Top News
India lack system to generate quality tennis players: Bopanna (IANS Interview)
By Gaurav SHarma
Melbourne, Jan 22 (IANS) Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna has blamed the system for not producing quality players and demanded more tournaments in the country itself.
Bopanna, who had bad outings in the both the categories (men’s and mixed doubles) in the ongoing Australia Open here, also said the country needs to have more academies and strong grassroots programmes to produce more tennis players.
“We dont have system in place to generate that many of players. And not only the system but we need to have tournaments in India. We have only one ATP tournament and two challengers in India which is not enough. If you look at Europe or USA, they have 25 to 30 weeks of just tournaments alone which makes a difference,” Bopanna told IANS.
“Tennis is an expensive sport so to travel constantly week and week out is tough. If each state in India has a one challenger tournament then you can travel only in india and make international points and that way we build constantly nUmber of athletes travelling and getting the sport and rankings high,” he added.
“First we have to start with the system then with tournaments then obviously to have good academies in place. So that entire system once that comes into play we will have more player coming out of it.”
Bopanna, who had paired up with Zhaoxuan Yang, went down 6-3, 3-6, 6-10 to Robert Farah and Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the opening match of the mixed doubles category at the Australian Open recently.
In the men’s doubles category, Bopanna has paired up with fellow Indian Divij Sharan and lost his opening round match to the Spanish pair of Pablo Carreño Busta and Guillermo García-López.
Divij is a left handed player and Bopanna has paired up with him for he first time. The had won the Maharashtra Open but could not continue the momentum in the first Grand Slam of the year.
“Nothing went wrong in this tournament. I have to give credit to the opponents who is playing in this circuit for such a long time so they are more experienced than us,” Bopanna said.
“Yes we were seeded higher but if you look at the experience in the grand Slams our opponents were more experienced than us.
For me playing with the left-hander is something new this time and it takes time to build a partnership and that what we are working on as a team,” he added.
India will host Italy on grass court in the qualifiers for the Davis Cup in Kolkata next month. Taking bout the tie, Bopanna said the tie against Italy will be tough but the new format might help India.
According to the new rules, the tie have been cut from three days to two and each rubber will be decided over three sets, down from the earlier five.
“The Davis cup tie is very very tough tie because the Italians have four or five players in the top 100 which makes a big difference which we don’t have anyone currently. Yes after this week Prajnesh(Gunneswaran) might come into the top 100 but apart from this they still have a lot more top players,” he said.
“So we will surely going to have a tough tie against them but having new format of best of three sets I think we do have a chance.”
(Gaurav Sharma can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
gau/ajb/vm
Top News
Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
World-renowned business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has supported Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission. In memory of his mother, Late Veena Verma, who was a 3 term Rajya Sabha MP.
Dr. Verma dedicated a state-of-the-art free permanent shelter for the attendants of patients at KGMU Medical University, Lucknow, under the aegis of Vijay Shree Foundation. His daughter, Nicolle Verma, inaugurated the shelter.
During the event, Foodman Vishal Singh honored Nicolle Verma by presenting her with a memento. Mrs. Nidhi Sharma and Avantika Yadav, associated with the organization, welcomed her with garlands. Following this, Nicolle Verma distributed essential items to the attendants and also handed out fruits. She became emotional remembering her grandmother on her birth anniversary.
On this occasion, she also inaugurated the “Veena Verma Sevalaya” in memory of her grandmother, Veena Verma, to serve the attendants. She expressed, “I feel proud that my family is engaged in nation-building as well as social service. Today, in collaboration with Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh Ji, I feel immensely proud to dedicate this shelter for the poor, helpless, and needy attendants of patients battling serious illnesses like cancer. I am honored to be associated with the Hunger-Free World Mission for humanity.”
Inspired by the continuous humanitarian service provided by Vijay Shree Foundation over the past 17 years, Nicolle Verma donated 10 lakh rupees to support the cause. The purpose of this donation is to ensure that services continue for the needy attendants of patients suffering from severe illnesses in hospitals, as facilitated by Foodman Vishal Singh.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Abhishek Verma’s family has a legacy of public and philanthropic service. They are helping millions to carry forward the values and service work of their parents. On the occasion of his mother’s birth anniversary, Dr. Abhishek Verma dedicated this state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College to serve the attendants of patients through the Vijay Shree Foundation.
Supporting Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission, Dr. Abhishek Verma assured that he would continually support keeping this flame of humanity alive. He also promised to assist in providing medicines to the helpless patients.
Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of service, Nicolle Verma personally served food to the needy patients and attendants. She said, “It is our good fortune to have received the joy of doing this noble work today through Foodman Vishal Singh. I have taken another step forward in carrying my family’s values and cooperation by joining hands with the Vijay Shree Foundation. My father taught me to serve and help the needy, and I feel happy when I bring a smile to someone’s face.”
On the birth anniversary of the late Veena Verma, the event organizer, Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh, said, “We feel proud and happy that Dr. Abhishek Verma, a globally renowned business tycoon, has extended his support to uplift our country from the hunger index. Today, on his mother’s birth anniversary, he inaugurated a state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College, which will always be helpful for the needy attendants of patients. It is a pleasure for me and the organization to receive the affection of Mr. Verma.”
The event was attended by General Manager Verma Family Office Hemant Garg, Sonu Rajput, and the organization’s volunteers, including Sandeep Singh, Parmeshwar Ji, Prashant Rao Gautam, Balram Singh, Ramesh Chaudhary, Suman, Jeetu, Anil, Suraj, Vinay, Manish Bhadauria, Manas Mehrotra, Vivek, Apurv, Happy, and others.