Finally we have something to celebrate.

Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi defeats Roger Federer!

Yes, you read that correctly. The greatest player in the history of tennis was beaten by a Pakistani who has never been in the top 100. But before we get too excited, here are the caveats: Aisam didn’t actually beat Federer. It was a doubles match so Aisam and his partner beat Federer and his partner. Plus, Aisam is a specialist doubles player while Federer only occasionally plays doubles to get in some practice after a long layoff.

Still, Federer does have a gold medal in Olympics doubles and Aisam did beat him in his hometown of Basel. Notch one for Pakistan.

Revenge of sorts

Allow me to play the spoilsport again. A victory against New Zealand in a match played in the Arab desert that no one will recall a week from now does not compensate for a defeat in the semi finals of the Champions Trophy. But you can’t deny that it was great to see Pakistan overcome a typical top-order collapse and for Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akaml to bat with such gleeful abandon. This match was no different to a thousand other cookie-cutter ODIs, but we can relish our victory, at least until Friday when the two teams return to the grind.

Oh, and our national sport

Pakistan took another step towards qualifying for the hockey World Cup with a 4-2 victory. I only knew the match took place after reading about it online. The same is true for most other people I know. Hockey truly is the forgotten sport in Pakistan.