The News Caravan

Tag: legend

  • Remembering Australian cricket legend Shane Warne

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    It seems almost impossible to believe, but 12 months have gone by since we reported the tragic passing of Shane Warne. One of Melbourne’s most famous sons, the Australian cricketer was without doubt among the most talented players of his, or indeed any, era. Yet his almost magical skills on the field of play are only a small part of the legend that was Shane Warne.

    Ruffling feathers with the ball of the century

    This year will mark 30 years since Warne first took to the field of play at the Home of Cricket, Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. Plenty has changed in 30 years. Today, nobody would look twice at a cricketer with bleached hair and an earring, but the staid members in their MCC ties were bemused and concealing smirks – just who did this chap think he was?

    The answer came around 17 seconds after he was thrown the ball. His first delivery pitched way outside leg stump, spun all the way around Mike Gatting, which was a long way even then, and struck the top of off stump. Gatting’s look of bewilderment as he walked off would be repeated another 707 times before Warne retired from test cricket 15 years later.

    Never a dull moment

    It doesn’t take a cricketing genius to recognize Warne’s extraordinary talent – but it was arguably a cricketing genius who described him best. When Warne passed, Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter in tribute and said there was “never a dull moment, on or off the field, with Warnie around.”

    Some of those off-field moments landed Warne in hot water, but he always owned his falls from grace and bounced back. To the general public, it just proved that he was only human like the rest of us. Let’s be honest, the adulation afforded to the likes of George Best, Alex Higgins, Diego Maradona and Warne’s old buddy Ian Botham, demonstrate that we all have fondness for a flawed genius.

    Casino life – a real bloke’s bloke

    Australian comedy singer Kevin Bloody Wilson was one of many to write songs in Warne’s honor, like Hero of Ancient Greece. It opened with the words “A cricketing legend all Australian boy, A real bloke’s bloke and we all loved him for it.” Warne liked to drink beer, smoke cigarettes and play the pokies at the casino just like a million other “Australian blokes” of his generation.

    But to use the gambling terminology, Warnie knew no other way than to go all in. Most of us might look at a list of minimum deposit casino platforms and choose somewhere to play cricket pokies like Cricket Star or Cricket Hero for perhaps $10. That would hold little appeal for Warne, who would be straight across to the casino’s high roller tables, and buying champagne and cigars all round, too!

    Known the world over

    Shane Warne was known everywhere he went. But unlike so many famous athletes, he always found time to say hello, sign an autograph and pose for a selfie. Whether he was working his magic in the middle, chatting with those curmudgeons in the Long Room at Lord’s or getting into another scrape at a nightclub or casino, Warnie knew no other way than to be himself.

    A year on from his passing, the cricketing world is a quieter place, and has lost a certain lustre. We’ll never forget Shane Warne.



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    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

  • Djokovic in the legend: he surpasses the Graf, 378 weeks as number 1

    Djokovic in the legend: he surpasses the Graf, 378 weeks as number 1

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    Seven years as first in the standings for the Serbian who also leaves the German behind: he is the player who has been in the lead for the longest time

    And in the end the unbeatable Steffi Graf was beaten. It seemed unimaginable a few years ago that anyone could even come close to the incredible 377 weeks as world number one of “Our Lady of the Straight”, and it took another alien, Novak Djokovic, to break such a record. From today, Monday 27 February, the Serbian is in fact the human being with the most weeks at the top of the ranking, whether it is ATP or WTA, a good 378. Seven years up there, number one of the number ones, where no one had ever reached.

    The new challenge

    —

    For those who live on goals like this, for those who feed on this food, like Djokovic, this is a goal that will give further fuel to their inexhaustible tank. This isn’t just the latest record broken, and it won’t be the last either. That of the slams, 22, so far only equaled, in company with Rafael Nadal, the next goal, perhaps the most ambitious one. But the list is already long. Very long. Seven times Nole has finished the season number one in the world, more than Federer and Sampras, and is the oldest to do so (34 years and 7 months), and has been at the top of the rankings for at least one week in 12 years. In Grand Slams, at the age of 20 years and 250 days, he was the youngest tennis player to reach the semifinals of each of the four tournaments. No one has played more slam finals than him, 33. He is the player who has won the most consecutive matches in the big four, 30, and he is the only tennis player in history to have reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for 13 consecutive years. No one has won more slam titles on hard courts (13), the only one to have won a slam seven times (Australia, 10, and Wimbledon, 7), and he is the tennis player who has participated in the most slam tournaments as a No. 1 seed (30). Even in his 1000m his records are monstrous. Djokovic is the only player in history to have won all 9 tournaments in the category, and is in first place all-time by number of successes (38), ahead of Nadal and Federer, with the record for finals played (56).

    How many records

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    Holds all-time record for most consecutive wins (31) in Masters 1000 tournaments and is the player with the best winning percentage in Masters Series/ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournament history over a year 96.875% (2011) with 31 games won and only one defeat. He has won the ATP Finals 6 times (tied with Roger Federer), but Djokovic is the only tennis player in history to have won the year-end Masters for four consecutive years (2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015). He leads the Open Era all-time in winning percentage (83.51 with 1043 wins and 206 losses), ahead of Nadal (82.98). Finally, he is the tennis player who has earned the most in the history of tennis with prize money, ahead of Nadal (second) and Federer (third), with almost 167 million euros earned in his career. A cannibal resume, and few times in history there has been one, in any sport, like Novak Djokovic. And he’s still hungry. Very hungry.

    February 27, 2023 (change February 27, 2023 | 07:22)

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    ( With inputs from : pledgetimes.com )

  • Tennis legend Bjorn Borg leaves event after Karnataka CM runs late

    Tennis legend Bjorn Borg leaves event after Karnataka CM runs late

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    A frustrated and irate tennis legend Bjorn Borg left India after Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai arrived nearly two hours late at an event in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

    According to several media reports, the program was to honour Borg at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) stadium.

    Along with Borg, Indian tennis star Vijay Amritraj was also set to be honoured. However, the ceremony was canceled as Amritraj felt it would be ‘inappropriate’ for him to be honoured alone, the source was quoted by the Deccan Herald.

    Both of them will be honoured at the CM’s office tomorrow or the day after, the report further quoted the source.

    After Bommai arrived, he sat for 20 minutes to watch a match between Borg’s son Leo Borg and Taiwanese tennis player Hsu Yu-hsiou.

    Who is Bjorn Borg

    Bjorn Borg is a legendary Swedish tennis player who played from 1970-1983. A teenage sensation, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at Wimbledon. He is the only man to achieve the Channel Slam three times.

    However, he never won the US Open despite four runner-up finishes.

    His rivalry with another legend John McEnroe is considered one of the best in the sport’s history. Their match at the 1980 Wimbledon final is considered one of the greatest matches ever played.

    At the age of 26 Borg announced his retirement from international tennis, shocking the world. He is currently the owner of the Björn Borg fashion label and is considered second best to Calvin Klein.



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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Tulasidas Balaram, Secunderabad-born football legend, passes away

    Tulasidas Balaram, Secunderabad-born football legend, passes away

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    Hyderabad: One of India’s legendary footballers Tulasidas Balaram is no more. He was born in Ammuguda in Secunderabad but after playing the major portion of his football career in Kolkata, he decided to continue to live in Kolkata after he retired from the sport. He did not get married and was living alone. He was looked after by a Bengali family who loved him dearly.

    When he was a youngster playing in the football grounds of Hyderabad and Secunderabad he was discovered by the legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim who fashioned his game and made him one of India’s most feared strikers. Balaram himself stated at a gathering in Hyderabad three years ago: “Rahim saab spotted me, trained me and he made me what I am today. Without his guidance, I would have been nothing. It was all due to his foresight.”

    Balaram went on to represent India in two Olympic Games and was also a member of the Indian team which won the gold medal in the Asian Games in 1962. Incidentally, after that India never won the gold medal in the Asian Games.

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    Victor Amalraj, another renowned footballer from the twin cities knew him well. “Balaram anna often used to come to my house and was very friendly with my children. Whenever we discussed football I was struck by his deep understanding of the finer nuances of the sport. His guidance helped me to progress in my own football career. Balaram anna played for India with great distinction. He was India’s most outstanding player in those days along with P.K. Banerjee and Chuni Goswami,” said Amalraj who was grief stricken after hearing of Balaram’s passing away.

    “When I was playing for the big three clubs in Kolkata, I used to run to him and seek his comments before and after every match. When
    I used to play for East Bengal, I used to see him standing behind the goalpost and watching our practice almost every day. His career was affected by his ill health otherwise he could have continued to play for a longer duration,” said Amalraj.

    Another famous Hyderabad player Shabbir Ali who captained and coached India in his heyday said that Balaram was the pride of the twin cities. “He was an excellent player who was among the best strikers in all of Asia. We all knew Balaram anna to be a marvelously gifted player whose talent and skill were fine-tuned by coach Rahim saab. At the Asian Games in 1962, Balaram scored one goal in the match against Japan and India won 2-0,” said Shabbir Ali.

    “He was a very quiet person. Unlike many star players he never showed off, never tried any political games off the field and never even spoke much.  We all had great respect for him. The only sad thing was that he did not get the Padma Shree which he richly deserved,” said Shabbir Ali.

    According to experts who had seen Balaram in action, his ball distribution was beyond comparison. During his playing days in the East Bengal club in Kolkata, he finished as a second-highest goal scorer with 23 goals in 1959. In 1961, he was appointed captain and led the team admirably. It was one of his best seasons and the Kolkata crowds fell in love with him. But at a later stage,
     his relationship with the East Bengal club soured and he felt hurt by the attitude of the club management.

    Due to health problems, he ended his playing career when he was still young. However, he became a good coach and he taught his trainees what he had learned from his guru Rahim Sahab. He coached the BNR team and the Kolkata Mayor’s team. His death at the age of 87 has robbed Indian football of a rare gem. His name will live on in the hearts of football lovers all across India.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )