Sport

Hopman Cup Revisited

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Around 21 years after my first trip to the Hopman Cup I made a return visit this week. Pauline and I spent Wednesday watching some fantastic tennis amongst great company.

The first time I went to the Burswood Dome to see a Hopman Cup session was in late December 1990 and I watched the Italian team of Paolo Canè and Raffaella Reggi beaten by the Yugosalvian duo of Goran Prpic and Monica Seles, who then went on to conquer the US team for the 1991 title. To cut a long story short I was seated in the Italian team’s private box enjoying some generous hospitality and the company of the Italian players when they weren’t on court.

All these years later, Pauline and I were invited to share a court-side box to watch Bulgaria’s team of Grigor Dimitrov and Tsvetana Pironkova defeat Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen and Caroline Wozniacki.

The Hopman Cup is a mixed competition where male and female players are together on combined teams and represent their country. Players are invited to attend.

Eight nations are selected annually to compete in the Hopman Cup. Each team consists of one male player and one female player. Each match-up between two teams at the championships consists of:

One women’s singles match
One men’s singles match
One mixed doubles match

Each year the eight competing teams are separated into two groups of four (with two teams being seeded) and face-off against each of the other three teams in their group in a round-robin format. These seedings ensure that each group has approximately similar strength. The top team in each group then meet in a final to decide the champions. – Wiki

Caroline Wozniacki is the current women’s world number one player so we were assured of some great tennis right from the start. The women’s match went for around two and a half hours, the longest match of the cup. Wozniacki won the match for Denmark but Bulgaria won both the men’s and nixed doubles matches. The program told us that sessions could last for around five hours. This Session lasted seven hours with a lot of hard fought games throughout a rather warm day.

I’m hoping that it won’t be another 21 years before I get to enjoy the Hopman Cup again.

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India Celebrates

Apr 3rd, 2011

by Rodney Olsen.

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There aren’t too many experiences that compare with sharing celebrations with good friends. If I had the money I’d book a plane right now and head to India to party with the nation that captured my heart when I first visited back in February 2003. I’m not a huge cricket fan but knowing how much the game means to millions of Indians, I know that the joy of beating Sri Lanka in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup will be the cause of huge celebrations.

The six wicket win has placed the cup in Indian hands for the first time since 1983 and it was the first time a team has won the tournament on home soil.

Wherever I travelled in India I saw children playing cricket. From the green fields around India Gate to dusty, sand covered patches of land, wherever there is enough room to swing a bat, you’ll see children imitating their cricketing heroes. Some have shiny cricket sets, others use rough pieces of wood as they imagine themselves hitting the winning runs to clinch the game. Cricket is everywhere in India.

It’s been over six years since I was last in that amazing country but I still think about India every day. One of my very favourite memories is being in the country during the 2003 World Cup. The Massey family had invited my good friend Mark and me to their home for some home hospitality. After we were served a truly incredible meal we sat in front of an old colour television to see Australia and India battling it out on the cricket field. There was a lot of good-natured banter as we barracked for our respective home countries. As I said, I’m not a massive cricket fan but watching that game with some amazing Indian friends will remain a treasured memory for life.

India, enjoy your win. I wish I was there with you today.

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Swans Grab the Flag for 2010

Sep 20th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

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I need to apologise to my radio listeners for sounding a little croaky on air today and to the people in the rows in front of me at Subiaco Oval yesterday who may now be coming to terms with some kind of permanent hearing loss. I yelled myself hoarse as I experienced an absolutely thrilling game of Australian Rules Football.

It took them 20 years, but Swan Districts Football Club finally grabbed another premiership. The last one was back in 1990.

The Swans played an amazing game to overcome Claremont, the most dominant side of 2010. Despite only losing two games this season, having an extra week’s break before the big game, and being red hot favourites for the win, the Tigers fell just short of taking the 2010 flag.

In a game that saw the lead change six times in the final quarter, Andrew Krakouer was a standout player with 40 possessions and four goals that saw him be the clear winner of the Simpson Medal. It was Krakouer who kicked the final score of the match, a goal, to win the game for the black and whites by just one point.

There was a crowd of almost 25 000 at Subiaco yesterday afternoon and by the sheer volume of noise coming from the crowd it would seem that the majority were backing the Swans. There was certainly a roar from the crowd whenever Claremont hit the front, but whenever the Swans got the better of them, it was almost deafening.

I cannot describe the feeling of elation as the siren blew and the Swans theme song started playing across the ground. I do wish that it hadn’t been such a long time between flags but I guess that just made the victory a little sweeter.

Swan Districts 14.16 (100) – Claremont 14.15 (99)

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Losing Sleep Over Sport

Jun 19th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

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Technology is a wonderful thing. Instead of waiting days or months to hear results from sporting events on the other side of the globe, we now watch sport live wherever it is being played.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is currently happening in South Africa and so football (soccer) fans all over the world are watching hours and hours of the world game. Many of those watching are on a completely different time zone so they’re watching their televisions through the night and trying to stay awake at work each day. I’m not such a fan so I’m happy to just hear the results the next morning.

For tennis fans, Wimbledon is about to get underway. Again, fans around the world will stay up late to see their heroes battle it out on centre court. I don’t mind watching tennis but I’m not going to lose sleep over it.

At various times of the year there are all kinds of sports that are played on the other side of the world, dictating late nights and sleepy mornings. Cricket, Formula One, Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and the list goes on.

Now it comes to my weakness. Cycling. The Tour de France starts on Saturday the 3rd of July. I may well be losing vast amounts of sleep over the three weeks of the tour. I won’t watch every moment live but there will be some exciting stages that will keep me glued to the television.

How about you? Are you a sports tragic that watches all kinds of sport, no matter when it’s being played? Do you have a favourite sport that you enjoy watching live, even though it means you’re up in the middle of the night?

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Footy Tipping 2010

Mar 18th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

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As each year passes I prove more and more that I’m hopeless at footy tipping. This year I’m at it again and I’m inviting you to give me a kicking with your tipping prowess.

If you follow AFL can I encourage you to try to beat me at tipping for the coming season?

I’ve signed up again at footytips.com.au and so I’ll be able to pit my skills against thousands of other footy fans. The best part is that you can try your skills against mine by signing up to The RodneyOlsen.net Footy Tipping Competition. Just follow the link and join up. It’s free.

Some people spend ages checking the form of each side and thinking through the match ups, the ground, the ladder and a whole range of variables before tipping. I tend to just go ahead and choose then hope for the best.

I’ve run a competition for the last few years and it’s always just been a fun thing but this year I’m determined to find some prizes to award to the top tipper at the end of the season. I can’t guarantee that it’ll be a world trip but it’ll be something. (If you want to donate a prize or two, let me know.)

Go on. Join up. It’ll be fun.

The great thing with footytips.com.au is that you can be part of more than one competition at a time so if you’re already part of a competition with them you can still add your name to mine.