A three set match in good, not perfect, conditions for tennis with new tennis balls provided great enjoyment. The clay courts in winter have turned even slower than before due to the retention of a lot of water. This meant a paucity of winners and long extended rallies. So the emphasis was on patience to stay in the rallies enough to have a easy put away or until one makes a mistake. This is not easy for me as I normally get excited in any rally and try for a winner too soon. I had to play a bit out of character to make anything out of the match.
I was able to do this in the first set, but the beginning of the second set probably saw me quite tired and going for more than I would normally. The attitude was difficult to shake off and the second set was lost easily.
In the third set, I was determined to win it and started staying in the rallies more and we reached 4-3. At this point, a few ladies were scheduled to play on this court and started to hurry us up. This probably led my partner to play uncharacteristically and probably to give up the last two games. Though it was unsatisfying, it was a win nevertheless. The match took around two hours and left me quite tired and sore.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Tennis Score: 7-5, 2-6, Clay
Clay courts in the autumn / winter absorb and retain huge amounts of water and never seem to dry. Playing on these courts makes the tennis balls wet, soggy and slow.
The first set saw tremendous fight by both of us. I was really tired from the previous few days of play and thought I wouldn't win a set today. But with will and determination, I found myself serving for the set at 6-5. I was determined to win the game and avoid a tiebreak given my poor record in those. A sloppy game from my partner game me the set.
The relief of winning the set led to a very casual attitude on my part in the second set. Suddenly I found myself unable to win a game at 0-4. With some fight it became 1-5. Since it is autumn, we have to play under lights these days. So, we had bought 1.5 hours of light time. A green light lights up when there is about five minutes to go. At 1-5, I kept glancing at this light to see if it had turned on so that we can stop playing. If we are at 1 set all, we normally play a "champions tiebreak" - a tiebreaker to 10. I wanted to avoid playing this at all costs. Hence at 1-5, I just willed myself to win the game. It was an extremely long game with numerous deuces. I was very relieved to win this game. In the middle of the next game, the light lighted up and I went on to lose the game.
I lost the set, but avoided the tiebreaker and hence losing it and the match.
The first set saw tremendous fight by both of us. I was really tired from the previous few days of play and thought I wouldn't win a set today. But with will and determination, I found myself serving for the set at 6-5. I was determined to win the game and avoid a tiebreak given my poor record in those. A sloppy game from my partner game me the set.
The relief of winning the set led to a very casual attitude on my part in the second set. Suddenly I found myself unable to win a game at 0-4. With some fight it became 1-5. Since it is autumn, we have to play under lights these days. So, we had bought 1.5 hours of light time. A green light lights up when there is about five minutes to go. At 1-5, I kept glancing at this light to see if it had turned on so that we can stop playing. If we are at 1 set all, we normally play a "champions tiebreak" - a tiebreaker to 10. I wanted to avoid playing this at all costs. Hence at 1-5, I just willed myself to win the game. It was an extremely long game with numerous deuces. I was very relieved to win this game. In the middle of the next game, the light lighted up and I went on to lose the game.
I lost the set, but avoided the tiebreaker and hence losing it and the match.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Tennis scores.
Today - 6-7 (6-8), 4-4 A-40 - A titanic struggle with neither of us wanting to lose.
Last weeks scores.
3-6, 6-4, 10-6 (tiebreak)
6-3, 4-6, 6-10 (tiebreak)
Last weeks scores.
3-6, 6-4, 10-6 (tiebreak)
6-3, 4-6, 6-10 (tiebreak)
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Tennis score - 3-6, 4-6: Clay
It was really good to play tennis after a long gap of about 2 weeks. The fact that I lost did not mar the delight I felt to play again.
The first set was abnormal in that it was decided by the solitary break of serve against me. Probably due to the new tennis balls, breaking serve was quite difficult. I did not serve particularly well and this reflected in the score and the loss of the set.
Normal service was resumed in the second set when almost every game was a break. I had the first hold to go up 4-3 and should have won the second set. That was not to be. He won the next three games to win the set 4-6.
But, it was good to play tennis again.
The first set was abnormal in that it was decided by the solitary break of serve against me. Probably due to the new tennis balls, breaking serve was quite difficult. I did not serve particularly well and this reflected in the score and the loss of the set.
Normal service was resumed in the second set when almost every game was a break. I had the first hold to go up 4-3 and should have won the second set. That was not to be. He won the next three games to win the set 4-6.
But, it was good to play tennis again.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Photo how to: Palak Paneer.
1) Partial ingredients - Spinach(palak), tomatoes, onion, coriander leaves, garlic, green chillies, ginger.
2) Put palak, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger, garlic and coriander leaves into a blender.
3) Blend into an even paste.
4) Chop onions finely and the paneer into smallish cubes / cuboids.
5) Heat some oil and add mustard seeds and jeera. Leave for a few seconds.
6) Add the chopped onions into the oil.
7) Chop some palak.
8) Add the paneer and some spices (garam masala, coriander powder, etc).
9) Add the chopped Palak and the paste from step 3.
10) Add some salt and mix well.
11) Simmer for a few minutes and the Palak Paneer is ready.
2) Put palak, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger, garlic and coriander leaves into a blender.
3) Blend into an even paste.
4) Chop onions finely and the paneer into smallish cubes / cuboids.
5) Heat some oil and add mustard seeds and jeera. Leave for a few seconds.
6) Add the chopped onions into the oil.
7) Chop some palak.
8) Add the paneer and some spices (garam masala, coriander powder, etc).
9) Add the chopped Palak and the paste from step 3.
10) Add some salt and mix well.
11) Simmer for a few minutes and the Palak Paneer is ready.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Tennis Score: 6-4, 6-3: Clay
After the string break on Sunday, my racket was strung by another member of our club. Though professionally a doctor, he prides himself in being a tennis player and a stringer. Admittedly, he is an excellent tennis player.
Anyways, surprisingly playing with the newly strung racket did not feel much different than the older ones. I do suspect that the tension is a bit too high as the pace on my shots seems to have dropped. It could also be due to the balls which went soggy very quickly due to courts exposed to the rain.
The rain exposed court was two sided. One side was perfect and the other was slippery and movement on this side was dangerous and led to tentativeness. This made winning games on the good side very very important. At the same time, games won on the bad side were worth their weight in gold. Come to think of it, games don't have weight.
In the first set I went up to 4-1 taking advantage of the good side. Then the lead was squandered to be level at 4-4. It was time to play safe and do anything to win the next two games. This was somehow achieved even with the double disadvantage of serving on the bad side.
The second set was close until it was 4-3 to me. I was at the bad side and thought that I need to win at least one game here so that I can win the game on the good side to win the set. I pushed hard to win my service game to go up 5-3. Since it was my partner's serve, I had a slight edge to win the last game, even if it was on the bad side. However, I managed to win the game and the set 6-3 and that was the end of the evening of tennis.
Anyways, surprisingly playing with the newly strung racket did not feel much different than the older ones. I do suspect that the tension is a bit too high as the pace on my shots seems to have dropped. It could also be due to the balls which went soggy very quickly due to courts exposed to the rain.
The rain exposed court was two sided. One side was perfect and the other was slippery and movement on this side was dangerous and led to tentativeness. This made winning games on the good side very very important. At the same time, games won on the bad side were worth their weight in gold. Come to think of it, games don't have weight.
In the first set I went up to 4-1 taking advantage of the good side. Then the lead was squandered to be level at 4-4. It was time to play safe and do anything to win the next two games. This was somehow achieved even with the double disadvantage of serving on the bad side.
The second set was close until it was 4-3 to me. I was at the bad side and thought that I need to win at least one game here so that I can win the game on the good side to win the set. I pushed hard to win my service game to go up 5-3. Since it was my partner's serve, I had a slight edge to win the last game, even if it was on the bad side. However, I managed to win the game and the set 6-3 and that was the end of the evening of tennis.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Tennis Score: 2-6, 3-4: Clay
...play stopped due to string breakage.
We were playing after a break of five days, but I was pleasantly surprised that my shots during warmup were quite good. This did translate to the actual set itself, but my backhand gave up and a lot of errors were made from that wing. Also, there were several games when I should have won with me being game-point up in many of them. Those came and went and the set was lost.
The second set was similar, but I had somewhat better luck in converting the game points. I went up 3-2, but then lost the next two games to be 3-4 down. In the last point, I hit a forehand very hard and guess the factory strings that came with my now-not-so-new racket were not very good. They snapped and since I did not have a spare racket, we had to stop. Unfortunate that because it was perfect for tennis - cloudy-leading to great lighting, no rain or wind and nicely watered clay courts.
We were playing after a break of five days, but I was pleasantly surprised that my shots during warmup were quite good. This did translate to the actual set itself, but my backhand gave up and a lot of errors were made from that wing. Also, there were several games when I should have won with me being game-point up in many of them. Those came and went and the set was lost.
The second set was similar, but I had somewhat better luck in converting the game points. I went up 3-2, but then lost the next two games to be 3-4 down. In the last point, I hit a forehand very hard and guess the factory strings that came with my now-not-so-new racket were not very good. They snapped and since I did not have a spare racket, we had to stop. Unfortunate that because it was perfect for tennis - cloudy-leading to great lighting, no rain or wind and nicely watered clay courts.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
On the Twenty20 World Cup.
Finally!! India have won a world cup. After a long wait of 24 years.
As many have pointed out, India very reluctantly sent a team. The reluctance is accorded to the fear that if we do well in the Twenty20 format, we may kill the cash cow that ODI cricket is.
This is very evident from the fact that the BCCI sent, what they considered, a second team. The team did not consist of the so called big stars. What we all heard was the stars opted out. But, not many have noticed that the BCCI did not try to persuade them. In addition, the selection process for the event seemed almost callous. Ironically, this resulted in a team that was perfectly suited to the game - a team that was fresh, eager, enthusiastic and fielded and ran between the wickets wonderfully. More ironic is the fact that a team that was, I think, secretly selected for failure did the unthinkable - played without the fear of failure, as a team, and won the world cup.
An interesting point made by Rashid Latif was that Twenty 20 was a natural format for them. I would suggest that it is similarly, if not more of, a native format for India. Every game that I have ever played has been a short form, a Six6, a Ten10, a Twenty20 or at most a Twenty Five-25. This form is ingrained in Indians from when they begin playing. I maybe wrong, but I think the only way you ever get to play a form of unlimited overs cricket is when you reach the club level(very few matches) or first class level.
Am I happy we won the cup? Absolutely. Am I ecstatic? Maybe not. Do I think this is the best thing the Indian cricket team have achieved, ever? Absolutely not. This year? No, I rank our test series victory against England way higher. In the same vein, I wouldn't really care if we lose all ODIs from now till eternity(well, maybe not eternity), if we win the test series in Australia. We came really close the last time we went there and I hope we edge ahead this time.
The Twenty20 world cup has unarguably been a huge success with the crowds, the critics, the TV viewers, everybody else and their dogs and cats. I really like the format, both that of a Twenty20 match by itself and of the world cup too. The shortened match duration removes the boring period of ODIs where seemingly nothing happens and is sleep inducing. This was when the part time bowlers came on and tried to contain the batsmen who needed no second invitation. The brief duration of the world cup is a direct result of the short duration of each match. This has left most people wishing for more rather than the never ending wait to crown Australia as the champions.
I predict that the Fifty50 format will slowly die a slow and painless death. With Twenty20's explosive beginning people would realize what a painful process ODIs are. Sport is supposed to be about entertainment, tension and drama, but a majority of Fifty50 games do not provide any of these. Contrarily, Twenty20 provides all these and more in a much shortened time.
On the other hand test matches will (at least I hope) always exist. It is where the full skill of the players are on display. There is no better joy than watching Laxman and Dravid batting for a full day under immense pressure against an inspired Gillespie and Mcgrath, than seeing an jelly-bean-offended Zaheer Khan dismantle the English, than Dravid bat painstakingly slowly at Headingley in 2002 on a cloudy morning to thwart an English attack that was supposed to run through the Indian batting (well, I could go on and on). The longer format, due to the unlimited nature provides a slow simmering tension and drama. It is a format where the leave outside the off can often be more valuable than a slogged six. As for entertainment, I don't think anyone will disagree that a Tendulkar cover drive or straight drive, or a Laxman on drive is more pleasing to the eye that Yuvraj's six sixes.
To conclude, I think it will be Twenty20 and Test matches that will be the predominant formats leaving Fifty50 to die.
As many have pointed out, India very reluctantly sent a team. The reluctance is accorded to the fear that if we do well in the Twenty20 format, we may kill the cash cow that ODI cricket is.
This is very evident from the fact that the BCCI sent, what they considered, a second team. The team did not consist of the so called big stars. What we all heard was the stars opted out. But, not many have noticed that the BCCI did not try to persuade them. In addition, the selection process for the event seemed almost callous. Ironically, this resulted in a team that was perfectly suited to the game - a team that was fresh, eager, enthusiastic and fielded and ran between the wickets wonderfully. More ironic is the fact that a team that was, I think, secretly selected for failure did the unthinkable - played without the fear of failure, as a team, and won the world cup.
An interesting point made by Rashid Latif was that Twenty 20 was a natural format for them. I would suggest that it is similarly, if not more of, a native format for India. Every game that I have ever played has been a short form, a Six6, a Ten10, a Twenty20 or at most a Twenty Five-25. This form is ingrained in Indians from when they begin playing. I maybe wrong, but I think the only way you ever get to play a form of unlimited overs cricket is when you reach the club level(very few matches) or first class level.
Am I happy we won the cup? Absolutely. Am I ecstatic? Maybe not. Do I think this is the best thing the Indian cricket team have achieved, ever? Absolutely not. This year? No, I rank our test series victory against England way higher. In the same vein, I wouldn't really care if we lose all ODIs from now till eternity(well, maybe not eternity), if we win the test series in Australia. We came really close the last time we went there and I hope we edge ahead this time.
The Twenty20 world cup has unarguably been a huge success with the crowds, the critics, the TV viewers, everybody else and their dogs and cats. I really like the format, both that of a Twenty20 match by itself and of the world cup too. The shortened match duration removes the boring period of ODIs where seemingly nothing happens and is sleep inducing. This was when the part time bowlers came on and tried to contain the batsmen who needed no second invitation. The brief duration of the world cup is a direct result of the short duration of each match. This has left most people wishing for more rather than the never ending wait to crown Australia as the champions.
I predict that the Fifty50 format will slowly die a slow and painless death. With Twenty20's explosive beginning people would realize what a painful process ODIs are. Sport is supposed to be about entertainment, tension and drama, but a majority of Fifty50 games do not provide any of these. Contrarily, Twenty20 provides all these and more in a much shortened time.
On the other hand test matches will (at least I hope) always exist. It is where the full skill of the players are on display. There is no better joy than watching Laxman and Dravid batting for a full day under immense pressure against an inspired Gillespie and Mcgrath, than seeing an jelly-bean-offended Zaheer Khan dismantle the English, than Dravid bat painstakingly slowly at Headingley in 2002 on a cloudy morning to thwart an English attack that was supposed to run through the Indian batting (well, I could go on and on). The longer format, due to the unlimited nature provides a slow simmering tension and drama. It is a format where the leave outside the off can often be more valuable than a slogged six. As for entertainment, I don't think anyone will disagree that a Tendulkar cover drive or straight drive, or a Laxman on drive is more pleasing to the eye that Yuvraj's six sixes.
To conclude, I think it will be Twenty20 and Test matches that will be the predominant formats leaving Fifty50 to die.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)