Sacrilege: But is An Sai Long better than even Lin Dan – after the 2024 Olympics gold?

 

The Great Dane Viktor Axelsen, who pulled on a Chinese mane and got himself a Chinese name after learning Mandarin at 22, has snuck up into the GOAT debate after his second Olympic title.

You might not have heard of An Sai Long, the double Olympic champion, but China has. And he could stake claim to being better than the great Lin Dan, and even the Chinese won’t mind a ponder over that debate. It’s the Mandarin name adopted by Viktor Axelsen when he was 22 and became proficient in the language, proficient enough to charm the Chinese speaking to them in their tongue, after losing the Rio Olympics semifinal to Chen Long.

The next day, he had earned their ungrudging respect beating Lin Dan for the 2016 Olympics bronze. Over the next 8 years, by the time he turned 30, Axelsen had equalled Super Dan to two Olympic titles, though his total Games medal count was one more than Dan – thanks to himself, for Axelsen had denied the greatest Chinese his third possible medal at Rio, after golds at Beijing and London.

Rafael Nadal — serial winner, racquet-wielding philosopher and an invincible spirit

For two decades, the Spanish legend thrilled audiences worldwide and was part of two era-defining rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic 

 Whenever a favourite sportsperson retires, there is a part of us that dies inside. It did when Sachin Tendulkar bid adieu and it did when Roger Federer waved goodbye. As Julian Barnes wrote in Levels of Life, “What is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotionally possible.”

Rafael Nadal’s exit from competitive tennis is sure to leave a similar feeling. For two decades, the Spaniard – winner of 22 Majors, 92 Tour titles, a ludicrously high 14 French Opens, two Olympic Gold medals and five Davis Cups – did not just occupy the court but pervaded every inch of our collective minds. Now, this long-lasting love story will be a thing of the past.

Pakistan unwilling to move Champions Trophy games out, questions India refusal to play there

 

Height-team Champions Trophy begins in Pakistan on February 19 with the final on March 9, with Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi being the designated host cities.

The Pakistan government is learnt to have asked its cricket board not to give in to India’s demand of moving the Champions Trophy games to Dubai.

Advertisement

Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) about the refusal of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to cross the border for the 50-overs tournament next year. The BCCI was reported to have asked for India’s games to be shifted to a neutral venue like Dubai.

“We have been told by our government not to move any game out of Pakistan, and that will be our stand when the time comes. Right now, the ICC has just informed us about India’s decision. We have the hosting rights for the Champions Trophy so there is no way we can move the games outside Pakistan,” said a PCB official on condition of anonymity.

Advertisement

The official also touched upon the contents of PCB’s reply to the ICC. “We have responded to last week’s ICC letter, seeking clarifications for the BCCI’s decision not to travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. In reply, we have sent them a questionnaire asking them the reasons for the BCCI’s decision. We are keen to know that. So right now, there is no talk of moving games,” he said.

The eight-team Champions Trophy begins on February 19 with the final on March 9, with Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi being the designated host cities.

Advertisement

The Champions Trophy stand-off is a throwback to the days before last year’s Asia Cup that Pakistan hosted. In the lead-up to the continental event in September 2023, India had stuck to its stand of not travelling to Pakistan, while the PCB too had been steadfast in its stand of being the sole host of the event. However, close to the start of the Asia Cup, Pakistan relented and India’s games were moved to Sri Lanka.

Cricketing ties between India and Pakistan have been impacted by their thorny political relationship. The two countries haven’t played each other in a non-ICC event since 2013, and India last travelled to Pakistan more than 16 years ago.

Hopes were raised about cricket normalcy returning to the region following last month’s meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Islamabad. This was the first direct conversation between the two nations at this level since 2015.

However, since the Jaishankar visit on October 16, there have been a string of terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sports

Sport includes all forms of competitive physical activity or games which,through casual or organized participation, at least in part aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators.Sports can bring positive results to one's physical health. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, simultaneously or consecutively, with one winner; in others, the contest (a match) is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.

Sport is generally recognised as system of activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with the largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition,and other organisations such as the Council of Europe using definitions precluding activities without a physical element from classification as sports.However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), Go and xiangqi,and limits the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports.

Sport is usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition, and allow consistent adjudication of the winner. Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or artistic impression.

Records of performance are often kept, and for popular sports, this information may be widely announced or reported in sport news. Sport is also a major source of entertainment for non-participants, with spectator sport drawing large crowds to sport venues, and reaching wider audiences through broadcasting. Sport betting is in some cases severely regulated, and in some cases is central to the sport.

According to A.T. Kearney, a consultancy, the global sporting industry is worth up to $620 billion as of 2013.The world's most accessible and practised sport is running, while association football is the most popular spectator sport.