SPORTS THIS WEEK – The tennis world was startled by a statement from former French Open champion Yannick Noah, in which he accused the Spanish players of using performance enhancing drugs. Not only did Noah accuse the Spanish tennis players but he also put their other sportsmen like soccer players in the same bracket. Noah said that he could not understand how all the Spanish tennis players were so much stronger than the French. He requested the French Tennis Federation to allow its players to use these drugs so that they could be competitive.
Overpowered by steroids
This is an astonishing statement and it reflects the frustration of clean players who get overpowered by their artificially enhanced comrades.
Noah is a legend in France and his words should not be taken lightly. Born in the Cameroon, Noah was discovered by Arthur Ashe, who convinced the French authorities to bring him to France for training. Noah won the French Open in 1983 and is the last Frenchman to do so. He has been a successful Davis Cup and Fed Cup captain as well as a best selling rock singer. His son is an NBA star in the USA. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Noah was prevailed upon by the French authorities to make this statement. The use of performance enhancing drugs by some of the very top Spanish players is an open secret on the tennis tour and now it is believed by most that the only way to make it to the very top in tennis is to stay one step ahead of the anti-doping authorities.
Shock losses
The long tennis season is leading to a final weekend in London at the O2 arena where the top singles players and doubles teams are fighting it out for the year end championships. The wear and tear of the season is much in evidence as players like Nadal and Djokovic suffer shock losses. The two have played the most tennis as they almost always get to the later stages of tournaments and the cumulative effect of these matches begins to take its toll. Roger Federer looks fresh because he takes long breaks during the year. He has long given up the chase for rankings and is looking to add a couple of Grand Slam titles before he calls it a day. He has been on a two tournament winning streak and the way he tore through Nadal in the round robin stage, shows that there is some life left in the old horse.
Valiant Indo-Pak Express
The Indo-Pak Express toiled valiantly in the doubles, losing a heartbreaker in the first match and then going out in straight sets in the second. But they have had a good end of the year, winning their first Masters event in Paris. A Grand Slam title continues to elude them and they would be refocusing their energies towards that goal. It is well within their reach in the next two years but requires a bit of luck as well as the draw opening up for them.
Next on the tennis agenda is the Davis Cup finals in which Spain take on Argentina. The Argentinians have had their own problems with drugs, several of their top players testing positive in the past decade. It is indeed surprising how some of these players enhance their physiques so quickly, slapping on layers of muscles almost at will. The international sports bodies will have to do a serious rethink about this whole issue. Recently, one of the top American players, an all time great, locked herself up in a room rather than give a sample to the testers who surprised her at her home. But some players are bigger than the game itself and the authorities permit them to announce their retirement or a long layoff, even if they do test positive.
Inculcating the winning habit
The Pakistan cricketers covered themselves with glory, winning the Test series and trouncing the Sri Lankans in the ODIs and the lone Twenty20 game as well. What was most impressive was the balance of the team and the calm manner in which the players went about their business. Winning is a habit and with a few wins under their belt, the boys were confident enough to pull out matches that they would, at another time have given up for lost.
After a long time, the players seem to have gelled as a team rather than a group of prima donnas working at cross purposes with each other. A lot of the credit should go to the unassuming captain, Misbah ul Haq who has led from the front while empowering his players to think and perform for themselves. Gone are the days of the huffing and pouting so-called super stars who thought they were indispensable. No one is indispensable, least of all the three cricketers who are currently guests of Her Majesty’s Correctional system. The sooner the PCB realizes this, the better it will be for the team and the sport in general.
Our super spinners
Pakistan and Sri Lanka squared off for their sole T20 game in Abu Dhabi on Friday. The Sri Lankans batted first and got off to a fast start aided by some wayward bowling by our new ball operators. The Sri Lankans were pegged back by the Pakistani spinners and some opportunistic fielding as well as the excellent Cheema who finished the job. Two sixes in the penultimate over hauled Pakistan back into the game after the regular fall of wickets had resulted in their falling short of the asking rate. It is tough to keep Afridi out of the limelight and the value of his presence on the team cannot be overstated. It was left to the ever reliable Misbah to guide his team home.
The Pakistani spinners must be the best in the business. Certainly, Ajmal would be right up there with Swann as the best of the best, while Afridi and Hafeez are a perfect foil. The only thing surpassing Ajmal’s bowling are his scintillating interviews which have gone viral on youtube.
