July 14th comes back to haunt and the eerie similarity between 2021 & 2024

There were 3 highly anticipated sporting finales which got played out on the 14th of July 2024 viz

Wimbledon Final - Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz

Euro Final - England vs Spain

Copa America Final - Argentina vs Columbia 

The day was all set and it was imminently clear that it was going to be a sporting extravaganza of epic proportion and a blockbuster of sorts for the sport loving aficionado.

Sporting clashes have happened across different formats and dates earlier on as well. But what really caught the eye and makes this one Sunday special is because it associates itself to a few incidents of the past which ironically played out in the same intervening period but across different years.

Let's traverse back to the exact day of 14th July, 5 years ago in 2019. That very same day witnessed a Wimbledon final and the ODI World Cup cricket final. On 14th July 2024 also we had the Wimbledon Final but instead of the cricket we had the Euro Football final. The common player/team running across both these days were Novak Djokovic and England. In 2019, Novak Djokovic claimed the Wimbledon title in a match for the ages against Roger Federer and the England cricket team claimed the cricket World Cup final in a super over through boundary count in the final against New Zealand which was heralded as one of the greatest ever ODI matches played. 

Both Novak Djokovic and England appeared again on court in the final in 2024 and a victory for both would have made it extra special and a day to savour for eternity for both Novak Djokovic and England as a sports team but alas it was not to be as Djokovic was swept aside by the marauding young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and later on in the evening the England football team were humbled by a mercurial Spanish side. The 14th of July 2019 which bought joy to Novak and the England cricket team bought despair to the same Novak Djokovic and England football team on the 14th of July 2024. It was perceived that Novak almost did the impossible by saving 2 match points on his opponents serve to register a famous victory much to the chagrin of the partisan British crowd who were cheering and egging on Federer to create history in 2019. In a similar vein, it was also felt that the Kiwis were robbed off a World cup title in dubious fashion since the win was awarded to England in controversial circumstances. Both Federer and New Zealand felt dismayed on the 14th of July 2019 but things came back to haunt Novak and England in albeit a different manner by taking defeat off them coincidentally and ironically on the very same date 5 years later. Hence, there were a lot of coincidences and patterns emerging across these 2 dates 5 years apart but the result ended up being completely opposite from one another.

Talking of coincidences, there was one more eerie similarity taking place in 2024 but this time the year in question is related with 2021. The very same 3 sporting events that happened in 2024 also took place in 2021 just 3 days apart on 11th July 2021 and once again there was the common theme of one player/team being weirdly the common link across the 3 major sporting finales. 

Let's take a look at the commonality.

2021 & 2024 Wimbledon Final - Novak Djokovic appeared in both finals

2021 & 2024 Euro Final - England played in both finals 

2021 & 2024 Copa America Final - Argentina took part in both finals

The results however were a mix & match across these 3 years. Novak Djokovic emerged victorious in 2019 but came a cropper in 2024. England football team ensued heartbreak both in 2021 at home and 2024 in Berlin. The Argentinian team emerged triumphant on both occasions beating the home side Brazil in 2021 and winning the finale again in 2024.

Documenting the tale of sporting finales loaded with numerous twists & turns arising across different years resulting in so many weird and varied patterns indeed makes sport so very special and thrilling.

India's sterling show at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

The medal haul in the Tokyo Olympics ranks as the best ever in India's sporting history and has certainly brought immense pride and happiness to sports lovers all over the country. 7 medals overall with a dip of Gold at the fag end made it all the more momentous and something very special to remember for a lifetime. With a little more luck on the side, the tally could have even touched the double digit mark. 

Coming a little back to the period of the Pre-Olympics, things were looking quite somber and withdrawn. First up the really bad news of India's only decorated 2 time Olympic champion Sushil Kumar being put up behind bars setting a bad precedent. On top of that was the fact that many qualifying events didn't even take place due to Covid and hence some of India's medal hopefuls such as Saina Nehwal (bronze medalist at London 2012), Sakshi Malik (bronze medalist in Rio 2016), Dipa Karmakar (the gymnast who came agonizingly close to winning a medal at Rio 2016) didn't even end up participating in these games. This surely set the country back a whole lot considering lack of match practice, expected hopefuls not even qualifying and the plague of the prior Olympics notwithstanding hanging in the balance. 

From there on in to ending up winning 7 medals being a feat never achieved before is totally absolutely stupendous. Hearty congratulations to all the winners Neeraj Chopra (Javelin Gold), Ravi Kumar Dahiya (Wrestling Silver), Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting Silver), Pusarla Sindhu (Badminton Bronze), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing Bronze), Bajrang Punia (Wrestling Bronze) and the Indian men's hockey team (Hockey Bronze). Also a huge round of applause to few other giant killers who came oh so close to grabbing glory notably Kamalpreet Kaur (Discus), the Indian women's hockey team and Aditi Ashok (Golf). It's hard to use the word commiserations here as they were literally within a whisker and just an incy wincy bit of luck either way could have swayed them to a medal. 

The immense positives apart, there were a bit of resentments also. Tennis, a sport which India is usually expected to give a fight at least from the doubles/mixed doubles front fizzled out without a trace. Also on shooting and archery where India actually fielded quite a few world rankers didn't really set the ball rolling. 

The excitement and frenzy created by the games were at an awe inspiring level. Perhaps for the first time ever, cricket actually took a back seat paving way for other sports to take over. There was so much interest for sports like Javelin, Discus and even Golf where people hardly know the rules yet wanted to follow and understand simply because of the amazing performances displayed by our stellar sportspersons. Also when you read about the humble backgrounds which most of these Olympians come from it will really make you wonder about the amount of hard work put in and sacrifices undertaken. 

This should also aid as a favorable fillip to parents wanting to enroll their children into the sporting arena. Indian parents usually go delirious when their kids achieve and there is really no field greater than sport to realize one's dream and achieve recognition at a national level. No joy can match the feat of winning laurels for the country and nothing like sport unites the entire nation.

Things are suddenly looking rosy pink after this magnificent Tokyo performance but we shouldn't forget that London 2012 games also was a big boost with India garnering 6 medals and when things were expected to get much better, we sank back big time in Rio. Hence hopefully the lessons are learnt this time and there should never be a state of going back retrograde come the next games in Paris which is now only 3 years away in 2024.

The greatest takeaway personally from these Tokyo Games is that though India is still a long way away from being a sporting powerhouse, our Olympic contingent made the world sit up and take notice through their exemplary performances. Hopefully this is a cue going forward and we should strive to win at least a double digit figure of medals going forward.