Comments on: What Sania Mirza needs to learn from Anil Kumble

By: Anonymous Guy

Anonymous Guy — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 04:28:49 +0000

Maybe we should have a matchup between Sania and Kumble in some other sport.

Running race? That would be a sight - if both managed to reach the finish line!

By: Mayura

Mayura — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:46:01 +0000

This Sania Mirza should keep her mouth shut and show her mettle on the tennis court, instead of courting controversies for the wrong reasons. To pacify the mulla’s she should offer to play while wearing a burqa and to pacify the nationalists(?) she should wear a t-shirt with a indian flag on it, over the burqa and go into the tennis court. That way everyone is happy.

By: KS

KS — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:30:17 +0000

Regarding flag controversy, if you ask million indian citizen, 99.9% say its foolish to make this a big issue or they don’t care. Rest file a lawsuit and media hypes it to no extent and people like Sania get much required publicity. sympathy by announcing not to play etc.. If she is a real sportswoman, she’d have ignored these things and played & beaten Williams sisters.

By: Smita

Smita — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:50:59 +0000

@ Sumeneeve: :-) why do you run into women when you want to see them? and Why would i want to endure seeing/ meeting you?

By: SumneNeeve

SumneNeeve — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:15:21 +0000

Smita says: I just think women dont deserve it!

You can think whatever you want. If I have to see you, I will wear dark sunglasses and make it a point not to run into you. Are you happy?

By: Smita

Smita — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:20:52 +0000

DB - thanks, i was getting a little worried there. :-)
Sumneneeve - your thoughts are so noble and respectful…I just think women dont deserve it!

By: Mysore Boy

Mysore Boy — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:45:10 +0000

Sania Mirza told the New York Times on Monday: “Every time I play in India, there is a problem.”

The NYT report, published Tuesday and bylined Amelia Gentleman, goes on:

“In December, Mirza, a 21-year-old Muslim, was accused by Indian nationalists of desecrating the national flag after she was caught on camera resting her bare feet on a table next to the Indian colors. Earlier that month there was anger from Muslim groups when she filmed an advertisement at a 17th-century mosque in her home town, the southern city of Hyderabad.

“The cases made front-page news and led to two lawsuits. After the flag incident, Mirza was summoned to appear before a court in Bhopal, to answer a case, filed by a private citizen, under the Prevention of Insult to the National Honor Act. The police are pursuing a case of trespass in relation to the filming in the mosque.

“Her decision to stop playing in her home country has dismayed India’s tennis community, but has also raised deeper concerns about levels of intolerance across the nation.

“Ramachandra Guha, a historian, argued that it was a reflection of ‘the rising power of bigotry and intolerance in Indian society.’

“‘Male chauvinists have taken exception to her dress; religious bigots have protested a picture that has both her and a mosque in the same frame; jingoists have exploded at the (purely accidental) closeness of her feet in another frame to the national flag,’ he wrote in an article for The Telegraph, a newspaper in Calcutta.

See http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/sports/tennis/06tennis.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=india&st=nyt&oref=slogin

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By: SumneNeeve

SumneNeeve — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:06:25 +0000

Smita,
Madam, when was saying women are eye candy anything but respectful. She is attractive isnt she? Is saying we want her to play for her looks wrong?

By: Doddi Buddi

Doddi Buddi — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:20:33 +0000

Smita,

Yes, I would like to see Sania in a nice outfit. She is getting better while her game is on the mend as well. Smita, I could not disappoint you. You are welcome to wear something similar as Sania off the court. Thanks.

By: Smita

Smita — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:05:48 +0000

:-) that DB or an imposter? But seriously - yes she should play for the reasons you have quoted. She is being targetted for all the wrong reasons - hope she gets over it all.

By: Doddi Buddi

Doddi Buddi — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:43:59 +0000

Sania should play. It will be nice to have a good talented Indian player in the competition.

By: jaya

jaya — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:43:10 +0000

How can she not have realized she was insulting the flag?cmon!
It will soon be over for her and she just wants to make as much money in endorsements!

By: Faldo

Faldo — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:24:55 +0000

It might have been better if the article had gotten to the core of the problem like others suggested. Comparing the two sportspersons just for the heck of it does not make sense. The situations faced by SM and AK, the nature of the games they play and the context for which the advice is supposedly given are entirely different.

By: Kadana Kuthuhala

Kadana Kuthuhala — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:15:41 +0000

I’m glad that she has the courage to stand up against degenerative culture like ours plus shez hot!!
Tennis is a professional sport unlike cricket..It’s a choice that she has made and I don’t think it’s our business to comment on such personal actions!

By: jeevarathna

jeevarathna — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:44:42 +0000

The real story is something else. All Tennis Players take what is known as appearance money, which is quite different from Prize Money. Last Year SM reportedly got US$ 1,00,000.00 from SM and even Serena also received the same amount but she upped the ante after her sudden victory at Australia and walked out at the last minute leaving KSLTA is lurche and worrying out how to get the money back ! It is obvious SM asked for more this year. But with Williams Sister in the kitty KSLTA must have said to SM take along walk And she walked out !! All other excuses and euphemism about Nationality is just humbug