New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Concerned that no Indian woman tennis player could make it to the junior Grand Slams in the last five years, Lakshya Sports and Amalgam Steel have launched ‘Project Grand Slam’ which will extend comprehensive support to five players, identified through a rigourous process.
The primary objective of the ambitious project is to guide young players from the grassroots level and provide them with all round support for evolving into world-class tennis players.
The project is a brainchild of Sports NGO Lakshya’s Vice President and Joint Secretary of AITA Sunder Iyer and Sourav Mishra, JMD of Amalgam Steel.
In the first phase, Maya Rajeshwaran, Prisha Shinde, Kaashvi Sunil, Aishwarya Jadhav, Rishitha Reddy, Nainika Reddy, Yashika Shoukeen, Sejal Bhutada and Akruti Sonkusare have been short-listed for the program.
About 100 players were identified thorough recent Nationals in Kolhapur and after further assessment, the list was pruned to nine and finally either four or five will be picked for assistance through the project.
“We have not had much success with our young girls in the last five years. We had just one girl making it to the junior Grand Slams, but through this program we want to see at least four to five girls play at all the Grand Slams regularly and start a new chapter in Indian tennis,” said Iyer.
Through the Project Grand Slam, the players will get scholarships, financial support, free travel and stay for tournaments, access to top-notch coaching and facilities for improvement apart from coach assistance during tournaments and help for equipment and gear.
“We want to produce junior Grand Slam champions from India. Our objective is to give selected players essential resources and assistance they may require to achieve their potential and represent India at national and international stages. Our goal is to spot talent at an early age and nurture them to succeed in their careers,” said Vijay Pandey, President of HR at Amalgam Steel.
The Formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Ashish Desai, the Secretary of Lakshya Sports and Sourav Mishra.
The program will be guided by Hemant Bendrey and S Narendranath, Shivika Burman and Namita Bal will be the travelling coaches along with physio and strength training coaches.
“We have a series of ITF events in India. We will be sending a travelling coach for the events to support and evaluate the girls. We will then make a final list for the program in the second phase in April 2024,” said Desai.
Source: PTI News
