A load of crap from an idle brain

I hope i got the title correct.  Spain are the Champions.  Blame Google translator if its wrong

The once in 4 years extravaganza comes to an end and Spain get the bragging rights for the next 4 years.  The 2008 Euro Champions and now the World Champs, Spain deserve all the praise and respect.

Didnt bother to wake up at 2:30 in the morning to watch the match.  I do love the sport, but not as crazy to wake up at unearthly hours to watch the sport.  Though i had woken up at more or less the same timings last World cup to watch Italy – France battle it out.

In these times of Financial crisis (with Spain being one of the worst affected countries in Europe), this win will come as a soothing balm for the Spanish people.

Viva Espana.

PS: Thank God, this was not the IPL finals and thank God there was no Lalit Modi.  Imagine him droning on and on being the best thing since sliced bread and all the hard work he did to ensure the tournament’s success.  Class is surely not something to be associated with either Modi or IPL.

Above pictures courtesy: FIFA

+++

At a time when the Indian sports fans were mourning their overhyped cricket team crashing out of the Twenty20 World Cup, Viswanathan Anand gave a big reason to cheer.  Anand retained the world chess championship beating Veselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria by 6.5 to 5.5 points.

After playing exhaustive chess for over three decades, Viswanathan Anand has assured himself a place among all time greats as he retained the World Champion title with consummate ease against Veselin Topalov in his own den in Sofia, Bulgaria on Tuesday.

With the win Anand has accomplished something which no other chess great, not even Garry Kasparov has done. He has asserted his supremacy in the world by winning the title in every possible format of tournament including winning the world chess title three times in a row and against various opponents including two different ones in match format.

He has won in knock-out, round-robin and two matchplay formats to give an apt answer his critics that he cant stand the test of time. Anand now has to his credit a rare combination of the consecutive three World Champion title and four in all including the knockout format that he won in 2000.

He has been awarded many prestigious titles like Chess Oscars for three times on the trot. He is the only non-Russian other than Bobby Fischer to win the award after the tradition was reinstated.

He has also been bestowed with the inaugural Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honour, in 1991, besides the Arjuna Award, the Padmashri (the youngest recipient of the title), Padma Bhushan, the Soviet Land Nehru award, the BPL Achievers of the World, Sportstar, Sportsworld “Sportsman of the year 1995″ Award.

Anand, who shifted to Spain in — for better opportunities, has received the ‘Jameo de Oro’ the countries highest civilian award given to a foreigner.

Read the full news here

To watch all the matches, go here and click on the animated moves.

Above picture courtesy: Telegraph

+++

We all know the number of times Sachin Tendulkar adjusts his guard between each delivery, but am sure hardly anyone knows about a woman from the remote North Eastern state of Manipur who is a 4 time World Boxing Champion.

Mangte Chungneijang Merykom also known as Mary Kom is the joint Rajiv Gandhi Kehl Ratna award winner for the year 2009 along with boxer Vijender Singh and wrestler Sushil Kumar. A mother of two who came back from a 2 year break from the sport to win her fourth successive World Amateur Boxing gold medal in 2008.

Sad that so less is known about her.  There is some detailed information about her at the Women Boxing Archive Network here. A true champion who is described by the International Boxing Association as “Magnificient Mary”.

Boxing is the only Olympic sport where women couldnt participate.  The sport at Olympics was restricted to men only.  From the 2012 London Olympics, this barrier is to go and women’s boxing will make a grand entry.

Of course, Mary Kom has her eyes fixated on the top prize at the Olympics.  Click on this link for a video on CNN-IBN about the boxer.

Above pictures source:  WBAN and Dailylife

+++