A Tale of Two Sons
May 23, 1999 - Days after his father's death, Sachin returns to the Indian squad, smahes an unbeaten century against the Kenyans and breaks down, dedicating the century to his beloved father.
Cut to July 23, 2006 - Weeks after his father's death due to cancer & days after failing to make the cut at a major for the first time in his professional career, Tiger Woods roars back to prime form, winning the British Open for the 2nd straight year and breaks down in front of the whole international audience on TV. And he dedicates his victory to his loving father and wishes he had been there one last time to see it all.
Two very special sportsmen. Both highly attached to their fathers. And both, arguably the most popular sportsmen on the planet. Y'day, Tiger Woods's victory & the scenes that unfolded after the final round of the British Open aptly summed up what sports is all about - complete mastery of skills and the emotion that it brings along with it. It was an emotionally charged 18th hole, last morning. Tiger makes a short putt to seal the Open, then does his now-famous fist pumping, goes to his caddie Steve Williams for a hug & breaks down completely. Steve is about to let go of him but Tiger does not want to. He cries for a long time like a child. Then, he manages to walk into the waiting arms of his wife. And again, cries uncontrollably on hugging her. It was all beautiful, very beautiful. A moment unlike any other and a poignant moment, I am sure, that brought tears to everyone watching the Open on TV, inlcuding yours truly.
posted by Filbert at 10:26 PM
4 Comments:
Yeah Prasanna, that was one great match to remember. Though it was against the minnows, one could clearly see how determined Sachin was in getting a big score, primarily for his father.
Yeah Sesh, all along last weekend when Tiger was on his way to the Open victory, I was able to recall the similarities between Sachin's innings against Kenya and Tiger's dominance at the British Open. Tiger has always been a player who wears his emotions up his sleeves. We could see that in his furious fist-pumping. So, in fact, I was expecting him to break down :)
And I heard that this Sanjay Manjerakar had written something bad about Sachin..today. I am really got angry on Sanjay. If he said that for any promo, then we have to kick him away in doing commentary too..
I too read about that, Karthik. I really dont know what made Manjrekar, a proven Tendulkar fan & friend, to write something preposterous about Sachin. But some experts feel that it is a common thing done by Mubai cricketers to inspire them to perform well. Lets see how Sachin responds to his allegations on the field.
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