivers were in fact ‘like enemies’. Throw in an evil laugh there and we have a melodrama folks!

Okay! Am I the only one who on joining all the dots gets a rat?


Clearly this rivalry has now reached all together a whole different level, which is something that no one in the fraternity anticipated at the start. In a sport where, conventionally speaking, drivers in a team should be trusting each other blindly, the Mercedes duo are now in a position where they’ll have to double check their backs even in an 1-2 situation. I guess it was just a matter of time when deliberately driving into teammates at speeds in excess of 300 kilometers an hour for revenge would strategically be part of the package.

To top it all off, Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff recently went on record to state that it would have been next to impossible to execute the events of Monza deliberately suggesting that the claims of a conspiracy theory being in place to recompense Rosberg for Spa were completely baseless.

All right! Fair enough. But riddle me this, will you? Considering that there is no technical or mechanical reason behind it, how does one explain a driver as experienced as Rosberg overshooting a chicane not once but twice in a race that was as crucial (in terms of points) as Monza at a time when a ‘retribution’ was in order?

The answer from Wolff – “It’s bizarre!”

Well, it could indeed be a coincidence and maybe I’m just being too paranoid in imagining things. But let’s face it the sport is indeed more interesting this way (wink wink). Also, the reason why I’m not in any mood to sideline these events as “coincidence” is because it’s happened one too many times now and the timings of those events impeccably suggest a devious master plan in implementation.

Formula 1 has indeed witnessed its share of intra-team battles like Aryton Senna v Alain Prost, Fernando Alonso v Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel v Mark Webber in the past. But what makes this one so different and peevish at the same time is the ‘denial’ from all parties. Whether its Facebook posts that suggest all is well in the camp or Instagram pictures that show a friendly ‘photo-bomb’, every eventuality is marked with a tinge of suspicion and is followed by something that negates everything.

Hamilton’s emotional Facebook/Twitter picture in the aftermath of Monaco showing Rosberg and him during their go-karting days was swiftly followed by Hungary where unlike go-karting team orders and radio messages created havoc. The Mercedes tweet rendering an ‘all-is-hunki-dory’ image with a Hamilton photo-bomb preceded Canada where ironically Rosberg portrayed an ‘I won’t be intimidated’ image for himself. And of course Mercedes’ detailed explanation that everything was under ‘control’ happened just before Italy.

Needless to say the person who seems to be most affected by all the happenings is Nico Rosberg. Not only does he have the ‘rich boy’ image going against him, he also has to compete against an aura as radiant as Lewis Hamilton’s. Truly it’s the fans that make or break an F1 driver and everyone knows who everyone supports because without doubt if compared Hamilton is the more talented among the two.

And if one was to read the signs as given by Rosberg, one would have no doubts in deciphering that even Rosberg knows who the better driver is. If you don’t believe me just shoot back to May and relive the Monaco Grand Prix qualification fiasco. Ahem! Another coincidence, right!? Of course!

All in all keeping aside all the controversies and the dissensions, the thing that is keeping Mercedes so neurotically calm and composed in this whole affair is that they’re facing no major threats, as of yet, to the constructors’ championship. They can afford the “egocentric” luxury to have the drivers have a go at it as long as the team points keep coming in.

It would have been interesting to see whether such attitude would have been in place had Hungary, Belgium and Italy been the first three races of the season or if all three races would have witnessed both drivers retiring without scoring points.

However, that coincidence would have been too much to ask for a F1 enthusiast!