Fazny Zavahir: Is Roger Federer right to say tennis will change Olympics status at London 2012?

In Olympic history thus far, as far as I am aware, there has never been a stampede for tickets to attend the tennis events. In fact my memory of even recent tournaments is of some of the world’s best players competing in half deserted stadia save for the medal matches and even they were far from being sell-outs.

Well that is going to change at London 2012. You don’t need to be Mystic Meg to predict that the Olympic tennis tournament at Wimbledon – an eight day feast starting on July 28 – is going to be one of the hottest tickets in town and the feel good atmosphere around the tournament will be a big boost to the status of tennis within the Olympic movement.

Roger Federer, speaking in London where he is contesting the ATP Tour finals, certainly thinks so: “In London, with the heritage we have for tennis through Wimbledon, it’s probably going to be the biggest tennis Olympics we’re going to have,” said the Swiss maestro, who won a gold in the Mens’ doubles in Beijing. “For raising awareness for tennis at the Olympic Games, I think London is going to be the perfect place.

“The beauty of it being at Wimbledon is huge for the world of tennis. At the Olympics, the focus is on swimming and athletics and tennis has been forgotten a little bit. At the last couple of Olympics, we’ve seen the best players are always playing. Rafa  winning the singles in Beijing, me winning the doubles over there, that was great news for tennis in an Olympic spirit.”

But tennis and the Olympics have not been comfortable bedfellows for a variety of reasons. Initially it was too exclusive – ironic as it is now one of the planet’s most widely played sport – and then in modern times because an Olympic event, no matter how prestigious, has stood little chance of competing with the four Grand Slam events and especially the towering giant of the game that is Wimbledon. Indeed after the Paris Games of 1924 it didn’t even feature as a medal sport again until 1988.

An Olympic championship is meant to be the pinnacle of any sport but in tennis it would need the earth to shift on its axis for an Olympic gold medal to be more treasured and commemorated than an epic Wimbledon title.

But Federer is absolutely right, the 2012 Olympic Tennis tournament will undoubtedly take a massive step up in credibility just by being held at Wimbledon, the cradle of the modern game and a location that automatically ensures tennis excellence. It’s a unique chance for tennis to absolutely cement its place back in the Olympic movement and having achieved that it will be vital for Rio de Janeiro to back up with another superb tournament in 2016.

Countless millions more TV viewers worldwide will automatically watch the five tennis competitions in 2012 – a mixed doubles tournament is being added to the programme – and the Wimbledon crowds will be huge. Henman Hill will be a roaring, seething mass of humanity, especially if Andy Murray can put a gold medal charge together.

One of the great challenges for the Wimbledon groundsmen will be repairing their famous courts in time for the Olympics. The normal All-England fortnight will end on July 8 and the Olympic competition will start on July 28 so there will be just 20 days to get the grass courts up to scratch again. It’s a big “ask” but somehow you know for sure the Wimbledon authorities will find a way of rising to the occasion.

It will be a tournament the likes of which Wimbledon has never seen before. Regulations concerning white kit for the Gentlemen and Ladies will be thrown out of the window and all 172 competitors allowed to wear their national colours. The great showcourts will be bedecked in Olympic logos and those of their elite sponsors. I suspect the atmosphere will be very much “People’s Sunday” with a Davis Cup type intensity.

Bring it on. It won’t be Wimbledon as we know it but for a week or more it will be compelling viewing and great fun, the party atmosphere down at SW19 will match anywhere at the 2012 Olympics as 30,000 fans flock there every day.

Wimbledon is Wimbledon and when the Mens and Women’s Singles champions, in particular, receive their gold medals on Centre Court the images that go flashing around the world are going to be amongst the most iconic of the 2012 Games.

Fazny Zavahir: London 2012 Olympics: ticket sites for the Games vulnerable to cyber attack

The London 2012 Olympic-related websites for ticketing, timing, results and television broadcasting are more vulnerable to cyber-attack than established websites because of their temporary status, it has been claimed.

The London 2012 Olympic-related websites for ticketing, timing, results and television broadcasting are more vulnerable to cyber-attack than established websites because of their temporary status, it has been claimed.

The warning by the International Olympic Committee’s security adviser comes before eight million Olympic Games tickets worth £500 million go on sale to the public next February and March with applicants expected to lodge their ticket preferences online.

Dr Peter Ryan, the former Chief Constable and national director of police training in the United Kingdom who is now the IOC’s security adviser, said that while he was satisfied with the “very good progress to deal with the cyber threats”, some Games sites were still vulnerable to a criminal cyber-attack.

“We can’t afford any attacks on the Olympic network, the timing, the results postings, the television broadcasts, the communications by security forces, Locog’s hand-held communications, the host data of accreditation information and other data transmissions are all extra vulnerable because they are temporary installations and they are not necessary well and adequately firewalled because they are temporary,” he said.

But Ryan said he was comfortable with the robustness of the ticketing computer programmes to weed out potential cyber manipulation to buy concentrated numbers of tickets.

He believed the main ticket issue related to the volume of demand that may initially stretch the system like it did at the Beijing Olympics.

Air Commodore Graham Wright, who is the deputy director of the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance, told a Royal United Services Institute meeting there were seven or eight key cyber risks attached to the Games that have been identified since earlier this year when the government injected £650 million over four years into the cyber protection of national assets.

Wright said assessment of the risk would be led by intelligence gathering.

While some information emanating from China suggested a daily cyber attack of 12 million, he cautioned that only a very small percentage of that number may have been malicious attacks.

He said:”the Olympic Games core management system, border control from the data accreditation system are all vulnerable to cyber hits and the Games ticket website, are areas we see as cyber risk, they have been identified as a risk.”

Wright said there was some frustration that the cyber focus was only now being implemented as people had been able to register domain names to establish e-crime and fraudulent ticket sites.

“If we had been thinking about these things a few years ago we could have stopped the purchase of false domain names, but we are now trying to think as far ahead as we can,” he said.

Fazny Zavahir: Asian Games 2010 medal tally, China, Taiwan enjoy great show at Asiad

Asian Games 2010 medal tally, China, Taiwan enjoy great show at Asiad. Taiwanese athletes continue record medal haul in Guangzhou

Taiwan has a dozen reason to enjoy its best ever performance in Asian Games. With 57 medals in kitty Taiwan made a historic gain in Guangzhou after 12 years. The athletes from the country continue their medal haul while the multi sports event moves to the full stop on Sunday.

Taiwanese stars are displaying thriller performance both in track and field to push the country to a record height in the medal tally. Huang Yu-chi added one more medal to the total clinching Silver in the women’s individual kata competition in karate. The country remains on the top of the table as three bronzes were won at the karate event and another in the archery.

The 17th day in Guangzhou was much better for Taiwanese players. Though Huang was defeated 5-0 by Rika Usami in the gold medal match, she could achieve her personal best after all. Even after a defeat to unbeatable Japanese opponent, Huang could write a record for her team in the event.

Huang was happy to share her joy winning the first medal in the karate event in the Guangzhou games. “I am extremely satisfied to be able to advance to the top three because I was facing a very competitive rival,” said Huang after the match.

Huang’s coach Chih-yung also showered his praise on the star while he disclosed his disappointment on missing the Gold. “Huang was doing very well in the first three matches,” Chih-yung said. Chen Yen-hui and Hsieh Chen-kang were the bronze winners in the women’s 50 kg and men’s 55 kg.

Fazny Zavahir: China Times: Sports outlook remains uncertain

As of Nov. 25, Taiwan has bagged 12 gold medals, 12 silver medals and 33 bronze medals at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, the best performance achieved by the country at the Asiad since 1998.

Nevertheless, we must calmly ponder whether the achievements are the results of long-term preparation or just a flash in the pan? And in what sports have we shown no progress?

Overall, our tennis team has performed excellently at the Guangzhou Asian Games, seizing a total of five gold medals. This does not happen by chance, given the good showing of Taiwanese tennis players in international events in recent years. If long-term state-funded training programs and corporate sponsorships are provided, it is possible for Taiwan to gain a prominent position in the international tennis arena.

On taekwondo, we must not allow the Yang Shu-chun incident to eclipse the fact that the development of the taekwondo sport in Taiwan has been stagnant in recent years. Although Taiwan won two gold medals and one silver medal for taekwondo at the 2004 Olympic Games, only two bronze medals were obtained in 2008.

As for baseball, Taiwan’s performance is barely satisfactory. And the showing of Taiwanese athletes in major international sports, such as track and field and swimming, is hardly mentionable, either. These problems are not only the government’s responsibility; corporations, schools and society also need to assume an obligation

Fazny Zavahir: Rain to perform at Asian Games’ closing ceremony

Asian pop star and actor Rain (aka Jung Ji-Hoon) will perform at the closing ceremony of the 16th Asian Games on Nov. 27 in Guangzhou, China.

Rain will be rendering three songs to thousands of spectators and athletes. An Indian singer named Ravi K Tripathi will also perform at the ceremony.The closing ceremony is expected to showcase another extravaganza.

During the opening ceremony last Nov. 12, spectators were dazzled by the performances, dances and fireworks display, all put up at a cost of $53 million.Korean actor and singer Kim Hyun Joong performed during the opening ceremony together with Chinese artists.

Rain currently stars in the action series “Fugitive: Plan B”. Rain got embroiled recently in a controversy about his alleged gambling activities in the US. A US-based businessman sued Rain for $2 million including $150,000 he allegedly loaned the singer for gambling.

Rain denied the allegations and sued an online Korean news outlet and its reporters for $300,000 for allegedly damaging his reputation through its reports about the gambling issue.

Fazny Zavahir: Ticket touts spoil Asian Games image

Ticket touts are spoiling the on-going Guangzhou Asian Games 2010 image by systematically hoarding venue tickets denying supporters and parents of athletes from Malaysia from enjoying the Games. This scenario also applies to supporters from other Asian nations as well.

Kelab Penyokong Sukan Malaysia or Kelab Famemas Malaysia is currently in Guangzhou from 20 to 28 to give a moral boost to our athletes to ensure the nine gold medals target are met.

However, they have not been able to enter the sports venues and games involving Malaysian athletes, from the start of the Games.

An example is the price of tickets for the Lin Dan-Datuk Lee Chong Wei badminton singles final was priced by touts of up to RMB3,500 (RM1,750) whereas the original ticket price was only RMB50 (RM25) only. Ticket price for athletics shot up to RMB50 against the counter price of RMB10. Ticket touts seem to be having a field day with the exhorbitant rise in price of tickets to a point of paralysing attendances at venues where a handful of spectators, mostly foreigners, attend. Locals get in free through a government lottery type allocation.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and OCM (Malaysia) should allocate accreditation passes to deserving people to attend the games.

This is a setback to the Guangzhou As i a n Games Organising Committee (GAGOC) in denying people who are supposed to cheer our team from being in the stadium.

Most stadiums were half full.

Yet ticket counters displayed sellout notices at hockey and diving venues.

Some tickets should have been made available on the day of events to foreigners, should there be a low turnout.

We urge the Malaysian authorities to take up this matter with the Organising Committee to avoid a repeat of this fiasco.

Fazny Zavahir: Games raised $595m from sponsors

GUANGZHOU (China) – CORPORATIONS sponsoring the Guangzhou Asian Games have coughed up nearly three billion yuan (S$595 million) in advertising fees, the most ever raised, state press said on Friday.

Sponsorship amounted to five times more than the total raised for the 2006 Doha Games and 3.5 times more than the Busan Games in 2002, Xinhua news agency said, citing organisers.

Marketing executives for the Guangzhou Asiad signed up 52 companies, including over a dozen major sponsors, it said.

Key sponsors like the Guangzhou Automotive Group, which makes Hyundai cars, contributed up to 600 million yuan, while Samsung Electronics and sports apparel giant 361 Degrees put in over 200 million yuan each, the China Business News said.

Other major sponsors include China Mobile, China Telecom, China Southern Airlines, Internet portal Netease and the Taiwan Beer Group.

Fazny Zavahir: World’s oldest dinosaur embryos found

Paleontologists have just identified the world’s oldest known dinosaur embryos, according to a paper in the current Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The embryos, found in their still well-preserved eggs, date to the early Jurassic Period 190 million years ago. The researchers say they are the oldest known embryos for any land-dwelling vertebrate.

They belong to Massospondylus, a member of a group of dinosaurs called prosauropods that were ancestors to the giant, plant-eating sauropods. Sauropods are the iconic four-legged dinosaurs known for their long necks and long tails.

Professor Robert Reisz of the University of Toronto Mississauga and his colleagues made the discovery while analyzing the fossilized eggs, originally found in South Africa. Reisz’s research assistant, Diane Scott, prepared the delicate fossils under high-powered microscopes and compiled the illustrations.

“I don’t think anybody else could have done this job,” Reisz said.

The embryos are so remarkably well preserved that they permitted a complete reconstruction of the skeleton and detailed interpretations of the anatomy.

The embryos were close to hatching, revealing their ossification (how much of their skeletons had turned to bone). The fossils also show that the future hatchlings would have been “oddly-proportioned” and would have looked very different from the adults of the species, according to the researchers.

Massospondylus embryos:

• close to 8 inches long
• four-legged
• relatively long front limbs
• disproportionately large heads

In contrast…

Massospondylus adults:

• about 16.5 feet long
• relatively tiny heads
• long necks
• most likely walked on two limbs

The above suggests that as the dinosaurs matured, their necks and hind limbs grew much faster than their forelimbs and head. Later dinosaurs in this group, the sauropods, had body proportions more similar to those of the Massospondylus embryos.

To some extent, these dinosaurs then developed as humans do today. The infancy is “awkward,” as the researchers put it, and a more erect stance and evenly-proportioned body only comes later. Additionally, the embryos lack teeth. With the awkward body proportions, it’s then likely that the hatchlings would have required parental care. If that’s the case, these fossils also document the oldest record of parental care, according to the paleontologists.

“This project opens an exciting window into the early history and evolution of dinosaurs,” says Reisz. “Prosauropods are the first dinosaurs to diversify extensively, and they quickly became the most widely spread group, so their biology is particularly interesting as they represent in many ways the dawn of the age of dinosaurs.”

Fazny Zavahir: London, set to host 2012 Olympics, launches bid for Gay Games 2018

LONDON — As the city of London steadily prepares for their upcoming stint as host of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, they have launched yet another bid — this one as host of the 2018 Gay Games.

The announcement was made this week at the 3rd Annual National Sports Summit, in Twickenham, U.K., where the bid committee was also on hand to answer questions.

To garner support for the bidding process, they’ve launched a colorful new website, have already begun the fundraising process and are requesting volunteers.

Odds should be in their favor, since the city has built a brand new state-of-the-art sports complex for 2012, including a newstadium where many of the ceremonies will take place.

According to the 2018 bid committee’s website, the Gay Games “is the largest sporting event in the world – it’s bigger than the Olympics. Its size and popularity is due to the founding principle of ‘inclusion’ – it’s open to everyone. Any adult can participate, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, health status or ability.”

The committee will focus on diversity and inclusion. They’ve chosen an inclusive theme for their goal, as well “The bid will be great for LGBT equality, great for sport and great for London! Be part of it: back the bid – London2018.”

For more information, see their bid website or the Federation of Gay Games website

Fazny Zavahir: London 2012 Olympic Games will hit sponsors’ target by end of 2010

• £700m pre-Games target is one third of entire budget
• TFL and Underground will manage public transport, says Locog

Organisers of the London Olympics have said that they will hit the upper limit of their pre-Games sponsorship target by the end of this year.

Paul Deighton, the chief executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog), said it would hit the pre-Games target of £700m by the end of 2010, once a handful of deals with suppliers have been tied up.

Estimates of the amount Locog would raise via sponsorship have varied between £600m-700m, roughly a third of the £2bn it needs to stage the Games.

Games organisers will now move into an operational phase, during which they will take control of the venues and start “dressing” the Olympic Park.

Organisers targeted sponsors in 2005, soon after winning the right to stage the Games. Most of the Games’ sponsorship revenue was secured before the global economic crash in 2008.

So-called “tier one” sponsors, such as Lloyds TSB, British Airways and EDF, which are each paying at least £40m, are looking at ways to “activate” their sponsorship, placing emphasis on corporate social responsibility programmes and staff motivation.

Locog’s £2bn budget for the Games will be privately raised – a third will come from domestic sponsors, a third from the International Olympic Committee’s sponsorship programme and a third from ticket sales.

Deighton said he is confident the Games would not be held to ransom by transport unions. Locog and City Hall have billed the 2012 Olympics as “the public transport Games”. Deighton said he was confident that agreements to keep the Tube, trains and buses running smoothly would be honoured.

“I don’t think anybody in this country wants the Games to be anything other than a great success,” he said. “If you talk to the TUC, they’ll tell you they’re right behind us and want this to be a spectacular success and a showcase for everything the country can do. I don’t think anybody thinks it’s in their interests to have a problem.”

Deighton said no formal written agreement had been made with transport unions. “It’s not our job,” he said. “TfL [Transport for London] and the London Underground have all the experience you could possibly wish of managing their own network so we’ll be relying on them to deliver their services.”