Indian Tennis fraternity hopes AITA election results would be made public soon

The Tennis community in India’s prayers for positive developments have been answered but only partially. While Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has identified 75 players as Khelo India Athletes for support and has added three women’s players to the Target Asian Games Group, the logjam on the administration front has not helped at all.

The scope for development has been impeded by the case filed in the High Court of Delhi by Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja. The Court decreed that the results of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) elections remain in a sealed cover. The Executive Committee, which has continued beyond its tenure lasting until September 2024, may not be as enthused as before. 

Some hope seems to have been fuelled by the fact that last month the High Court allowed elections to be held for the Volleyball Federation of India Executive Committee after the International Volleyball Federation indicated it would derecognise VFI and bar India’s participation in competition. 

In fact, considering that All India Football Federation,  Wrestling Federation of India and now the Volleyball Federation of India have all been allowed to hold their elections in the face of derecognition or threat to derecognise by their respective International Federations, it should not be surprising if other National Sports Federations seek the same route.

Some in the Tennis community have moved Court, seeking the declaration of results of the elections held on September 28, 2024. They have suggested that the same path as decreed for the Volleyball Federation of India should be laid down for AITA as well. The Court has sought a response, especially from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, to that suggestion.

In fact, Justice Mini Pushkarna referred to the stand of the Ministry in case of Volleyball where the Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta, representing Government, submitted that with India bidding for the 2036 Olympic Games, the National Federation has to be ready and develop the sport to meet the country’s candidature
 
It will be interesting to see what the Ministry says in this instance, given that it not be the most consistent with enforcing the National Sports Development Code of India 2011. Yet, while everyone waits with bated breath for the Ministry to state its point of view in Court, it is not all dark news that is filtering through in Indian Tennis. 

The International Tennis Federation junior rankings reveal that there are five Indians – Kriish Tyagi, Arnav Paparkar, Hitesh Chauhan, Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar and Arjun Rathi – among the top 100 boys and Maya Rajeshwaran among the top 100 girls. It heartening, indeed, but the moot question remains: who will help them navigate the road ahead in the senior ranks?

More than two decades ago, the All India Tennis Association had launched an ambitious National Tennis Academy in Gurgaon. It then moved the facility to the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium in New Delhi with Somdev Devvarman as Director. But nothing significant emerged from that stable.

In 2019, the AITA Trust – an offshoot of the All India Tennis Association – offered scholarships worth Rs 1 lakh each to 16 players. Some of those players have not been competing for a year and more, indicating that more effort should have been made to help them transition. It must find ways to prevent youngsters from dropping out with a good support system. 

Perhaps it is time for AITA to revert to having a set of coaches to travel with the junior players when they compete in events abroad. This may be more true since 75 young players, including 34 boys and 41 girls, have been included as Khelo India Athletes for first the time since the scheme was launched in 2018. 

Since they have been promised annual support worth Rs 6.28 lakh each, it should be possible for AITA and its State units to ensure that this amount is made the most of. That can happen if they are part of Khelo India-accredited academies. AITA must quickly get around to ensuring that or else each player would get just the Rs. 1.20 lakh Out of Pocket Allowance.

Last month, the Ministry also added Sahaja Yamalapalli, Srivalli Bhamidipati and Vaidehi Chaudhari to the Target Asian Games Group. The decision is as much an acknowledgement of their commendable showing in the Billie Jean King Cup in April in Pune as a tacit admission that it was wrong to overlook them while including 15-year-old Maya Rajeswaran.