Fly My Ideas

Roger Federer, arguably one of the best that has ever played the sport. But on Friday, Federer was shockingly knocked out by Andreas Seppi of Italy in the third round of the Australian Open. An opponent whom Federer has never lost in the previous 10 meetings. A player who has only manage to win only one single set out of the 10 matches they played together made this defeat even more miserable for Federer. Perhaps this defeat was even shocking the fact that he started off the year brightly by beating Milos Raonic, a top 10 ranked player in the world to win the Brisbane title. Despite not winning any majors in 2013, he ended the year with a great note by winning the Davis Cup, ATP titles wins in Basel and Shanghai and reaching the finals of the ATP Tour Finals. Everything seems to look great for Federer leading up to the Australian Open until the lost. The four majors are always the platform where top players bring their A game to the courts. But believe or not, losing in the...

First of all, Happy New Year! (I know it’s a little bit late saying that) Since it is a new year, let’s look ahead to what’s interesting ahead on the sports calendar. To be honest, 2015 isn’t the year that where many major sporting events will be held. You will still have your UEFA Champions League Final, World Championships, Grand Slams, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and also a World Series that involves only two countries. Here are five things I’m looking forward for this year in sports: 1. Can McIlroy complete a “Rory Slam”? All eyes will be on Rory McIlroy come this April when the Masters begin. Guess who was the last man to hold all four slams at once? It’s none other than Tiger Woods. Tiger was the last man to hold all four slams at once which was way back in 2001. With the Masters being the only major missing from Rory’s trophy cabinet, a win at Augusta will make him a step closer to complete a “Rory Slam”. 2. The End of the “Big Four”? Honestly, is it a “Big Four” or a “Big T...

It’s unusual for me to start writing towards the end of the month. Four weeks into the semester, I’ve done basically what a college student does: classes, work, sports, and not to forget some own entertainment. But there’s still plenty of things to talk about this month. The Asian Games is happening now. This time we will be at Incheon, South Korea witnessing the second largest multi-sports event happening. Here’s the link to the promotional video of the games. Let’s talk about Malaysia Airlines recovery plan . It’s going to be the fifth time Malaysia Airlines has embarked on a recovery/transformation/re-energized (or whatever you want to call it) in a decade. It’s obvious that after so much transformation, the biggest problem is yet to be solved. Are they overpaying for their contracts? Are they gaining high productivity from their employees? Are they flying with full loads? Are they operating with the correct strategy? To be honest, I’m quite pessimistic about this once again transf...

We are just exactly a week away from the last major of the year, the US Open happening in New York. It’s time to make some predictions for this year’s tournament.  * A wildcard pick which is for a player that might surprise us at this year’s tournament whom is still in search for the first major of their career. Men’s Singles Champion: Novak Djokovic (Serbia) I gave a long thought on who’s the favorite to win the men’s title. I know he’s not the player in form following early round exits at Toronto and Cincinnati. But when it comes to grand slam tournaments, he’s the most consistent player over the past few years and his record at the US Open is certainly impressive. He had made at least a semi-final appearance at Flushing Meadows since 2007. Wildcard: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) The victory at Toronto will definitely be a confidence boost for the Frenchman. Just his only second ATP 1000 series title victory since 2008, this could be the turning point of his career. His ...

With the Commonwealth Games coming to an end, it’s time to start looking forward at some of the major sporting events around the world happening in August. For Malaysia, our quest for another World Champion in badminton will begin on 25 August at Copenhagen, Denmark. Our main hope or rather the sole hope of winning a world title will rest on the shoulders of World No.1 - Lee Chong Wei in the men’s singles event. It’s unclear how serious his injury is that forced him to withdraw the Commonwealth Games, but one thing’s for sure - He will go out all guns blazing on another (possibly final) assault on the World Title that eluded him from his resume. The path definitely looks better with his nemesis - Lin Dan not being able to defend his title because he didn’t obtained sufficient ranking points to qualify for the tournament. Another Chinese player - Chen Long, which held an impressive head to head ranking with Chong Wei is struggling with form. So, the stage is definitely set for Lee...

It's the end of the World Cup season, the time to look back at this year’s tournament. So, here is my 2014 World Cup Team of the Tournament. I elect to go for a 3-5-2 formation, which is formation that got the results for teams like Netherlands, Mexico, and Costa Rica who did well at this year’s tournament. GK: Manuel Neuer (Germany) He’s definitely one of the best goalkeepers right now. A well-deserved Golden Glove award to add to his resume. Neuer has the skills and intelligence that most goalkeepers in the world doesn’t possesed. The awareness to know when to come out from his line to make those saves. The sharpness to make incredible saves and the good ball distribution technique that help facilitate the German team. CB: Mats Hummels (Germany) He’s definitely one of the world’s best defenders right now and the performance he put on in this World Cup certainly justified that. He is a guy that is able to able to contribute defensively and offensively for the team, scori...

Losing two straight matches, conceding 10 goals in the final two matches isn’t the way you want to end your World Cup especially when you are playing at home. Tears of sorrow, the voices of disappointment surrounded every Brazil fans all around the world. It was a massive let down for the Brazilians considering they had high hopes for this team to win the World Cup for the sixth time. Now, it’s all done and dusted. Considering how eventful it was leading up to this World Cup, this certainly wasn’t a football festival the Brazilians have wished for. After all those horrific moments on the pitch, now it’s the time to sit down and analyze what could have been undo to get better results. At the end of the day, we need to face the truth - This Brazil team is not good enough. It’s unfair to say this is the worst Brazilian team by judging on their 1-7 defeat to Germany. But this team is definitely not the best they had over the years. Let’s start with their manager. Luiz Felipe Sc...