Sport Frolic

Ivan Lendl – Contributed Greatly Towards Power Tennis

Admin — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:00:48 +0000

The sport of tennis has seen some remarkable legends. Ivan Lendl is surely one of them. The legendary player made a superb mark in this sport. He changed the way this sport is played, and has its impact even till the present time.
He has proved in his career that sheer discipline and determination are the ways to master this game. The tennis great once during his career had said, “If I don’t practice the way I should, then I won’t play the way that I know I can.”
He was widely popular for his amazing lethal topspin forehand as well as one handed backhand. He has displayed a professional attitude during his playing tennis career which youngsters admire and want to follow. His strokes were solid and made very fast moves over the court. The fierce persistence in his training regime, made him rightfully earn his ranking as the top player in the world between the year 1985 and 1987. The ace player has a magnificent record to win 8 Grand Slam during his career. He was named the number 1 tennis player in the world over the span of astonishing 270 weeks. He was fabulous in regard to tournament victories, and achieved remarkable success in 16 different countries.
Lendl had a significant impact on this sport through his sheer dominance while playing on the international scale. The playing style he had depended on strength as well as heavy topspin from baseline. He was recognized for getting with himself the modern era representing “power tennis”. The player termed his playing style like “hitting hot”, that entails the relentless game over the court.

The tennis fans were overjoyed when in the year 2001 Lendl got inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame for his marvelous performance as well as numerous contributions towards the game.

A Memorable Event Cricket World Cup 2011

Admin — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:09:51 +0000

I remember how three years ago during the first year of my college, all us guys living outside the hostel gathered together one evening, rented a television itself, the “experts” jugadoed the cable connection from a neighbouring building – all just to watch the ICC 20Twenty World Cup final between India and Pakistan (by the way, Oh! What a match it was!!). Amidst the frenzy and the cries of abey-oye and o-no there were finer nuances of the occasion that was so heartwarming.

A room full of nearly thirty guys. All from different families, different cultures, different backgrounds, different regions and different ideologies sitting (or standing and jumping in some cases!) together to support the ‘Men-in-Blue’. And yet, (the accused-cynic that I am) I managed to spot a yet finer division in this unity. Every time our bowler gave a cheap run, somebody would threaten the guy’s mom or suggest to have him killed. And the Smart-Alecs would take a more technical stance.. criticising his run-up or perhaps his bowling action (criticise his bowling action!!

If you looked at the guy’s ponch you would wonder if he’d eaten his family.. and of all the people he was criticising an athelete!!). In a few seconds, the bolwer had become the Most-wanted guy of the country.

Yet if the same bowler in the very same over, managed to uproot the stump, all hell would break lose! He would soon become the only hope of the team.. the shining light of the future and the most beloved son of the soil! A guy even jumped to the screen to kiss him! (Ahem!)

Jokes apart, the sad thing to notice was that even in our unison, we are but a confused lot. A herd. A group of blind followers. A lot of BPL’s (Bin-Pendi-k-Lote’s)! Its a typical Indian thing. I do not wish to again coax the practice. I only want to point out the wrong habit, hoping we might at least think about it.

Zico: A Fabulous Attacking Midfielder

Admin — Mon, 30 May 2011 12:03:51 +0000

Brazilian soccer has seen outstanding talented players who have proved their mettle over the period of time. There are players are certainly a treat to watch. There is one such player called Zico.

He made his debut in league in 1973 for Flamengo. He played at the international level for the first time against Uruguay in 1976. He scored with one dead-ball shots and became popular for it. He was known for his consistent performances and scored more than 100 goals during first 2 seasons.

He suffered from troublesome injuries at the World Cup, 1978 and was not pleased with the defensive game strategy of Coach Claudio Coutinho. In 1982, Brazil came back to their attacking game style. This suited Zico’s pace change, dynamic shooting and body swerves. He scored four goals at the World Cup, 1982 in Spain. This included the equalizing goal against Scotland. In 1983 he joined Udinese for a brief period. He made a return to Flamengo side in the 1985 summer.

Then was the time of World Cup, 1986 in Mexico. He got the opportunity here to play in three matches, all of these as a substitute player. His final game was against France in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, he could not score a penalty here. What a sad finish for this amazing player from Brazil.

He played for his national team in 72 matches and scored 52 goals in them. After his retirement in 1990 he was appointed Sports Minister in his country.

Rob Rensenbrink : A Remarkable Finisher

Admin — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 06:50:07 +0000

Few players have contributed greatly for the Dutch soccer team. Rob Rensenbrink is surely one of them. The left-sided striker played a crucial in making Holland reach the finals of World Cup twice in 1974 as well as 1978.

Rensenbrink played mostly in his career with Anderlecht in Belgium. He won many trophies and this included two European Cup Winners’s Cups. This talented player was known for his good dribbling skills. Like his fellow Dutch players he easily adapted in different positions if needed. He first played for Holland in 1968 against Scotland. He was an established player in few years time.

An important phase of his career came in 1974 when the team went to participate in the World Cup in West Germany. He played in all matches except one in this event. He was just half-fit to play in the final. Coach Michels took the gamble and featured him in the playing team right from start. He was substituted at the half-time during this game. Holland were beaten 2-1 by the hosts.

After four years, Holland again entered the final in Argentina. Rensenbrink was expected to play a crucial role as Cruyff was not available. He scored hat-trick against Iran in the opening match. He scored a penalty in the game against Scotland. This was the 1000th goal scored in the history of World Cup. Holland played against hosts in the final. Rensenbrink just missed the chance to become the winning hero of this World Cup when his shot hit the goal post in dying moments of the final with score at 1-1. Argentina scored two more goals in the extra-time and Holland again came second.

Andreas Brehme : A Fabulous Left-Back Player

Admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 06:10:39 +0000

When you think of exceptional left-back players that football has seen there is one name that always comes into mind. Yes, I am talking about Andreas Brehme. He played for nearly ten years in German team. He got the opportunity to represent his national side in 1984. He was known to play amazing football using both the foot. He provided superb crosses using his left, and liked to shoot using his right.

Beckenbauer was rebuilding his team for the World Cup 1986 in Mexico. He wanted Brehme to play a key role. Andreas was superb in the last stages of this event. He scored a goal against France in the semifinal. Two corner kicks from him were converted in goals against Argentina in the final. But, this was not enough as Argentina became champions with a 3-2 victory.

Brehme wanted to try his chances in Italian league. He joined Inter team with his German fellow players Matthäus and Klinsmann. They won the Serie A title in 1989.

The next year was very special for him in his career. West Germany became champions by winning the World Cup in 1990. He played many matches in it at the San Siro. Brehme was fabulous in this event scoring three goals. This included the winning penalty against Argentina in the final five minutes before final whistle. They were able to take the revenge of the defeat they suffered four years before.

The final World Cup of him came in USA in 1994. The team was defeated by Bulgaria in the quarterfinal. After this few veterans were axed and he was one of them.