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“While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou
We suffer through so many losses in a lifetime that sometimes we feel that we should feel better and more adept at dealing with them. We feel before any impending loss that we should be better prepared for something similar the next time. We equip ourselves with layers of impermeable strength, but the loss sometimes is so gargantuan that there is only emptiness we feel. Especially if we put our everything up front for the world to know we have tried our best, but loss is still handed to us. Then, the only thing that saves us from the deafening silence of tragedy is only and only the grace with which we accept the loss. On a Sunday that changed the history of sports, finding itself in the exalted pedestal of anecdotes we will hear for a long time. The day wasn’t for winners or to celebrate victory, it was for the one who issued their utmost claiming and chasing victory but having to settle for just a smidgen less.
It was a Super Sunday! Be it the Federer vs Djokovic Wimbledon final or the Men’s World Cup final or the British Grand Prix, Sunday’s sporting action was not meant for the faint-hearted; everything went down to the wire. England on June 14 was united by edge-of-the-seat cliffhangers.
At first, the ICC World Cup final kicked off in what turned out to be a mind-numbing clash between England and New Zealand at the Lord’s. It was not just a final; but a game between two teams who hasn’t won the World Cup title in 44 years; obviously it wasn’t going to be easy. But none was expecting it to be so dramatic; in the end of a tie, and the first ever super-over in World Cup’s history and many frayed nerves, England won- for their boundaries.
And then started The Championships final, which became another intense clash between a four-time Wimbledon winner and an eight-time Wimbledon champion. Roger Federer was bidding for the 21st Grand Slam while Novak Djokovic was fight for his 16th. The match last for almost five hours, went up to 5 sets and the last set went on for more than 100 minutes. So much so that the final set was a tie at 12-12 until Djokovic prevailed in the tie-break and went on to win his fifth Wimbledon title.
However, the heart-crushing defeat of Federer and the Kiwis, the original gentlemen of the tournaments have also won, just differently. Even though they are not holding the trophy in their hands; they are the true champions because they chased victory with an indomitable spirit till the end. Both the opponents were aggressive and stood as an intimidating threat for the ‘winners’ till it was officially announced the game was over. Thirty seconds of luck and favour not working for them gives us no right to call them ‘runners up’. Roger Federer and the All Blacks gave it all and did not lose; they just couldn’t lift the trophy.
Hello @ICC – how are you coping your end?#Wimbledon #CWC19Final
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2019
Things are a bit hectic here right now, we'll get back to you 😅#CWC19 | #Wimbledon | #CWC1FINAL
— ICC (@ICC) July 14, 2019
It was such a thrilling day in the world of sports that even Wimbledon’s Twitter handle reached out to its counterpart at ICC, checking on them to see how badly the nerves were rattled at the other end of London. “Things are a bit hectic here right now, we’ll get back to you,” the ICC responded and they were not indeed kidding. This Super Sunday got us all alike, even with the Royals. See for yourself, didn’t we all have ‘Kate Middleton’ moments? FYI, the Duchess of Cambridge presented the trophy for the first time this year.
Finally, if you are not a tennis or a cricket person, even then Sunday, July 14 was impossible to be a boring one for you. There was also the British Grand Prix which was also a dramatic event with close overtakes, crashes and some genuine wheel-to-wheel action in the play. Out of the many thrilling incidents, Sebastian Vettel crashing into Max Verstappen for the third place stands out. On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton won for the sixth time at Silverstone while Valtteri Bottas finished second and Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured third place after a dramatic fight for the spot.
Not just sports, it was a Sunday of many unexpected happening. Even the launch of Chandrayaan 2, India’s second mission to the Moon was cancelled in the last minute due to some technical snag. ISRO said it’ll announce a revise date later. Earlier, the country’s space organisation also invited people to watch the launch live from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and enthusiasts had also gathered by around mid-night, however, the launch was called off as a measure of abundant precaution.
