Plus the most heart-touching, patriotic words...
Ok.. so the match was nail bitingly close. Bopanna was superb at the net; both of them showed speedy momentum... You could literally feel their inner passion. And we actually saw the crowd's cheers sway towards them!
In the second set we were... what 3-1 in the lead. But the Bryans caught up.
Two tie breakers... so it was just sooo close!!
And the Bryan bros won.
BUT
In the award ceremony... we heard something that was completely out of the blue...
 |
| 'We want as much peace in this world as you do' |
After gazing up at the crowd, he said into the mike that:
-He'd like to wish an Eid mubarak to all the Muslims and Pakistanis out there... (wohoo!)
-He was sorry for not winning two times in a row (can you believe he was a.p.o.l.o.g.i.s.i.n.g.?!)
-The Indo-Pak Express had an incredible run... till it met these guys (the Bryan bros)
-Wished his sis a happy birthday, apologising again for not giving her the best bday present (aww!)
-Said '...I don't want to take the limelight away from these guys BUT, EVER SINCE I'VE COME HERE, THERE'S BEEN A MISCONCEPTION ABOUT PAKISTAN BEING A TERRORIST COUNTRY. WE ARE VERY FRIENDLY, CARING AND LOVING PEOPLE. AND WE WANT AS MUCH PEACE IN THIS WORLD AS YOU GUYS WANT. MAY ALLAH BLESS US ALL'
My sisters and I were like... gasp.. OMG...gasp... APPLAAAAAUSE!!!
It was SOOO UNEXPECTED... I was expecting him to say what a long, tiring journey it had been for him, or maybe talking about how this'll be great for Indo Pak ties...
but no, infront of some 25000 Americans, he just stood there and sent across a msg so strong and pure and needed...
the crowd started clapping loudly,
the mike guy went 'Well Said!... That was beautiful!!',
our channels began giving the quote as breaking news,
and all of us watching on the tele live... went through shock, disbelief, praise and ended with patriotism and pride bursting inside.
Those sentences actually stole the limelight away from the championship winners! :P
Oh, and after receiving the runners' up trophy he (like in the mixed final) said he'd forgotten to say something, which was to thank the Bryan bros who had (v graciously) made a donation to the flood victims.
Awwww. It couldn't have been scripted better.
I remember when he first qualified for wimbedon. He wasn't financed by anyone then, had no sponsorship and zero media coverage. I remember my sis n I getting so excited then. A Pakistani! Playing wimbledon!
And now he was sharing two runner up shields for the US Open. Sniff. :D
So here's to Aisam ul Haq Qureshi. Like I said before, the REAL Champ!
To Quote the L.A. Times:
'He lost the match, but won hearts.'
:'D :'D :'D
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