Match Fixing?

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. October 21. Luxembourg Tennis Open. Caroline Wozniacki, ranked number 6 in the world, was leading in the first round against Anne Kremer of Luxembourg. The score was 7-5, 5-0. At that moment she retired from the match because of hamstring injury.

Looks like she was having hamstring injury problem from the beginning. When the score stood at 3-0 in the second set, her dad told her to retire before winning the match because her injury will prevent her from playing in the next round. This was picked up over the microphone and heard by the people watching the match on the internet.

Caroline did a wonderful gesture for her opponent by allowing her to advance to the next round in front of her hometown spectators. She said:

“I could possibly have finished the match, but felt there was no way I could get ready for the second round on Thursday, so I chose the sporting way and let her go through. She's also [playing] at home.”

What did Caroline get for her sportsmanship? WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) is now investigating Caroline for 3 big offences, gambling, match fixing, and tennis integrity.

Serena Williams verbally assaulted a line judge and she got a slap on the wrist.

I had written the following in reply to a comment on a previous posting:

Wimbledon. The year 1960. Semi Final Match. India’s Ramanathan Krishnan vs. Australia’s Neale Fraser. A shot from Fraser was called “out” in favor of Krishnan. Krishnan interceded and told the umpire that it was “in”. Krishnan, instead of gaining a point lost a point. Eventually that call was instrumental in Krishnan losing the match to Fraser.

Next week, a Tamil weekly, Kalki, put the picture of Krishnan on the cover and put a caption from Bhagvat Gita: "Paritranaya Sadhunaam vinashaya cha dushkritamDharma sansthapnarthaya sambhavami yugay yugay" (Whenever there is downfall of Dharma (righteousness), I incarnate to re-establish the Dharma.)

May be Krishnan would be investigated for match fixing in today’s world.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams’ behavior at the semi final of the U.S. Open brings disgrace to the entire sports community. Almost at the match point, a lineswoman called foot fault. Serena was so incensed that she began a tirade against that woman.

According to CBS, approaching the lineswoman who made the call, Serena said “I’m going to shove this (bad word) ball down your (bad word) throat”. A review of the tape showed that Serena did not make a foot fault. However, her behavior cannot be excused. Even Mr. Nice Guy John McEnroe said that was too much. A tennis player with a star status, Billie Jean King criticized Serena.

It does not matter what the circumstances are. No player should be allowed to engage in this type of behavior and not face the consequences. This includes some cricket players also.

I am not saying questioning the umpire is wrong. The limit should not be crossed. Many professional American baseball coaches argue with the umpires. The most famous for this was the late Billy Martin. He was the coach, at different times, for Oakland A’s and New York Yankees. He said once: I do not go and argue with the umpire thinking he will change his decision. I argue with him so that next time he wants to call against my team, he will think twice. I also never use any foul language.

Serena did not argue with that lineswoman. She made a verbal assault. What did the tennis association do? They fined Serena $10,000. This is nothing for her. What they should do is to ban her from professional tennis for at least one year. That will send a message to all those unruly players.

Some call questioning a decision of the umpire shows a determination. We all should have the determination to win. But verbal assault is not a sign of determination to win.

Also some athletes loathe opponent’s victory. Here is a page from the history book.

4th test match India vs. New Zealand at Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi which began on March 19, 1965. On the last day, almost at the closing time, India started to bat for the second innings. India needed 70 runs to win. After about a few overs, the drinks came on to the field. This is a good chance for the New Zealanders to “waste” precious time and thus end the test in a draw. Do you know what the New Zealand Captain John Reid did? He told the drinks people to get off the field and continued the match without a drinks break. India won by 7 wickets. New Zealand 262 and 272. India 465/8 declared and 73/3. John Reid wanted to fight the Indians till the last ball is bowled but in an honorable way. He should be a role model for other cricketers.

For those who are interested, here are some more details of that test. Venkatragavan took 12 wickets (8 in the first innings and 4 in the second innings). Nawab of Pataudi and Dilip Sardesai hit centuries in the first innings. The winning run was hit by Dilip Sardesai.

The End.

London, Venice, and Oh yes the T20 World Cup too (Part 1)

We were planning to go on vacation somewhere this year. Ever since we went on a Gondola ride at the Venetian (casino) in Las Vegas, we wanted to go to Venice, Italy. Then I saw an article that the T20 Cricket World Cup will be held in June 2009 in London. I have not seen a live cricket match in a long time. Therefore, for nostalgic reasons we decided to go to London and see a cricket match as well as other British attractions, and then visit Venice.

We invited our grown kids to come along with us. Our daughter declined due to prior commitments but our son accepted to come with us to London. Regarding the game of Cricket - He has no knowledge of the sport. I had to explain the game to him. He still does not understand what an LBW is and how an umpire could decide whether there was an LBW or not. He does however know the names of 2 cricket players - Gary Sobers and S. Venkatragavan. Remember my previous blog about frozen memories transferred from one generation to the next!

We wanted tickets for June 12 when India was most likely going to play. However, we got tickets for the June 13 Super 8 double-header. The likely teams on that day were Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, and England. My son was disappointed because he could not take his huge Indian flag with him.

So, we landed in London on June 11. It was just our luck that the London Underground Tube employees were on strike. Therefore, we had to catch a different mode of transportation to reach our hotel. The Tube from Heathrow Airport to our hotel is about 4 pounds but our different mode of transportation ended up costing us 21 pounds each to get to the hotel.

That evening we went to Piccadilly Circus. There was a famous TV show in the USA called Cheers. In this show, the name of the bar is “Cheers” and is located in Boston. They had opened a bar and restaurant called “Cheers” in London with the same sign and similar layout. When we reached the place where “Cheers” was supposed to be, we were told that the bar/pub had shut down.

The next day (Friday June 12) we did the touristy stuff. We went to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards then we also saw Big Ben and the Parliament House.
Next to the Parliament House, we went to see Westminster Abbey, built in 960 AD. This is a Gothic monastery church that is traditional place for coronation and burial site for English monarchs. There is a Poet’s Corner where they have honored famous poets and playwrights. This is a must see for its beautiful architectural designs. Millions of people visit this place each year. This is the place Princess Diana got married and also had her funeral services.
One thing I noticed is that anywhere you go...Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Parliament House, Big Ben....half the crowd were Indians. However in Westminster Abbey, we did not see a single Indian on that day.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY

We went to Oval on June 13 to watch the Cricket games. It was a doubleheader - South Africa played against the West Indies and South Africa won the match. In the second game Pakistan easily won the match over New Zealand.

During the game and definitely after the game Pakistanis celebrated in excess. It was just one match at the Super 8. But they celebrated, after the game in the streets, as if they won the World Cup. (Latest Update: Pakistan won the T20 World Cup) New Zealand supporters were also equally crazy. Pakistanis kept shouting as loud as they can in unison: “Pakistan Zindabad.” “Pakistan Zindabad.”
New Zealanders then replied: “Pakistan blah blah blah.” “Pakistan blah blah blah.”
Pakistanis continued to shout: “Pakistan Zindabad.” “Pakistan Zindabad.”
New Zealanders then responded with: “Pakistan Build a Bomb.” “Pakistan Build a Bomb.”

(Still to come—Stay tuned)

Another Achievement for an Indian in USA

Horse Racing in USA is a very popular sport. There are 3 famous races every year. Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes.

Kentucky Derby race is held every year in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May. Preakness race is held every year in Baltimore, Maryland, on the third Saturday in May. Belmont stakes race is held every year in Elmont, New York, on the first or second Saturday in June.

Last Saturday Belmont Stakes race was held in Elmont New York. The winning horse is Summer Bird, (Horse No. 4). The odds were 12 to 1. The owners of this winning horse are Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman. Move over IT professionals. Bring on race horse owners.