Not merely an academic change in Indian tennis

Hit by a mass exodus of talented players at under-16 and under-14 level to the USA to pursue academics and also the pressure of school examinations in Class X and XII students in thsi age category, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has finally come up with a solution to tackle the problem. As part of the recommendations of a special committee, AITA is all set to scrap the under-16 circuit, in a bid to ‘‘hold on to players’’ so that they are not lost.

This and 12 other points form part of the report submitted by a three-member team headed by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) president Bharat Oza formed specifically to suggest changes for the junior circuit. Explaining the reasons behind the recommendations Sunil Yajaman, AITA Development Officer told The Indian Express that their survey shows that after playing in the age group of under-16 circuit, youngsters are findiing it difficult to focus on the game as there are not many under-18 tourneys in the country.

‘‘At the under-14 and under-16 level the kids are busy with the board exams, so they don’t play much. And after that they are a bit lost.’’ Yajaman also said that most of the promising players at this level cannot even hope to play the various ITF Satelittes for they do not even have enough points for the qualifiers. ‘‘We may now have kids from 15-18 having four years of juniors and that will be only good for them,’’ remarks Yajaman. But there will still be two under-16 nationals for it will act as a selection criteria for both the Junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup.

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National Tennis Academy ready for take-off

The National Tennis Academy (NTA) at Gurgaon, the dream project of the AITA may finally take-off. AITA development officer Sunil Yajaman said that the academy is ‘‘almost 95 per cent ready’’ and would be operational by Feb-March 2003. ‘‘The kids are busy with school and exams now so we don’t want to rush into things. The remaining five per cent work needs just about a month,’’ Yajaman added. For starters though the AITA plans to have short camps with 15-20 kids in January. Though no name has been finalised by AITA for the post of the chief coach or the director of coaching, ‘in all probablity’ a foreigner recommended by International Tennis Federation (ITF) will head the Academy. ‘‘We are talking to the ITF and they have suggested a few names,’’said Yajaman. — Chandresh Narayanan