When the start of my annual holiday to India last month coincided with the kick-off of the World Cup, more than a few of my colleagues were envious.

It was difficult to share their enthusiasm. How could I ignore the greatest show on earth (with apologies to the upcoming Olympics)? And how could I turn away from the beautiful game?

For me, the only saving grace was I could watch the matches two-and-half hours earlier than in Beijing, and so get to bed earlier.

But I had another, pressing (apart from a family reunion after three years) sporting engagement more of which, later.

The losses to business because of the World Cup from low productivity, tardy attendance and absenteeism are probably being crunched out by kill-joy accountants. But as the premier himself declared he was going to stay up late to watch the matches, I guess the bosses have gone easy especially, when they themselves turned up at work bleary-eyed.

Of the game itself, I don't dare to say much. Each of my colleagues had a definitive opinion, and I defer to their superior knowledge. May I mention in passing that almost every team they were sure would win did not feature in the final (my sympathies, especially, to my colleagues from England, who suddenly seem to have lost interest in the game. The one from Scotland, though, I am not sure).

The only ones unaffected seem to be my Canadian colleagues since it isn't winter and they're not playing hockey on ice, that is.

But let's get back to (other) sport. While you were sleeping:

Wimbledon rolled by, Roger Federer was in imperial form, Li Na gave Kim Clijsters a scare in the quarters and Chinese women reached the doubles finals. And that great champ, Martina Navratilova, called it quits.

My 14-year-old nephew, who has lived in Dallas for the last eight years, was heartbroken when the Mavericks' maiden finals appearance turned into a nightmare after a dream start. Remember the NBA? Those 9 am games?

Lance Armstrong's absence may be the reason, but I realized that the Tour de France was on only when it was into its seventh stage.

Geoff Ogilvy won the US Open, his first golf major and the first Australian to come out on top at the top tournament in a quarter of a century.

The England cricket team were held to a draw in the longer version of the game by an unfancied Sri Lankan team and humiliated in the shorter version. The only consolation was that they were largely ignored by the media amid the World Cup frenzy.

Major league baseball is in full swing in the United States.

And a (real) hockey tournament, the prestigious Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was held in Malaysia. In India, whose national game is supposedly hockey, not many seemed to know who won.

Meanwhile, while you were sleeping:

Israel launched a fierce attack on Gaza after the abduction of a soldier, the Iran nuclear crisis simmered, sectarian strife continued in Iraq and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched test missiles after a gap of seven years, stoking regional tensions.

Oil prices shot up to historic highs, Chinese companies were forced to pay a premium for iron ore even as steel prices continued to fall, and Mittal Steel parted with a trifling sum of US$26 billion to Arcelor to become the world's biggest steel company.

But, it seemed, no one cared about the world when the World Cup was on.

Me? I stayed up till 6 am (Beijing time) for 18 days to watch India beat the West Indies away after 35 years (in cricket, that is).

It will be another four years before I can hope to experience that joy again and the next World Cup will be on again.

The silver lining with the South African edition is that matches will start earlier, Beijing time.

Email: ravi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/10/2006 page4)