Harmony in Conflict: Showdown of Champions 2008, KL Malaysia

From left to right: Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer (drool...), lucky man who got to do the coin toss, John McEnroe and James Blake

I was wondering when I will ever get to have the chance to watch Roger Federe a.k.a. FedEx play in a match since missing out on his last 2 Australian Open appearances but lo and behold! I get to see FedEc play in Kuala Lumpur! I am so thankful. There were 3 matches and each comprising of one super tie breaker set match. I would have settled for just a 3 set match between FedEx and James Blake but it was good to see all 4 players in action.

The first singles match was between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. It was played at a more laid back pace and McEnroe won the tie breaker at 7-6(13-11). Although McEnroe is 49 and Borg is 52 years of age they both look as fit as a fiddle for their age. The second singles match was between FedEx (the absolue best!) and James Blake. FedEx won the tie breaker at 7-6(10-7). The last match was a doubles match between USA (McEnroe/Blake) vs Europe (Borg, SWE/Federer,SUI). Europe won the match 7-5.

The matches and antics of the players provided much entertainment but I feel rather disappointed with how the event was organised. Below are a few of the notable glitches.

Firstly when we arrived we were not informed of when the gates wil be opened for seating as we were only allowed to collect the tickets at least 2 hours before the match on the day itself. Kurei and I had to loiter around the area before the gates opened at 10 past 6 pm.

Secondly the booths for selling souvenirs were places inside the stadium and by the time the gates were opened there wasn't much time left for ticket holders to spend time and decide. It created a rather tense atmosphere because on one hand you want to buy souvenirs for yourself or for the players to sign on it AND get to your seats on time but on the other hand you are worried about the barrage of people rushing in to do the same.

Thirdly, the ball boys. If you can't secure ball boys who are tennis players then at least brief them on how to be proper ball boys. The ball boys were running across the net picking up balls when the ball is in play, not knowing when to roll the balls to the serving players end because they don't know how a tie break is played and raising their arms to offers balls when they shouldn't be...just to name a few.

Fourthly, the usherettes and support staff. The MC Mahatir Lockman had very clearly from the outset reminded all in the stadium to observe the appropriate etiquette during matchplay for example not to make movements or walk round when the match is in play and to observe the code of silence. But NO you still see persons with VIP tags walking in whenever they want with the usherettes and at one point McEnroe just stopped playing at looked at the VIPS who came sauntering into their boxes. Shame on you! It was only after getting a stern reminder from the MC that people started doing their jobs. I am sure some VIPS were unhappy to be made standing until breaktime but it just reflects on their personality. When in Rome do as the Romans does. Grow up! I don't even want to talk about the staff who were gaurding the doors when the match was in session...

Fifthly, the ghastly music played during the doubles match changeover intermission. It was a techno piece (extended version) with lyrics like "blow my whistle b****", "blow it hard blow it like you mean it". I cannot believe that from the millions of songs available it was this song that was chosen and they played it throughout the match. Halfway through I screamed for the song to be changed which attracted agreeing applause but all fell on deaf ears. There were so many kids there too. What a shame that is all I can say.

I hope that Excess will look into the feedback given to them and do a better job the next time around. I do appreciate that it was a great job making the Showdown of Champions KL happen in the first place but there is much room for improvement in the event organization as some of the undesirable incidents that happened could have been avoided.

Hopefully Kurei and I will get to watch Federer play in a Grand Slam match, like how Hiko and A.L. did this year at the Australian Open. Better yet of all 4 of us get to watch it together.