Avinash Meetoo: Blog

22 August 2008 Update II: Bruno Julie has earned a Bronze medal for all of us!

Bruno Julie lost on points against the Cuban. Even though I am completely ignorant of boxing techniques, I felt that Bruno Julie was tired at the end. The TV commentator suggested that the referee made a mistake but, frankly, I don’t have a clue…

The most important thing is that Bruno Julie is officially now the first ever Mauritian to earn a Bronze medal at the Olympics. It will be years (at least 4 more) before another Mauritian tries to equal this so this is a fantastic achievement. Congratulations to you, once more, Mr Bruno Julie!

My wife, my two kids and myself will be at the SSR International Airport to welcome Mr Bruno Julie to Mauritius! Who is coming?
 
22 August 2008 Update I: Bruno Julie’s fight at 15:31 today!

Today, at 15:31, a lot of Mauritians will stop whatever they are doing and watch Bruno Julie’s fight against Yankiel Leon Alarcon of Cuba during the first semi-final of the 54Kg boxing competition at the 2008 Beijing Olypics.

Bruno Julie is already sure of winning a Bronze medal at least. And this is a first for our tiny country, Mauritius. I sincerely hope that Bruno Julie’s performance will make Mauritians realize the importance of preserving our unity and working towards the same goals and objectives. Allé Bruno! Allé Maurice!

18 August 2008 Update: The first ever Olympic medal for Mauritius!

Bruno Julie has won convincingly. Therefore, he is the first ever Mauritian to obtain an Olympic medal. He now is in the semi-final. Who knows what may happen next.

Thank you for giving us, fellow Mauritians, so much joy. And May The Force Be With You for the next fight!

18 August 2008: May The Force Be With You, Mr Bruno Julie!

Today is an historic day for our tiny country, Mauritius, as Bruno Julie, will fight in the men’s 54kg boxing quarterfinal in the Beijing 2008 Olympics at exactly 15:16. If he wins against Hector Manzanilla Rangel of Venezuela, he will be the first Mauritian ever to win an Olympic medal and he’ll be one of the few real heroes of our country.

Good luck, Mr Bruno Julie! May The Force Be With You!

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written by avinash

I know. I know. The state of football is not that great in Mauritius. And, to be frank, I don’t even know the names of the teams in the 1st division.

I’m writing this blog entry because I got a mail from someone called Piotr Chmielewski (he is from Poland) who writes about football on a website called Afryka. He is currently writing about Mauritian football and would like to have the following information:

• What is the best Mauritian team?
• Which team has the largest number of supporters?
• Who are the stars of Mauritian football?
• Who is the biggest star?
• What is the current Mauritian national team?
• Who are the national team players playing abroad?
• Who are those playing locally?
• What do you think of our chance to qualify for the 2010 African Cup of Nations?
• Can Mauritius beat Cameroon?
• Can Mauritius beat Cape Verde?
• Can Mauritius beat Tanzania?
• Anything else interesting about Mauritian football.

Please feel free to comment. I will consolidate the information I get and send it to Piotr.

My personal opinion

I don’t know anything about current teams and players. The biggest star might (still) be Jean-Sébastien Bax. I think we have a chance to qualify for the second round of the ACN 2010 qualifications as one of the second best. We will get beaten by Cameroon (naturally) and beat both Cape Verde and Tanzania at home. We will also be beaten by Cameroon away and we will draw with both Cape Verde and Tanzania on their home soils.

As for the “anything else” part, my feeling is that it’s a pity that football is in such a bad shape here. Football is (by far) the largest religion on the planet and I find it sad that most of us know more about Barnsley than the Mauritian National Team…

About the photo above

May I introduce to the world the next Liverpool striker, my son Kyan

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written by avinash

Two days ago, Vikash Dhorasoo announced that he was retiring from football.

He started playing at Le Havre AC, then spent a few years at Olympique Lyonnais (where he won two French championship medals) and even played for Milan AC (he was on the bench during that most dramatic Champions League final ever…). He was a member of the French national team and played during the 2006 World Cup.

Incidentally, he arrived at Lyon when Christina and I were studying there. We went to watch his first match ever for the club against Atletico Madrid and he was excellent. We even went to the same cinema once except that he was waiting in another queue and we did not have the courage to go and talk to him… Talking of cinema, Vikash Dhorasoo will also always be known as the football player who directed a film.

He played for the Mauritian team once during an exhibition match against Marseille and he was the best player by far.

He is without doubt the best footballer born of Mauritian parents ever. He played with Zinedine Zidane and Paolo Maldini against the likes of Steven Gerrard and Djibril Cissé. I wonder if we’ll ever have another as successful footballer as Vikash given the state of football in Mauritius…

I wish him good luck for the future.

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written by avinash