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Golds and Goals moments: WTA Finals' best legacy in Singapore lies in its substance

WTA Finals Singapore 2018 singles winner Elina Svitolina poses with the tournament ball kids after beating Sloane Stephens in the final match on 28 October 2018. (PHOTO: EFE/EPA/Wallace Woon)
WTA Finals Singapore 2018 singles winner Elina Svitolina poses with the tournament ball kids after beating Sloane Stephens in the final match on 28 October 2018. (PHOTO: EFE/EPA/Wallace Woon)

So many sports happenings, so little time – but we’re here to help. Yahoo News Singapore picks the top sporting moments of this past week, and tries to make sense of what had happened.

1. Fans come when players care about winning

In 2014, Singapore hosted an inaugural tennis competition that featured top players from all over the world. Held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, it had loud music and dazzling lights, and it was broadcast live on many regional networks.

Still remember the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL)? Memories of that tournament must be hazy by now, because it has not been held in Singapore since 2017.

In retrospect, the IPTL failed to take off as it was essentially a jazzed-up exhibition event. The participants may have been world class players like Serena Williams and Stan Wawrinka, but since the event did not affect their rankings, they were understandably in off-season mood. And the crowd could see it, which must had made them think, “Why should I fork out good money to essentially watch tennis stars on holiday?”

Elina Svitolina is overcome with joy as her coaching team celebrate her winning the 2018 edition of the WTA Finals Singapore on 28 October, 2018. (PHOTO: Twitter/Wilson Tennis)
Elina Svitolina is overcome with joy as her coaching team celebrate her winning the 2018 edition of the WTA Finals Singapore on 28 October, 2018. (PHOTO: Twitter/Wilson Tennis)

That same year also saw the inaugural WTA Finals Singapore. Five years on, and the event has been a massive draw throughout its star-studded editions. This year’s edition, which ended on Sunday (28 October), will likely exceed last year’s record attendance of 133,000 by over 20 per cent and attract 600 million in broadcast viewerships.

Why did the WTA Finals succeed while the IPTL failed? The key reason is that, at the WTA Finals, players cared – and the audience could see clearly that they did.

From Serena Williams’ jaw-dropping 200kmh serves that highlighted her 2014 triumph; to Dominika Cibulkova bursting into joyous tears as the diminutive Slovakian ran herself to the ground to win the 2016 title; to 2018 champion Elina Svitolina’s emphatic fist pumps and Naomi Osaka’s tears in retiring injured; everyone who watched the tournament could feel the high stakes of competing at an event that is regarded just behind the four annual Grand Slams in terms of prestige and importance.

While the WTA Finals has not lifted Singapore tennis out of its doldrums in its short stay here, with its outreach programmes yet to unearth any outstanding talent, its best legacy lies in something more intangible. What it did was to show sports event promoters that competitions with prestige and substance win the day, not flashy exhibitions or meaningless friendlies which serve merely as money-making exercises for the athletes involved.

Like the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix which is still going strong since it was first held in 2008, if the athletes involved care deeply about winning, the audience will come.

A seven-metre-long painting was presented by officials from the Shenzhen Sports Industry Department to Singapore to commemorate its five years of hosting the WTA Finals, as the event moves to Shenzhen following a handover ceremony at the National Gallery of Singapore on 29 October, 2018 (PHOTO: Getty Images)
A seven-metre-long painting was presented by officials from the Shenzhen Sports Industry Department to Singapore to commemorate its five years of hosting the WTA Finals, as the event moves to Shenzhen following a handover ceremony at the National Gallery of Singapore on 29 October, 2018 (PHOTO: Getty Images)

The WTA Finals will move on to Shenzhen next year, and the Women’s Tennis Association’s famous founder, Billie Jean King, has repeatedly thanked Singapore for “taking a chance on us”. Perhaps, for a country famous for its efficient organisation of major world events, Singapore should also thank the WTA for showing the best way to success for future sports events.

2. Shock and sadness at Leicester City

The world of football was plunged into mourning on Sunday with the tragic death of Leicester City’s Thai billionaire owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who was among five perished when his helicopter crashed right next to the stadium that bore the name of his successful duty-free chain, King Power.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was the much-loved owner and chairman of Leicester City Football Club. (FILE PHOTO: Martin Rickett/PA via AP)
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was the much-loved owner and chairman of Leicester City Football Club. (FILE PHOTO: Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Club owners are generally viewed with wariness and distrust by football fans. There are owners who destroyed venerable football clubs with mismanagement, and there are owners who used clubs as a money-spinning venture and priced tickets out of reach for dismayed fans.

Vichai was also viewed with much scepticism when he bought over Leicester in 2010, but then he oversaw probably the most miraculous title triumph in modern football history when Leicester astonishingly won the 2015/16 English Premier League title at 5,000-to-1 odds.

That incredible fairytale would have guaranteed the 60-year-old’s revered standing among the club’s fans. To his credit, he was also deeply connected with the community, using his considerable wealth to fund a new children’s hospital and the city’s university medical department, as well as giving out free season tickets on his birthday and free beer to celebrate victories with fans.

Supporters pay tribute to Leicester City club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died when his helicopter crashed in a car park near the club’s stadium on 27 October, 2018. (PHOTO: Aaron Chown/PA via AP)
Supporters pay tribute to Leicester City club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died when his helicopter crashed in a car park near the club’s stadium on 27 October, 2018. (PHOTO: Aaron Chown/PA via AP)

From the joyous heights of the league title success in 2016, to Sunday’s overwhelming misery at Vichai’s sudden demise, Leicester fans have been put through the emotional wringer. One hopes that the football team can somehow lift themselves out of their immense sadness and go on another improbable league or Cup run, in the memory of their benevolent owner.

3. NBA stars in the zone

Just two weeks into the new National Basketball Association season, and there were already two “50-points-or-more” performances put on board.

The first was put up by Blake Griffin of the Detroit Pistons. The power forward, who is well-known for his thunderous dunks, was traded in the middle of last season from Los Angeles Clippers, where he started his professional career in 2010.

Against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday (23 October), the 29-year-old was in a zone, repeatedly torturing his defenders with deft hooks and lay-ups, in addition to his adroit dunks. For a player who usually plays close to the basket, Griffin even drilled five three-pointers against the Sixers. And the Pistons needed all his 50 points to eke out a 133-132 overtime win.

The next player to hit the 50-point mark in one game was Golden State Warriors’ super star point guard Stephen Curry, just one day after Griffin’s heroics. The 30-year-old sharpshooter is no stranger to high-scoring performances, having hit the 50-point mark six previous times in his career.

His latest feat, though, came in such as flurry that he had 51 points after only three quarters of play. By then, the defending NBA champions were already leading the Washington Wizards 119-96, and Curry could be rested for the entire fourth quarter, as his team ran out 144-122 winners.

In just 32 minutes, Curry hit 15 shots, a staggering 11 of them from beyond the three-point line. A few of those three-pointers were hit from ridiculous distances, as seen in the attached clip above.

A red-hot performance, befitting of his surname.

4. Memorable drama at World Series

The Major League Baseball season reached its climax last week with the World Series, contested between two storied franchises – the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Red Sox, the top team this MLB season with a club-record 108 wins, eventually won their ninth title, convincingly beating the Dodgers 4-1 in the best-of-seven series. Of the five games played, Games Three and Four proved to be the most memorable, destined to go down in American sports folklore for sheer drama.

Game Three on Friday was an epic. In fact, it was the longest ever World Series game, taking nine extra innings and totalling 7 hours 20 minutes. By the time it was over, the two teams had used 46 players, including 18 different pitchers, and thrown 561 pitches. In fact, the game took 15 minutes more than the entire 1939 World Series in which the New York Yankees swept the Cincinnati Reds in four games.

It could have ended in the 13th inning, when Boston edged ahead 2-1 when Brock Holt scored following a throwing error by the Dodgers. But the host team equalised at the bottom of the inning when the Red Sox also botched a throw, allowing Max Muncy to score.

So it dragged on until the bottom of the 18th inning, when Muncy proved the hero again when he whacked a home run off Nathan Eovaldi to end the game 3-2 in the Dodgers’ favour, as the weary home fans let out a huge roar, both in joy and relief. It was already 12.30am on Saturday when the game ended.

Barely a few hours later, the two teams were back in the Dodger Stadium for Game Four. The Dodgers were looking to tie the series up at 2-2, and when Yasiel Puig thumped a three-run homer for give the hosts a 4-0 lead in the sixth inning, that outcome looked like a certainty as the Dodgers had not lost all season when leading up four runs or more.

Yet, the Red Sox are nothing if not resourceful and resilient. They cut the deficit immediately in the next inning, as Mitch Moreland’s three-run homer made it 3-4. Next inning, Steve Pearce tied the game up with another home run. Next inning, and the Red Sox ran riot with five runs for a 9-4 lead, before the shellshocked Dodgers ended the game with two runs for a 9-6 scoreline.

It was sheer baseball drama for 27 hours, over 27 innings.

5. Hamilton’s place among the F1 greats

To no one’s surprise, Lewis Hamilton is once again the Formula One world champion, finishing fourth in Sunday’s Mexico Grand Prix to hold an unassailable lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel atop the drivers’ standings. Check out his post-race celebration, replete with actor Will Smith congratulating him on the radio:

With a fifth title in the bag this season – his fourth in the last five years – the Briton has put himself firmly in the GOAT (greatest of all time) debate among F1 fans. Trailing only Michael Schumacher’s seven F1 titles, the 33-year-old has already amassed some outstanding all-time records, such as most pole positions (81) and most wins at different circuits (26).

Some say that he has benefitted greatly from superior cars by his Mercedes GP team, but then so had past greats like Schumacher, Nigel Mansell and Hamilton’s idol, Ayrton Senna. What Hamilton had in common with all these great drivers was an unquenchable thirst to be the top dog, and the ability to make the best of whatever condition placed in front of them.

The genius of Hamilton is most evident whenever it rains during the races. He is quite simply imperious when driving his car at top speed in pouring rain, so much so that his fans hope for wet weather whenever he was not in pole position, for they know he would be much faster than everyone on the starting grid.

At the very least, this decade will be remembered as the Hamilton era if he continues to win in the next couple of years. It all depends on Vettel – on four F1 titles – to put a halt on his dominance. But given the German’s propensity for carelessness, no one is holding his breath.