A Great Haul in China

Superlatives are superfluous in trying to describe what Michael Phelps has achieved at the Beijing Olympics. Five individual and three team gold medals - surpassing Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals in Munich in 1972.

A total of 14 gold medals in three Olympic Games! Can it get any better than this? Only time will tell, as records are made to be broken. But till that happens, Phelps will hold the undisputed title of the 'greatest athlete ever'.

I had the privilege of watching both Mark Spitz and Mike Phelps reach their milestones live on TV. Spitz's considerable achievement was unfortunately marred by two episodes.

The first was the extremely gruesome kidnap and murder of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists - now immortalised in Spielberg's movie "Munich". (That episode was followed by an equally violent elimination of Palestinian operatives across Europe - spread over several years - by the Israeli Mossad.)

The second was the 'smart business sense' demonstrated by Mark Spitz which smacked of a crude display of commercialism. Mark refused to pose with his seven gold medals for the press photographers from all over the world.

Instead he returned to the USA and sold his picture with seven golds for a bag full of money. So what is wrong with that? Nothing - other than the fact that the Olympics used to be a sporting event for amateurs only. Participants were supposed to bring glory to their country and not to themselves.

Now that professional sports persons are allowed to participate in the Olympic Games, making money off one's achievements at the games will not raise even an eyebrow.

Phelps will probably follow the path of Spitz and become a multi-millionaire by selling his picture with eight gold medals. But times have changed and his business sense will probably get appreciated by a world audience.

The 'other' Singh

For the first time in the long history of Major championships, an Indian golfer led the field after the first round of the PGA Championship. He held the lead jointly over the best of the best (minus one!).

After a second round 74 - the worst by any player in the top 20 of the leaderboard - Chiranjeev 'Milkha' Singh was still tied seventh with the likes of Sergio Garcia and Angel Cabrera (who won the US Open last year). Only two former major winners are ahead on the leaderboard - Ben Curtis and David Toms. Only 4 shots separate the top 20 players - so this PGA is wide open.

All eyes are of course on China and the Olympics opening ceremony was truly magnificient in concept and execution. But for golf enthusiasts, the last major of the year at Oakland Hills, Michigan - which was dubbed "The Monster" by the great Ben Hogan when he won the US Open at the same venue back in 1951 - will provide a lot of thrills and entertainment.

To appreciate how competitive and tough the field of professional golf is, here are some of the former Major winners that missed the cut : Rich Beem, Fred Couples, John Daly, Todd Hamilton, Zach Johnson, Bob Tway, Mark Brooks, Trevor Immelman, Davis Love III, and the 'real' Singh - Vijay.  Other former Major winners like Jim Furyk, Mike Weir, Corey Pavin and Paul Azinger barely made the cut at +8.

'Jeev' played in the Masters this year, made the cut and made some money. He missed the cut in the US Open and made zilch. He narrowly failed to qualify for the British Open. He has made the cut in the PGA and is in the top 10 of the leader board even though he is playing with a bum right ankle.

In between, he has been criss-crossing the world playing on the Asian, the Japanese and the European tours - making his own travel arrangements, adjusting to different time zones, eating unfamiliar food and making no money any time he misses the cut. In spite of such challenges, with his unorthodox swing and exquisite short game, he has already won a tournament each on the Japanese and European tours.

So say a little prayer for 'Jeev'. If he manages to win the PGA with one of his typical come-from-behind 5 under final rounds, he will get some thing like a 10 year exemption on the US PGA tour - the best and biggest pro-golf tour in the world. And his days of cross-continent travelling and living out of suitcases may come to an end.

The beginning of the end for Sania Mirza

Back in 2005, a teenaged Sania Mirza was creating waves on the Women’s tennis tour. She was notching up important victories over better and higher ranked players like Marion Bartoli and Nadia Petrova. She reached the 4^th round of the US Open where she lost to Sharapova and won her first (and so far only) tournament at the Hyderabad Open.

As she climbed up the rankings ladder, she started to generate a new fan following – particularly among Americans, who just loved her all-or-nothing attitude on court and the stream of hard-hit winners from both flanks from impossible positions.

With fame came fortune, and as the huge amounts started pouring in from endorsements and advertisements, Sania became a style icon among the youth of India – sporting nose rings and tee shirts with messages (provocative by Indian standards!).

Controversies followed, with tennis purists aghast at the time she was spending off court when she should have been working on improving her pathetic serves and lack of fitness and mobility. Her short skirts and ‘daring’ show of skin shocked conservative protectors of Islam. (Ashley Harkleroad may wonder what the fuss was all about!)

Gradually, the high expectations of a billion Indians, off court engagements, assorted controversies and injuries due to lack of fitness and her hit-or-miss style of play began to take their inevitable toll. The problems were compounded by her inability to overcome her obvious technical shortcomings.

Sania did try to improve her serves and worked on her fitness and on court mobility. But her fearsome forehand no longer scared the opposition. Smarter and fitter players were ready to chase down her shots and keep the ball in play with the conviction that Sania would soon lose patience and bang the ball long or into the net.

Cut to the present. A string of first and second round losses in Tier 3 & 4 tournaments. She has not beaten a single player of note recently and has lost to players ranked far below her. From the low 30s, her rank has slipped to the 50s. Before the year is out – she may drop out of the top 100.

For Asian fans of women’s tennis, the new icon is now Zheng Jie who put up such a fabulous show at Wimbledon, knocking off one seed after another, only to be annihilated by Serena in the semis. This is the same Zheng Jie that Sania had beaten in the 2^nd round on her way to her only tournament victory back in 2005.

Sania may have little choice now but to follow in the footsteps of Anna Kournikova and try to become a model/movie star.