Indian tennis needs to revive a strong under-18 circuit and strengthen the events for men and women

We all tend to appreciate the value of something, more in its absence.

Not many were willing to discuss the Indian under-18 tennis circuit, till it was banished from the calendar for 2015.

Suddenly a lot of people draw your attention to the absence of the under-18 circuit, in an otherwise robust junior calendar. You also quickly realise that after the abolition of the Indian domestic circuit for men and women many years ago, this was another retrograde step.

It is like removing college education and then taking away even the option of higher secondary, for the student community. Just imagine what we would be left with.

There is absolutely no doubt that in a vast country like India there should be thousands of tennis courts available for public, and a number of tournaments that would sustain the enthusiasm of the players at all levels.

By focusing only on the elite who play at the international level, tennis has become a product for the elite market in the Indian community. It is a shame.

Considering the cost of playing the game, and considering a small thing as the cost of stringing a racquet which can easily be Rs.1000 depending on the quality of string you choose, the number of tournaments offering Rs.50,000 as total prize money, is indeed a poor reflection of Indian tennis. Now, they have introduced tournaments offering Rs.30,000 as total prize money.

When the players joined hands and asked the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to have more tournaments offering Rs.2.5 lakh prize money, instead of Rs.1.25 lakh, about two decades ago, the whole domestic circuit was taken away from them. The lack of unity among the players, and the precious little that the players body has done after having been revived some time back, has been a big let down for Indian tennis.

The likes of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman can make Indian tennis healthy, by inviting corporates to support a strong domestic circuit. It has to be conceded that Sania Mirza has a tennis academy against her name with world class infrastructure and a promise of world class coaches and trainers.

Nearly two decades ago, Gadgil Western Group (GWG) ran an Indian circuit with an investment of one crore rupees every year. Coach Nandan Bal had played a significant role in roping the sponsor for the benefit of tennis in the country. It ran for just a year and a half, before lack of returns saw the title sponsor who was supporting about 22 tournaments a year apart from the Satellite circuit international tournaments, abruptly pull the plug.

Today, considering the $430,000 ATP Tour event in Chennai, a few Challengers including the one offering $125,000 total prize money for men and women in Delhi, a number of international events for men and women, offering $10,000 to $25,000 in prize money, apart from the ones handling millions of dollars like the International Premium Tennis League (IPTL) and the Champions Tennis League (CTL), it should not be difficult to find a purse of about six crore rupees and run a healthy domestic circuit for men and women. Instead, we have Rs.50,000 events, and a few more events that offer prize money ranging from Rs.100,000 to Rs.500,000.

The problem is that if we mock at the small events, even they may vanish from the calendar, as nobody makes a noise. What we are attempting is to show the disparity. The millions of dollars are being pumped into international tennis and precious little for domestic tennis.

From that point of view, I am happy to hear the voices of anguish in the tennis fraternity about the absence of the under-18 circuit in the country. A brainwave was the reason behind removing the circuit by the end of last year.

The argument was that players after turning 16 should directly be competing in the events for men and women. Wish they had plenty of that, at least.

Even for entries into the ITF junior events, the players need their national under-18 ranking, if they don't have international rank. Thanks to Pakistan hosting two of their ITF junior events in Delhi last year, we nearly had a dozen ITF junior tournaments. But for a country of the size of India, it offers limited opportunities.

Moreover, not many can pay $65, about Rs.4,000 as entry for an ITF junior tournament, if they know that their chances of crossing the first qualifying round is not great, that is if they manage to get entry.

Also, when players want to join colleges in the US, or elsewhere, the national under-18 rank plays a significant role in securing their admission, apart from tennis scholarship.

Now that the Indian calendar, which had more than 100 national ranking tournaments for the under-18 group last year, does not have one, aggrieved people point at the study by the ITF that a 17-year-old should play about 32-38 tournaments in a year, with an aim to have 80-90 singles matches, and about 35-55 doubles matches.

Earlier, we used to wonder why our juniors, ranked in the top-10 of the world, were not able to break into the top-100 in the men's and women's rankings. Now, it has been a struggle to have juniors in the top-100. Only the likes of Sumit Nagal, Pranjala Yadlapalli and Mihika Yadav have that status at the moment.

Somehow, we have got our equations totally wrong. The main reason is that tennis has become an exclusive sport. Only the rich can play the game, and the coaches never tire of stating that those kids lack the hunger to work hard and excel. The fact is, the talented kids don't even get a chance to touch a racquet, except through some honourable ventures like the one run by Chandigarh that taps rural talent.

Thankfully, I do hear that there was a meeting during the Fed Cup in Hyderabad, when world No.1 doubles star Sania Mirza led India from group-II to group-I in the Asia-Oceania zone, in which it was decided to revive the under-18 circuit. Already, almost half the year has run out, and it is high time that the authorities swung into action promptly to put things in place.

If India wants to boast of the second highest number of tennis players after the US, which a study might have projected as a strong possibility, there is an urgent need for thousands of courts with different surface and hundreds of tournaments, catering to all levels, around the country.

Delhi does conduct a lot of events, but Maharashtra has set a fine example by roping in a title sponsor to support hundreds of its events at all levels with cash and kind. Many other units may have their own little ways. But, in a country as big as India, it is quite disturbing that there are tournaments for men and women, offering a total prize money of about 60 lakh rupees, just about $100,000, if you study the AITA calendar for this season.