Indian juniors no pushovers

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 28. They may be short in stature, but are capable of big deeds. The Indian boys and girls under-14 tennis teams prepared in all earnestness under the guidance of coach Gajendra Singh at the DLTA Complex, on the eve of their departure for the World Junior Asia-Oceania qualifying tournament to be held in Bangkok from May 2 to 7.

``The boys are really good, but don't underestimate the girls. They may look small, but are capable of toppling the big teams. They have been doing it,'' said Gajendra Singh, who has been vested with the responsibility of the final preparation.

The girls' team of the Bhambri sisters, Ankita and Sanaa, along with Karthiki Bhat, may be a little inexperienced as it would be without the spearhead Sania Mirza. The undisputed No. 1 in the under-14 section, Sania had not reported for the selection trials held from March 28 to April 2, and thus was not taken in the team.

Sania had been doing well in the ITF South Asian and East Asian circuits recently, and the team may have to pull off big surprises to make the top four from among 15 countries to make the grade for the World Junior final to be held in the Czech Republic from August 21 to 27.

The selection procedure may have to be reviewed if the method does not ensure a berth for the country's best player, who has not only been doing well internationally but has also been dominating the domestic circuit, hopping from tournament to tournament. In fact, Sania has been so good that she highlighted her ability yet again when she won a title in Mumbai on Friday, beating a player selected to represent the country in the under- 16 World Youth Cup.

Though Ankita, the elder of the sisters, sounded confident that the team would do well, it has to be remembered that she had not played in the East Asian circuit in Ho Chi Minh City recently, because of a problem in her knees. Sanaa had won the most promising player award in Islamabad, but the 12-year-old may have to be at her fighting best to pull the team through.

Boys have an edge

It is in this context that the boys have an edge. Tushar Liberhan in particular has been dominating the Asian circuit that he won three of the four tournaments and lost only in the final to compatriot Karan Rastogi, in the fourth.

Undoubtedly, these two boys have been causing the waves, both in Pakistan and Vietnam in the Asian level tournaments, in recent months, and the addition of a few other countries in the tournament in Thailand will not intimidate them.

``We have an idea about most of the countries. Only teams like Australia, New Zealand, Korea and Uzbekistan will be new to us. But we are confident of qualifying for the final tournament.'' said the 13-year-old Tushar Liberhan, a product of the Chandigarh centre.

Tushar and Karan have been playing doubles consistently through the last four tournaments, and thus the team will pull together comfortably, along with the third member Divij Sharan.

``We have done well in the South Asian and East Asian circuits which had 14 and nine countries respectively. We have had good exposure. So we are confident of doing well.'' said the 13-year- old Karan who trains in Mumbai.

Gajendra Singh reasoned that Tushar was able to dominate the South Asian circuit because he was a little more consistent on the slow surface in Islamabad, and that Karan had the edge on the synthetic surface. In fact, Karan conceded the final in the second tournament to Tushar because of a back pain, after having beaten him in three sets in the final of the first tournament in Ho Chi Minh City, about a fortnight back.

The field in Bangkok will have Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UAE and Uzbekistan.

There will be 20 teams making it to the final from the various zones. There will be two teams from Africa, six from Europe, three from North/Central America and the Caribbean islands, three from South America, the host Czech Republic and a team to be decided by the ITF, apart from the four from the Asia- Oceania zone.

The Indian team will be accompanied by coach Manoj Vaidya, who has been busy in conducting a camp elsewhere in the country, and will be arriving in time on Saturday to leave with the team in the night.

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