Somdev Devvarman: 'India's Hopes of Olympic Medal Depend on Sania Mirza'
Tennis - India's Somdev Devvarman says India's hopes of a medal depend on Sania Mirza's return to tennis from injury. Devvarman says, "One of the things that India seem to be banking on is the return of Sania. She seems to be fairly motivated to comeback. She will have a very high protective ranking. Once you talk about Sania, you can't but bring up mixed doubles. So depending on who she wants to partner, I am sure it will be one of the top players. So either Rohan or Divij, I am sure Leander's name is also going to pop up as it always does."
On the evergreen Leander Paes, who is still competing on the professional circuit at the age of 46, Devvarman says, "The ranking system in tennis speaks for itself and it's a fairly simple call. Age is not important, at the end of the day how he is playing and how he is gelling with the team is important. You also have to take into account other players and what their relationships are. There are a lot of things that go into it. As far as the singles is concerned, we only have Prajnesh in the top 100 but one year is a long time to go. We really hope Prajnesh improves his rankings. He needs to be a little bit higher to get into the singles. You have one year and players need to do well in order to get in. Ankita Raina is the No 1."
Speaking about the TOPS program targeted towards players who are focussed towards winning a medal for India at the Olympics, Devvarman says, "The TOPS are for Olympic Podium. There is a lot of work that goes on before a player becomes a target for the Olympic podium. There needs to be development at the grassroots level and there should be more tournaments. Basically more opportunities for players from all over the country. And then once that opportunity comes in, you need a development programme where kids go through a good system and come out as better players. But I don't think we can talk about how to get more players in a TOPS programme without talking about how we can get players into a better development programme at the grassroots. They go hand in hand."
On the role of the All India Tennis Association in development of players, Devvarman says, "The federation doesn't have the expertise to implement better development programmes. Indian tennis is way behind on a global scale. Relying on AITA might not be the wisest thing to do as a player. I am not very sure about their role. All the players we discuss today are ones who are on the Tour and make their money on the Tours. Apart from Davis Cup and Fed Cup, AITA has no role in these players' development. They never have. To expect any kind of meaningful help leading up to the Olympics is not an option. I don't think they really know how to help. Going by history, they haven't helped in the past."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2ZhP6t1
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