Sports Fever

The World Cup has come and gone like a hurricane even though it went on for one month. There's a lot of crying and gnashing of teeth worldwide. This state of affairs can be seen in Brazil, England, Portugal, Germany and now in France. Penalty shootouts can be nerve wrecking. It is a nightmare for the English team and now the French have joined them. I still think that a field goal like the header from a corner kick by the Italians would have been a glorious way to win rather than penalty shootouts.

A lot of people made money on the sidelines and thousands more lost a lot of money. The business community had a good time, especially the media people. I wonder if it is possible to estimate just how much money has been made from an international event like this.

Anyway, on the Wimbledon front, the French still have something to celebrate about. Amelie Mauresmo has taken the ladies event at the Wimbledon Championships. She is now the undisputed queen of tennis. I thought Henin would be the champion but after taking the first set she just choked up. Her game collapsed as she started making too many unforced errors. The other reason could also be the fitness factor. Amelie looked very fit as she moved around the court tirelessly. Kudos to Amelie.



In the gentlemen's event Roger Federer has again emerged the champion for the fourth time, defeating Rafael Nadal 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. It was a fantastic game of tennis. Although I watched it live on TV, I wished I could have been there to soak up the exitement at the courtside. I know Roger has made someone very happy. Happy enough to 'belanja' cold beers.. heh heh..

The Chinese have something to celebrate about too. The Chinese pair of Zi Yan and Jie Zheng took the ladies doubles title making it the first Wimbledon title for China. The Chinese seem to have a good master plan to produce world class tennis players. We will be hearing more of Li Na and other Chinese players in the coming tennis tournaments.