Thursday, September 29, 2005

Photo
India's Sania Mirza serves to Russia's Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva during their doubles semi-final tennis match at the WTA Sunfeast Open in the eastern India city of Kolkata, previously known as Calcutta, late September 24, 2005. Myskina and Elena defeated Mirza and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 4-6 6-3 7-5. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw

Mirza is the brand ambassador of SACH

Photo

Indian tennis player Sania Mirza holds Umesh, 3, who suffers from a heart disease, during a function organized by Save a Childs Heart Foundation in Hyderabad, India, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005. Mirza is the brand ambassador of SACH, which raises funds for providing medical aid to children of the lower socio-economic groups suffering with heart diseases. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi)

SAAP's role in Sania Mirza's success

A. Joseph Antony

SAAP's contribution sizeable when seen collectively

PHOTO: RAMESH SHARMA

GOOD BACKING: Sania is fortunate that she has had SAAP's unstinting support.

HYDERABAD: Much before the career managers and big sponsorship deals came along, Sania Mirza's march to glory was well on its way. From 2001 to date, the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh's (SAAP) financial support alone has come close to a crore — Rs. 99.25 lakhs to be precise.

The latest instalment of SAAP assistance was a Rs. 20 lakh grant, on her return from the U.S. Open, released by its vice-chairman and managing director, G. Kamal Vardhana Rao. "Sania has effected a paradigm shift in sports perspective and I'm confident SAAP's support will take her to greater heights," Rao said.

Cash-strapped

Not many government organisations have backed their wards to such an extent and certainly not those as cash-strapped as SAAP. Even when reeling under huge bills for setting up 2002 National Games and 2003 Afro Asian Games infrastructure, it didn't tighten the purse strings when extending encouragement to the Hyderabad lass. G. Asok Kumar was VC & MD, SAAP in those trying times but in his short stint alone, between 40 to 45 lakhs was handed over.

Money was disbursed under two heads, viz; financial assistance and cash awards. The first category took care of travel, training and participation in international events, while in the latter incentives were given for achievements. Of these, Rs. 65 lakhs was spent on specialised coaching in Italy and USA. "The incentives were timely," recalled former VC & MD, Sumita Dawra.

Broadly corresponding to the period of Sania's ascent, SAAP had funded the conduct of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Open, a Tier IV event, in Hyderabad, that for three editions staged thus far, cost a whopping amount. These gave her considerable international exposure besides landing the aggressive youngster her maiden WTA crown.

Pay and play

Support was not in cash alone. A `pay and play' scheme costing Rs. 100 an hour for using SAAP's tennis facilities was in operation then. She got to use them for however long and whenever she wanted, for free. So also was the grant of a 500 square yard housing site at Bharani layout, an upmarket locality of Hyderabad.

What did/does SAAP expect in return ? "Acknowledgement of its support by displaying SAAP's logo in her attire was one request made to her," recalls Asok Kumar.

"SAAP's financial support has been staggered, barely making a ripple in the media for a day or two. When seen collectively, it is a sizeable contribution to the teen sensation's success," he added.

Sania joins movement to save little hearts

HYDERABAD: After winning hearts of tennis fans through her exploits on court, Sania Mirza has now joined a social campaign to provide help to children with heart ailments.

The teen tennis sensation Wednesday joined a campaign to raise funds for providing medical aid to children with heart diseases. She will be the ambassador for Apollo Hospitals' Save A Child's Heart (SACH) campaign.

Sania said it was a great joy to join the campaign and contribute to a movement aimed at saving lives of the children.

"I will feel very happy if I can save even one life and I request people to contribute their might," said Sania at a function here.

The world number 37 has also endorsed SACH bands, each priced at Rs.50.

The bands, modelled on the lines of legendary cyclist Lance Armstrong's Livstrong bands, will be available at all Apollo Hospitals and pharmacies across the country.

The proceeds will go towards helping children with heart diseases. All donors will receive a personal letter from Sania.

Armstrong, a cancer survivor and six-time winner of the Tour de France, has popularised the yellow wristbands as a symbol of the fight against cancer.

The bands, brainchild of the Nike Corporation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, are sold all over the world.

Telugu film actresses Charmi and Shreya and actors Jagpati Babu and Vishnuvardhan also pledged support to SACH, a charitable organisation formed two years ago.

SACH has a list of 3,240 children waiting for heart surgery. While Apollo Hospitals has committed to absorb one-third of the costs of surgery, the Andhra Pradesh government is offering varying degrees of aid for treatment of these children.

The foundation looks for individual, institutional and organisational support for meeting 35 to 50 percent of the cost for each surgery, which can cost anywhere between Rs.80,000 to Rs.100,000.

Farrington not disappointed over Sania's performance

IANS

HYDERABAD: Sania Mirza's travelling coach John Farrington on Wednesday said he was not disappointed with her recent performances.

"No, I am not all disappointed over her losing early in the two tournaments," said Farrington when newsmen approached him at a function featuring Sania as ambassador for a campaign to help children suffering from heart diseases.

"She is improving with every tournament. I am happy with her performance," said Farrington, who was hired as travelling coach in July.

Sania, currently ranked 37 in the world, lost in the first round at the Bali Open early this month and also went down in the second round match at the Sunfeast Open at Kolkata.

The coach hoped Sania would achieve many milestones in her career. The 18-year-old from Hyderabad had reached fourth round at this year's US Open, the first Indian woman to achieve the feat.

Sania's father Imran Mirza later told IANS that she would leave for Tokyo on Thursday to play in the Japan Open. She will then participate in a WTA tournament at Bangkok.

"She is fit but is very tired as she has been playing since January," he said. After the two tournaments, Sania will take a break before beginning the next season in January.

Imran, who played a key role in shaping the career of his daughter, said she skipped a WTA tournament in South Korea to take some rest after a hectic schedule.

"But she can't skip more tournaments as her ranking will come down," he said.

Farrington, who was in Kolkata for the Sunfeast Open last week, will accompany Sania for both the Tokyo and Bangkok tourneys.

According to Imran, Farrington was pleased with Sania's progress and was working to improve some grey areas like her serves.

"He will work in the off season to improve her game in those areas," he said.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Sania Mirza is brand ambassador for Hyundai Getz

Looks like cricket and cricketers is on the last option list for the companies looking for new faces to endorse their products. If Toyota chose Aamir Khan for their innovative Innova vehicle, Hyundai has picked the latest teen sensation of India, Sania Mirza to promote their Hyundai Getz vehicle. Korean giant Hyundai’s Indian arm has signed the tennis star to fire up the sales of its latest car Getz that is facing competition from Maruti’s Suzuki Swift.

Sania would be representing the company and the car for a period of 3 years in a deal, which is said to be worth around Rs. 1.5 Crores. No one from the company or the Globosport, the professional managers of Mirza commented on the financial details of this deal. However, hiring Sania is not surprising news after all. Hyundai have on their list stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta for promoting their vehicles in the country.

Hyundai is well known to pick high profile celebrities and personalities for its products. Sania has been a household name ever since her shining performance in the recent tournaments. She reached the third round of this year’s Australian Open where she lost to younger of the William’s sisters Serena Williams.

She is ranked 34 in the world now and is said to be worth more than a crore if you are looking for her to market your brand name in the market. Hyundai on their part need a boost for their Getz car ever since Maruti launched Suzuki Swift at impressively low prices.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Sania, with eyes on mobile, watches Davis Cup

New Delhi: Dressed in a colourful kurti and flanked by her father, tennis sensation Sania Mirza showed up at the venue of the India-Sweden Davis Cup world group play-off tie here Monday - but her mobile kept her engaged.

In the city for the announcement of her association with an auto brand, Sania visited the R.K. Khanna Stadium along with father Imran Mirza, only to see India lose the tie 1-3.

Sania sat alongside the court but her attention seemed to be directed more towards her mobile than the Prakash Amritraj-Thomas Johannson reverse singles encounter.

Sania was also seen chatting up with her former mixed doubles partner Simon Aspelin, with whom she paired up during the Wimbledon tennis championships this year.

Sania slides three places in WTA rankings

Sania Mirza's world ranking slipped three places to leave the teen tennis sensation positioned at 37 on the latest WTA Tour list released today.

Sania, who touched a career high ranking of 34 after her US Open exploits, suffered a second round defeat at the USD 170,000 Sunfeast Open in Kolkata last week.

The Hyderabadi also crashed out in the first round of a WTA Tour event in Bali, Indonesia, the previous week.

Sania now has 880.75 points from 22 weeks of play on the pro circuit.

Meanwhile, Mahesh Bhupathi's individual Doubles Entry ranking too went down by one place and the nine-time Grand Slam champion was ranked 12th in the latest ATP Tour charts.

Leander Paes on the other hand maintained his 16th position.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Hyundai Get(z) Sania to shore up demand

NEW DELHI: After serving a volley of price attacks, Hyundai is now getting India's teen sensation Sania Mirza to play some deadly strokes in the car bazaar and shore up demand for its premium compact car Getz.

Hyundai Motor India is appointing Sania as the brand ambassador for Getz, a model that has been facing stiff
competition in the market since the introduction of maruti-Suzuki's price warrior Swift.

This is the latest in the string of initiatives kicked off by Hyundai to boost demand for Getz. Prior to this, the firm had introduced a stripped down version of the car, which was about Rs 37,000 cheaper than the erstwhile entry-level version of Getz.

Company officials were, however, not available for comment. This will also mark Sania's entry into the big league of Corporate endorsements.

With cricket losing its sheen among Indians, Sania - with her string of wings in the international circuit - is already being wooed by many corporates for product endorsements.

She is today, in fact, the only sportsperson outside cricket to command a million rupee tag.

"Sania is today the hottest choice among Corporate India for product endorsements and her joining the Hyundai family would surely help the firm improve the brand's visibility and also bring in some customers.

Hyundai seems to be hoping to get Sania to work up the same magic that Shah Rukh Khan did for Santro," an analyst said.

Whether Sania can win this match for Hyundai, only time can tell. But analysts are confident that this might turn out to a match-winning combination in the Indian car bazaar.

"Hyundai has been facing some tough competition in the market from Swift. With new players like Toyota and General Motors planning to enter this market, the presence of Sania will surely help the firm," an analyst said.

Partnering Pascal was great experience: Sania

Kolkata, Sept. 26.: Tennis sensation Sania Mirza says she has gained a lot from her partnership with world's top doubles player Virginia Ruano Pascual in the $ 1,70,000 WTA Sunfeast Open.

"I have learnt a lot from her and I now understand the doubles game better than before," Sania said after losing to the top seeded pair of Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva in the semifinal here.

"I enjoyed all the matches I played along with her and we tried our best to put up a good show," the 18-year-old Heyderabadi said reflecting on her doubles' performance in the tournament.

Commenting on the semifinal, she said it was a very close match that could have gone either way.

"I am definitely disappointed. But then you win some and you lose some," said Sania.

Sunfeast Open: Sania loses in doubles

Sania Mirza and Virginia Ruano Pascual have lost in the semi-finals of the doubles event at the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata.

The 4th seeded pair, playing Elena Likhovtseva and Anastasia Myskina, won the first set 6-4.

But then their top seeded opponents came back to take the second, 6-3.

The third set was a closely fought affair, but the Russian pair prevailed to win the set 7-5 and with it the match.

Anastasia Myskina is now in with a chance of winning a double crown since she also plays Karolina Sprem in the singles final on Sunday.

Unseeded power

Meanwhile, in the other semi-final, the Uberoi sisters showed that while they may not be the Williams, they have what it takes to compete with the best in tennis.

Shikha and Neha beat Melinda Czink and Yulianna Fedak to enter the doubles final at the Sunfeast Open.

The unseeded Indians won the first set 7-6, much to the delight of the Kolkata crowd. But Czink and Fedak came back strongly to win the second 6-1.

But it took the Uberois just two match points to clinch the third set 6-3 and book their spot in the final.

They will play top seeds Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva in Sunday's final.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Photo
Sania Mirza of India gestures after losing a point during the Sunfeast WTA Open doubles semifinal in Calcutta, India Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005. Russias Elena Likhovtseva and Anastasia Myskina won 4-6, 6-3,7-5, against Sania Mirza of India and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

MP govt to felicitate Sania Mirza

Tennis sensation Sania Mirza will be felicitated by the Madhya Pradesh government, Chief Minister Babulal Gaur said today.

''Sania Mirza and Anju Boby George brought laurels to the country in international competitions. The state government in cooperation with sports organisations will felicitate Sania Mirza here'', Mr Gaur said at the concluding function of the 17th National Athletic Meet.

Athletes from Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan and Gujarat, besides Madhya Pradesh took part in the three-day western region meet.

''The government is committed for promoting sports and sportspersons'', Mr Gaur said, adding the Tantya Tope stadium in the state capital was being developed for international competitions.

''The government will strive to see that our sports talents took part in world competitions'', he added.

Mr Gaur, who presented prizes to the participants, announced consolation prize of Rs 1000 each to the medal winners.

Sania bites bullet, to join top fitness clinic in Florida

KOLKATA, SEPTEMBER 24: One of the major fears surrounding Sania Mirza’s career is the possibility of burnout. And she’ll soon be taking steps to redress just that: she’s signed up for fitness guru Pat Etcheberry’s sports performance clinic at the end of this year.

Etcheberry, who represented the US in javelin at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, is a renowned fitness expert at the Saddlebrook Resort in Florida whose clientele is virtually a who’s who of pro tennis and golf: Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Gabriela Sabatini, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and golfers David Duval, Ernie Els and Nick Faldo in golf. His most recent success has been Henin-Hardenne, whom he helped to two Grand Slams in 2003.

He has two “patients” at the Sunfeast Open: finalist Karolina Sprem and Maria Vento-Kabchi. Sprem, who lost six kilos in the middle of the year to a stomach virus, and subsequently lost form, has seen an amazing turnaround in fortunes here, her first tournament since joining Etcheberry’s clinic.

Sania, who has been plagued by ankle injury and other fitness problems, would benefit massively from her stint there. In short, her devastating strokes would be complemented by her on-court movement.

Apart from increasing her stamina and performance, Etcheberry — whose training regimen apparently reduces players to tears — is also expected to focus on developing power, flexibility and fluid movement.

Sania must learn to distribute energy

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050924/asp/sports/story_5278770.asp
Serve & Volley
Naresh Kumar

Our hopes, levitating sky-high, sadly came crashing down when Sania lost to Melinda Czink of Hungary in the second round of the WTA Sunfeast Open.

Carried away by a wave of enthusiasm, fans were visualising a Sania-Myskina clash in the finals.

Coming back to reality, Sania’s loss to a 121-ranked player reflected, among other things, the fickle nature of rankings.

Ranking margins are very slim and do not take into account various factors such as injuries, etc. Sania and all fans must understand that the climb to higher rankings is peppered with such losses and should be used as a spur to greater effort.

Everybody is asking: “What happened to Sania?”

The Hon. Speaker, Mr Somnath Chatterjee, sitting one row behind me in the stands, observed: “Sania has lost five service games.”

Experts are pummelling Sania about her serve. After a double fault, Sania, in a fit of temper, threw her racket on the court.

One is worried that a constant barrage may in due course become a psychological hurdle for Sania in future.

Speed is not of paramount importance in service. Depth, deception, variation can make up for lack of speed. So Sania should not despair on this account.

The style and attitude of a player are really an extension of his or her personality. Any attempt to change this is fatal. Sania’s aggression should never be curbed. Only she must learn how and when to use her weapons for maximum return.

The attempt should be to augment her attacking game, not change it.

Another important factor, which comes to mind, is to learn how to distribute your energy in a match, especially in hot climates.

It is self-destructing to slam the accelerator flat to the board. Your energy reserve has to be carefully nursed and parcelled.

In my view, Sania’s all out effort in the first set, which she won 6-0 drained her resources.

She had her opponent reeling on the ropes but could not deliver the K.. punch. Just a couple of games more and a forlorn Czink would have capitulated.

But Sania could not maintain her level of play and errors crept into her game. To hit winners at the speed she does, one has to have perfect balance, position and timing.

If the preparation for the shot is even a split second late you miss the target. Sania must be credited for her courageous fightback, when she was 1-4 down in the final set and levelled to 4-4.

I was happy to see her hoist a couple of high top-spin forehands when out of position, instead of her usual going-for-broke shots.

Leander Paes in his early days was impetuous and over aggressive, but I was able to tone him down and teach him to use his top speed at the most important stages of the match.

For Sania, nothing is lost. Only, she must learn from her defeats and the mistakes she makes. She has to meet the challenge of getting a higher ranking the way she hits her forehand — blast it with all her strength.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

PhotoIndian tennis player Sania Mirza plays a shot to Villmane Castellvi of Puerto Rico and Sunitha Rao of USA as she takes part with her Spanish partner Virginia Ruano Pascual in their doubles second round match at the WTA Sunfeast Open 2005 in the eastern India city of Kolkata, previously known as Calcutta September 22, 2005.Pascual and Mirza won the match 6-1 6-3. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw
PhotoIndian tennis player Sania Mirza serves the ball to Villmane Castellvi of Puerto Rico and Sunitha Rao of the U.S. during a second round doubles tennis match with her Spanish partner Virginia Ruano Pascual at the Sunfeast Open in the eastern India city of Kolkata September 22, 2005. Mirza and Pascual won the match 6-1, 6-3. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw

PM impressed by Sania storm

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here on Thursday that he was happy with the progress of tennis in the country, especially with the "storm" that Sania Mirza was creating.

"I am delighted that in recent years interest in tennis has increased among the youth of our country," Singh said after drawing lots for the Davis Cup world group play-off tie that begins here on Friday.

He was particularly impressed with the storm unleashed by Sania, the world's 34th ranked player. "I am sure the lovers of tennis are thrilled by the storm that the young lady Sania Mirza is creating all over the country," he said.

"She is inspiring young girls to take to sport and to fight for their due place in the brave new world they must all enter."

Sania began the year as a rank outsider and got a wild card entry to the Australian Open where she became the first Indian to enter the third round of a Grand Slam.

The Hyderabad girl went one better in the US Open this month as she became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round.

Thanks to this performance, Sania climbed to a career high of 34th in the Women's Tennis Association rankings.

Threats forced madrassa chief to drop Sania from course

The chief of Chhattisgarh's madrassas dropped a proposal to introduce a chapter on tennis ace Sania Mirza in books taught in them after he was threatened by the religious orthodoxy, a local newspaper claimed on Thursday.

The Hari Bhoomi said in a report that madrassa board chairperson Adil Hamid Khan's plans to include Sania as a role model in the 285 madrassas in the state were forced to change due to pressure and threats from Muslim organisations. It said that Hamid changed "his statement dramatically".

Khan had said on Tuesday: "We plan to introduce a chapter dedicated to Sania in the 285 madrassas of Chhattisgarh, where over 17,000 kids are enrolled for education in Classes 1 to 8."

He had said the proposal to adopt Sania as a Muslim role model for the state-aided madrassas had to be cleared by an eight-member madrassa policy affairs panel.

However, Khan refused to comment on the issue when contacted on Wednesday.

He had reportedly received calls on his mobile on Wednesday, threatening him with dire consequences if he went ahead with his announcement and immediately informed police.

If the plan had gone through, madrassa students would have started reading a chapter on Sania from next year's academic session beginning July.

Sania admits 'problems' in her serve; vows to 'work on it'

Tennis ace Sania Mirza, after her shocking second round exit in the Sunfeast Open, now admits that service remains a chink in her armour and says she is "working on it".

''I am working on it (service), but it is not something that I can correct overnight,'' the Hyderabadi said after losing to lower ranked Melinda Czink yesterday.

In yesterday's match, the world No 34 was broken by the Hungarian six times in last two games -- four times in the decider.However, Sania is not equally candid on the other weak point of her game -- committing too many unforced errors.

''This is just the way I play. I am going to hit a lot of unforced errors but I compensate that by hitting a lot of winners," she has been quoted as saying in the media recently.

On her loss, the teenager said she had disappointed herself as well as the crowd.

''The crowd was pulling me on. It was disappointing for them. It was disappointing for me too,'' she said.

Talking to mediapersons after winning the doubles match later against Ragini Vimal and Punam Reddy 6-1, 6-2, pairing with Virginia Ruano-Pascual, the Hyderabadi girl said with a smile, ''It was an up and down kind of match. A weird match. A bad day for me.

It was a close match and anyone could have won it. I know everyone is disappointed and so am I. Hope to do better here next time.'' Sania complemented her opponent Czink for coming back so strongly after losing the first set 0-6. ''She played much better after the first set.''

Sania disappointed, terms defeat as 'bad luck'

Kolkata, September 22: A disappointed Sania Mirza termed her second round loss to Hungary's Malinda Czink as "bad luck" and regretted that she failed to continue the momentum after a blazing start.The 18-yr old gave full credit to her conqueror. "I can’t take the credit away from her. She played better tennis."

"It was an up and down game. I played well in first set. But ultimately I couldn’t finish it off. It was a bad day, it was sheer bad luck," Mirza said.

The Hyderabad-based player, however, pinned her hopes on doing well in the doubles where she partners Virginia Ruano Pascual to an easy win over Punam Reddy and Ragini Vimal to march into the quarter final.

Sania has to defeat off-court stereotypes


By Rajdeep Sardesai, Special to Gulf News

Every thing that Sania Mirza does on and off court appears to make news. From her dangling ear-rings, her dazzling nose-ring, her delightfully bold T-shirts, to, of course, her tennis exploits.

At a time when India's cricketers are choking to disaster, Mirza seems to be just what the Indian sports fan desperately needs: a sporting icon, with lots of glamour and even more attitude.

And yet, being Sania Mirza cannot be easy. Bad enough that you are supposed to meet the expectations of a country with limited sporting achievement, there are also those who will choose to search for controversy.

Which is why a fatwa from an obscure Islamic organisation insisting that the teenage poster girl stop wearing short skirts made it to the front page of several national dailies.

When Sania was asked for a response to the issue at a recent press conference, she simply shrugged it off. While the controversy will hopefully die down, it does highlight the triple burden which confronts the 18-year-old potential superstar: she plays a sport other than cricket, she is a woman and she is a Muslim.

More difficult

To be a champion sportswoman in India is even more difficult than being a top-grade male athlete. This, despite the fact that some Indian women have actually outperformed their male counterparts.

Yet, in the last 58 years, there has been only one individual woman athlete who has managed to make a mark at the highest international level and that was P.T. Usha in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Till recently, sports was trapped in a familiar patriarchal set-up, where women were expected to stay in the kitchen, while the men could engage in the rough and tumble of sporting activity.

The only state which was able to successfully break out of this male-dominated system was Kerala where the rise of the woman athlete is directly co-related to extremely high levels of female literacy and a resultant greater sense of gender equality. It is only now, with the emergence of a new metropolitan culture in which nuclear families are realising the importance of sports as a vehicle for social mobility, that women athletes from cities such as Bangalore and Hyderabad have actually begun to make a mark.

But while breaking the gender barrier is important, it is the religious dimension that is intriguing and far more complex.

The obvious response of right-thinking, reasonable Indians would be that Sania should be seen for what she is: a highly talented 18-year-old representing the country on the world stage and revelling in the attention.

Why see Sania in any narrow, bigoted sense, even if only as a symbol of minority achievement? It is a valid question, but the validity of which cannot mask a certain reality: Sania Mirza is, of course, a potential national treasure, but she is also, importantly, a terminator of a certain stereotype.

The Indian middle-class will not admit it readily, but the fact is that in recent years the identity of the Indian Muslim has been sought to be boxed into certain categories: the Muslim as unthinking bigot; as anti-reform; as even worse, anti-national criminal. The dominant image has been of a community caught in a time-warp, whose elders are backward-looking, whose youngsters see Osama as their hero and whose women are forced to live in the shadow of the veil.

This stereotyping has been accentuated in the post-9/11 universe, partly as a result of a media over-simplification, in part because of a failure of the community's so-called leaders to recognise the need to embrace modernity and also because of the rise of a hate machine that revels in every little instance of minority bashing.

The recent Imrana case provided a classic example of how easy it is to fall into the trap of communal prejudice. One case in an obscure western Uttar Pradesh village is played out as a national "media event", with all the familiar elements: a raped, helpless Muslim woman, a group of bearded maulvis who appear to show little concern for her, a fatwa whose origins are shrouded in mystery and a local community which chooses not to intervene. The combination is designed to only have one effect: reinforce the image of the Muslim as an evil, anti-woman obscurantist.

Breaking shackles

Which is why being Sania Mirza in today's age is important. She represents the empowered modern Indian woman's desire to be freed of the shackles of the past, expressing a joyous individuality that lies at the heart of robust democratic society.

For groups such as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which have struggled to come to terms with modernity, a Sania Mirza is the perfect reason why such organisations must reform or perish.

It would, of course, be unfair to place the burden of an entire community on the young shoulders of a Sania at a time when her real test is on the court in a highly competitive sport. Her ultimate identity will revolve around her sporting talent, but at the same time her spirit and ambition will be a reminder to her co-religionists of the challenges and opportunities that are being provided by modernity.

Rajdeep Sardesai is editor-in-chief of India Broadcast News.

Czink spoils Sania’s party


Calcutta: Hurricane Sania turned out to be a storm in a tea cup.

Sania Mirza was stunned 6-0, 4-6, 4-6 in by Hungarian Melinda Czink in the second round of the WTA Sunfeast Open on Wednesday, leaving the tournament shorn of its sheen, at least in singles.

And Sania had only Sania to blame, as she let go off a psychological advantage of winning the first set to love and letting Czink in.

Her first serves, already under the scanner, deserted her completely; numerous unforced errors and five double faults added to the humiliation of being bested by the world No. 122.

Of course, it didn’t help that Czink, whose forehand was her strength, upped her game by attacking Sania’s backhand, the Indian’s weakness, relentlessly.

But back to the first set, where the Indian could do no wrong. The third seed here and world No. 34, came out firing on all cylinders, never once putting a serve, volley, forehand or foot out, and swept the Hungarian off her feet and into the second set in the blink of an eye.

Set II was a tough fight, with Sania getting broken in the very first game. But she broke back in the very next to stabilise things. But not for long.

Come the seventh game and Sania, the double faults made their presence felt and the teenager ended up giving her serve away on one. 4-3 to Czink, who hold her serve to make it 5-3.

Sania’s serve became even more erratic and she double faulted twice in the ninth game, the second taking the game to deuce. An ace inbetween didn’t make up for blunders, as Czinks forehand reigned supreme.

A couple of deuces later, Sania had the advantage. Then an objection from Czink over a baseline call must have been a bit too strong for the chair umpire’s liking and she was giving a court violation, and docked a point.

So Sania lived to see another game. In vain, as she squanders double break points. Czink save the first with a brilliant serve and volley, and Sania helped her to deuce by netting a forehand. Two more forehands into the net later, and Czink had taken the second set.

Sania lost her way in the first half of the third set, going down 0-3 in a flash. She suddenly found herself facing the prospect of giving a set away to love herself.

The errors crept in further, frustration made itself felt, the racket was thrown a couple of times and the first serve fell to an all-time low.

People began shifting uncomfortably in their seats. What was going on? A sigh of relief went up when Sania managed to get one break back in the fourth game. And the crowd was back at its vociferous best when Sania stumbled her way back to another break to level things at 4-4.

Surely now she would step it up and give us what we wanted to see --- a famous win against all odds!

But that, sadly, was not to be, as the gutsy Czink, turning a deaf ear to the pro-Sania galleries, upped her game, and broke right back.

The end was in sight, and, though Sania tried gallantly to get the set back on even keel, even gaining a break point to that effect, it was not to be. She ended the match as she did the second set — with two forehands into the net.

Sania’s doubles partner and birthday girl Virginia Ruano Pascual had a mixed day, crashing out in the second round of singles 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 to Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.

Later, she and Sania swept into the doubles second round with a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Indian duo Punam Reddy and Ragini Vimal.

Shikha Uberoi, however, kept India’s flag flying by pulling off a stunning 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 8 seed Rika Fujiwara to make it to the quarter finals.

A pumped up Shikha, who is based in the US, made up for a faulty service and several unforced errors with some scintillating forehands and powerful winners.

In the first set, she broke Fujiwara in the second game, was broken back in the next and broke back in the fourth. She held on that break to win the set.

In the second, Shikha was broken in the fifth, but breaks in the sixth and eight gave her the match.

She will now meet Austrian Sybille Bammer, who beat Australia’s Nicole Pratt 1-6, 3-6 earlier in the day, in the quarters.

Top seed Anastasia Myskina had a clinical 6-1, 6-0 win over Romania’s Edina Gallovits to set up a second-round meeting with countrywoman Galina Voskoboeva, who got past Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 7-5.

In other first round play, Russian second seed Elena Likhovtseva and Croatia’s seventh seed Croatian Karolina Sprem won their respective matches.

Playing on Court 2, Likhovtseva, the second seed, needed two breaks in the first set and one in the second against Ukraine’s Yuliana Fedak to breeze into the second round.

The Russian, ranked No. 16 on the WTA Tour, won 6-1, 6-2, and will now meet Sunitha Rao of the US in the second round.

Karolina Sprem got past Australian Evie Dominikovic 6-4, 7-5 and faces Villmarie Castellvi of Puerto Rico in the second round.

Sania-Pascaul in semi-final

Leaving behind her unceremonious exit from the singles, Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza and her top ranked Spanish partner Virgina Ruano Pascaul romped into the semifinals along with the Uberoi sisters in the USD 170,000 WTA Sunfeast Open tennis tournament in Kolkata on Thursday.

The fourth seeded Indo-Spanish pair made shortwork of Sunitha Rao (USA) and Villmarie Castellvi (Puerto Rico), beating them 6-1, 6-3 much to the joy of the handful of crowd at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.

Despite losing their service in the opening game, the 149th ranked pair maintained their cool and broke the rivals in the second, fourth and sixth game to finish off the first set in no time.

In the second set, the winners surged ahead to a 4-1 lead before Sania lost her serve, but came back with a vengeance to break the opponents in the very next game and finally grab the set 6-3.

Sania-Pascaul, who are to face top seeded Russian pair Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva now, said they would bank on their "good combination" on the court.

The top seeded duo recorded a straight 6-4, 7-5 win over unseeded Chin Wei Chan and Su Wei Hsieh of Taipei on their way to the pre-summit round.

Meanwhile, Shikha and Neha Uberoi staged a brilliant comeback to storm into the doubles semifinals, getting past Chia Jung Chuang (Taipei) and Rika Fujiwara (Japan) in straight sets.

The Uberoi siblings, ranked 682, toppled their much higher ranked (158) rivals 6-4, 6-2 to register their first entry into the last four stage of a WTA Tour event.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Couldn’t ask for a better student, says Sania’s coach


Farrington

Calcutta: John Farrington is a man much in the news in India now, courtesy being the travelling coach of Sania Mirza.

In the city as his ward attempts to claim the Sunfeast Open crown, Farrington interacted with the media on Tuesday. Being asked whether he was working on Sania’s serve, Farrington said he was working on all aspects of her game, serves included. “It is a continuous process of making changes and adjustments.”

Would he want her to temper her aggressive style? “I don’t want her to lose her aggression,” said Farrington, “Playing to win makes a big difference.”

The Bahaman said he felt Sania should go to the net more often. “I think she should attack the net more. This would give her an advantage as she would go towards the net and send deep returns which would put her opponents on the defensive”.

Sania as a student? “She absorbs a lot, is very attentive and receptive. I couldn’t ask for a better student,” concludes Farrington.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Sania advances to second round in Sunfeast Open

Sania Mirza advanced to the second round of the $170,000 WTA Sunfeast Open by defeating Japanese qualifier Junri Namigata 6-2 6-2 at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Sania inspires students, hands over Sunfeast tickets

Kolkata: Teenage tennis sensation Sania Mirza,18, on Monday had words of inspiration for the children and handed over free tickets to ten lucky winners of the Sunfeast Trophy design contest, during a whirlwind visit to two schools in the southern part of the city.

Hailing from Hyderabad, Sania is the centre of attraction in the ongoing $170,000 WTA Sunfeast Open. Taking time out of her busy schedule to mingle with the girls of Shiksha Sadan and Carmel Convent school, she urged them to strive for excellence in whatever they undertook in life.

Sania, who would start her campaign in the tournament on Tuesday, also gave free tickets to five lucky winners of the contest in each school. Students from about 100 schools in the city had taken part in the Sunfeast Trophy designing contest before the final design was selected from the entries by an expert panel. The girls, wide-eyed and excited to have the sports icon in their midst, listened to Sania in rapt attention before enthralling her with a brief cultural presentation.

"It is the greatest day of my life. So far, I had only seen her on television. But today, I talked to her and saw her in person," said a student of Shiksha Sadan. Sania had a brief stay at the schools for about 10 minutes before being whisked away under a thick cover of security.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (L), chief minister of the communist-ruled West Bengal, receives a tennis racquet from a mascot as Indian tennis player Sania Mirza (C) and Shikha Uberio (R) look on during the inauguration ceremony of WTA Sunfeast Open, in the eastern India city of Kolkata, previously known as Calcutta September 19, 2005. REUTERS/Parth Sanyal Posted by Picasa

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (L), chief minister of communist-ruled West Bengal, and Indian tennis player Sania Mirza (R) attend the inauguration ceremony of the WTA Sunfeast Open, in the eastern India city of Kolkata, previously known as Calcutta, September 19, 2005. REUTERS/Parth Sanyal Posted by Picasa

Indian tennis player Sania Mirza watches Indian schoolgirls as she attends a school reception in the eastern India city of Kolkata, previously known as Calcutta September 19, 2005. Mirza will receive extra security after an Islamic group opposed to her on-court dress threatened to stop her from playing in next week's WTA event, police said on Friday. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw Posted by Picasa

Indian tennis player Sania Mirza smiles as she attends a school reception in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, previously known as Calcutta, September 19, 2005. Mirza will receive extra security after an Islamic group opposed to her on-court dress threatened to stop her from playing in next week's WTA event, police said on Friday. Muslim clergymen have denounced the 18-year-old player for wearing skimpy skirts and colourful sleeveless tops on court, which they say are un-Islamic. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw Posted by Picasa

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, right, leaves after a practice session for the Sunfeast Open WTA tournament in Calcutta, India Sunday, Sept. 18, 2005. Mirza will play in the opening round of the US$170,000 WTA tournament Posted by Picasa

Sania mania hits WTA officials

KOLKATA: The WTA is watching Sania Mirza and you have none other than the premier tennis body’s supervisor Giulio Orlandi saying that. "Sania’s stature in the tennis world is growing," the Italian official told ToI. "During the US Open in New York, I was doing the scheduling and had to put her on Arthur Ashe Court keeping in mind her popularity."

Fans came in large numbers to watch Sania’s matches. "Of course, the crowd mostly comprised of people from the Indian community living in New York, yet in general, her popularity was amazing. She was drawing the crowd to the stadium and we had to acknowledge that." Sania reached the fourth round of the US Open, the first Indian girl to do so, before losing to Russian Maria Sharapova. "Her success is good for tennis." Orlandi is aware that success can sometimes become a disadvantage with the player losing focus.However, the official is certain that Sania’s support staff will not allow that to happen. "She has a good organisation backing her and a good manager. "The people around her are taking care of her.When you start tasting success, the idea is not to get overwhelmed.

I am sure she will be wary of that." Clearly, to shield her from excess attention, the WTA had stepped in to regulate Sania’s interaction with the media during the Wimbledon Championships. "We always do that when a player is in demand," Orlandi explained. "The more she plays on the WTA Tour, the better time management a player needs. The WTA recognises this fact and that’s why we want the player’s media interactions to be regulated.

The player has to play, practice, sleep and face the media, too. The WTA is keen to get a system in place where the players do not feel pressured." Apart from Sania, Orlandi has heard of Shikha Uberoi, too, but does not really follow her. "With more WTA tournaments happening in India, I hope this country produces more players like Sania."

India's Sania Mirza plays a shot during a practice session of Sunfeast Open WTA tournament in Calcutta, India, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2005. Mirza will play in the opening round of the US$170,000 WTA tournament scheduled to begin in the city Posted by Picasa

India's Sania Mirza gestures during a practice session of Sunfeast Open WTA tournament in Calcutta, India Sunday, Sept. 18, 2005. Mirza will play in the opening round of the US$170,000 WTA tournament scheduled to begin in the city Posted by Picasa

Sunfeast: Sania leads galaxy of stars

The WTA Sunfeast Open will commence at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkatta on Monday with crowd favourite Sania Mirza and top seed Anastasia Myskina in two halves of the draw. The meet will showcase a galaxy of stars, including 11 of the top 100 players in WTA rankings. While the City is gearing up to witness some high-voltage tennis from the likes of world number 13 Anastasia Myskina, Karolina Sprem, Elena Likhovtseva, Tamarine Tanasugarn and Virginia Ruano Pascual, Sania Mirza, expectedly, will be the darling of the crowd as the teen sensation goes all out to improve her ranking. The Florida-based Uberoi sisters, Shikha and Neha, would be looking forward to an impressive show, while another US-born Indian Sunitha Rao hopes to strengthen her case of representing India in the Federation Cup. “It was great to play the fourth round of the US Open. “I’m feeling very good and confident about my game,” Sania said when asked about her level of confidence going into the Tier III tournament. She said she was looking forward to playing at home after 7-8 months and was hopeful of winning her second WTA tournament. “I’m going to do my best. I won in Hyderabad, but it doesn’t mean I can win this tournament too. “It’s a tougher one. I just have to go out there and play my game,” she said. Sania has a relatively easy draw in the first round against a qualifier whose name would be known on Sunday at the end of the qualifying tournament that started on Saturday. Eighteen-year old Sania, who is seeded third, could face the winner of the opening round match between Argentina’s Ma Emilia Salerni and Hungarian Melinda Czink in the second round. Both are way below the Indian WTA rankings. While Sania occupies the 34th slot, Salerni is ranked 103 and Czink 121. If the results go according to the seedings, Sania, India’s main hope in the event, could run into second seed Elena Likhovtseva of Russia in the semi-final. Likhovtseva, 16th in WTA rankings, faces Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine(134th) in her opening match. Shikha Uberoi, ranked 151, also begins her campaign against her practising partner, Japan’s Ryoko Fuda (185). Another interesting opening round fixture will see Shikha’s younger sister Neha, a wild card, takes on Sunitha Rao, an American of Indian origin. Top seed and world number 13 Anastasia Myskina clashes with unseeded Edine Gallovtis of Romania in the first round. In the second round, she could meet compatriot Galina Voskoboeva (ranked 130) or Victoria Azarenka (203) of Argentina. In the quarters, she could meet either fourth seed Maria Elena Camerin of Italy or Rika Fujiwara of Japan, seeded eighth. Other well-known players in the event are Italian Antonella Serra Zanetti, Laura Pous Tio from Spain and Japan’s Rika Fujiwara. Sunfeast Open has a prize money of USD170,000 and boasts of a field of 32 players for both singles and doubles.

Spotlight on crowd favourite Sania

SAIBAL BOSE

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
KOLKATA: When did Sania Mirza last watch Indian girls play tennis? Perhaps, even she does not remember. On Sunday, Sania took an unaccustomed seat in the stands to watch Ankita Bhambri beat Isha Lakhani for a place in the main round.

The seemingly impregnable ‘security’ shield around her relaxed too, as photographers gleefully clicked the teenage sensation in soothing pink. Later, she even allowed photographers at her practice session. Good signs on eve of the biggest women’s tennis event ever in this city, the Sunfeast Open, a Tier III WTA meet.

Sania, despite her firstround loss in the Bali Open last week, remains the sentimental favourite to lift the trophy next Sunday.However, former French Open champion and top-seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia is the overwhelming favourite. Myskina’s form has dipped since her Roland Garros victory last year and Sania and others see hope there. This year, Myskina has made it to only one final, the Stockholm Open, where she lost in straight sets to a much lower ranked Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia. Myskina has slid from a career high world No. 2 to No. 13. Sania on the other hand, has had a meteoric rise, from 142 to 34 this year. That should give her confidence, along with the fact that she plays well against higher ranked players.

The two players are in different halves of the draw and can meet only in the final. To get there, Sania will have to beat the likes of Elena Likhovsteva,whom she’ll meet in the semi-finals if the seedings hold. Likhovtseva, ranked No. 13, reached the semi-finals of the French Open this year, her best performance ever in a Grand Slam. To top it, Likhovtseva beat Myskina in the US Open before losing in the fourth round. However, she has yet to win a WTA Tour title this year. The 30-year-old Russian has many memorable victories in the past.

The question is, can she turn the clock back here? Sania’s likely quarter-final opponent, seventh-seeded Karolina Sprem of Croatia, suffered a dramatic slide in rankings after starting the year as No. 18. Back trouble and illness has hampered Sprem this year. Sprem’s rise was meteoric, just like Sania’s. In 2003 she shot from world No. 273 to 59. But coming into the Sunfeast Open, Sprem in ranked 85 and hoping to rise as fast as she fell. That should be a warning for Sania: This Croatian girl is capable of causing a few upsets. The Indian ace opens against Ryoko Fuda of Japan.

Sania inspires a new wave

KOLKATA, SEPTEMBER 18: There was one sight today at the Netaji indoor stadium that sums up Indian tennis in general and the mood in Kolkata in particular. Sania Mirza — with her entourage of parents, sister, coach and mentor CGK Bhupathi in toe — dropped in to watch her old pals Ankita Bhambri and Isha Lakhani thrash it out for a place in the main draw.

Within minutes, at least four dozen cameras turned their backs to the match in progress to get Sania in their frame. It’s a one-woman show here and one didn’t need a referendum to prove it. With the chaos on the sidelines refusing to subside, Sania — whose embarrassment seemed more for the players on court than for the overwhelming attention she was getting, finally said, ‘‘The match is behind you, click some pictures there.’’ Her mother sitting a seat away, nudged her and shook her head. Sania didn’t speak after that, but soon moved out.

And later something transpired, that showed how the ripple caused by Sania may turn into a new wave for Indian women’s tennis. As if taking a cue from Sania, the cameras stayed back to click the frame of the smiling local qualifiers — Rushmi and Ankita — who increased the Indian count in the main draw to five.

As an off-shoot to Sania’s 24x7 focus, the much-neglected second-rung players of Indian tennis too are getting their 15-minutes of fame. Rushmi, who at 28 has been a top three national player for the past decade, welcomes the attention but can’t forget days trying to give her best in front of empty stands and non-existent support. ‘‘I have played many national and ITF finals with just my parents and that of the opponents in the stands,’’ she says.

Her mother Shanta, the lone supporter for her daughter at many games, is pleased that she has company in the stands now. ‘‘It is very different now. Tennis had no real support when Rushmi started her career. With no big tournaments in India, it was even expensive to travel abroad all the time,’’ she says.

National Fed Cup coach Enrico Piperno thanks the All India Tennis Association for bringing the big tournaments to India. ‘‘In the late 90s the big tournaments started coming to India so the girls benefited a lot. And after that Sania Mirza happened,’’ he says.

He adds that Indian tennis is no longer about moon-ball lobs, parabola shots and lazy baseline play with a fast-paced attractive game.

‘‘The Williams sisters got the power to world tennis and it has trickled down to rest of the players on the circuit. Suddenly the women’s game has become the in-thing,’’ he says.

So much so that Piperno has no problems in saying that the biggest ATP men’s tennis event in India — the Chennai Open — too can’t match-up with the popularity the WTA event. ‘‘One needs a local successful singles player for a tournament to succeed. Sania has done it for women. Lee and Hesh did for some time. But it is tough to sustain interest as the international body is not too keen on doubles,’’ he says.

The event promoter CGK Bhupathi — and Mahesh’s father, too agrees. ‘‘When Mahesh and Leander played together the response was phenomenal. After they split the response was less than phenomenal,’’ he confides.

Bhupathi said that the big bang for women’s tennis was seen at the Hyderabad Open last year. Things at Kolkata look no different. Despite the fact that the stadium has a capacity of 9,000, the organisers have been forced to open an extra ticket window.

The tickets for Sania games in Kolkata can’t just win friends but also influence people. Like the camera men today, it is worthwhile to stay back after Sania’s match.

Sania remains ‘untouchable’

Calcutta: Sania Mirza is making her presence felt at the Netaji Indoor Stadium both when she is physically there and even when she isn’t.

The venue for the first WTA Sunfeast Open has been turned into a veritable fortress. The security blanket even affected mediapersons who were watching the qualifying match between Isha Lakhani and Ankita Bhambri on Sunday.

Sania wanted to see part of the match. So the media was at first requested to move to the left of the gallery.

A few objections and a compromise later, they were asked to leave the first five rows free, so that Sania and her entourage could sit. Of course, the media was also requested not to try and talk to her.

Nothing new. Ever since she arrived in the city on Friday night, entreaty after entreaty has been made to stay away from her.

Closed practice sessions have been held and the media only invited in press conferences under the watchful eyes of security personnel.

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza is expected to hold centrestage in a WTA tournament to be held in Calcutta from Monday.(AFP/Deshakalyan Chowdhury) Posted by Picasa

Sun shining, Sania ready to feast

Dhiman Sarkar

Kolkata, September 19, 2005

Let's put it this way: the last time an indoor tennis tournament came to town, Sania Mirza wasn't even born. Vijay Amritraj was still active on the Tour and Ivan Lendl's assiduous climb up the rankings had just begun. The last of those Grands Prix at the Netaji Indoor Stadium was in 1978.

We have moved on since. The carpet of 1978 has been replaced by wooden blocks, which fit into each other. The Greenset courts are said to be the standard surface in the European indoor circuit and can be easily dismantled and stored till the Sunfeast Open turns two. Built to host a table tennis World Championship in 1975, the Indoor has got a long overdue image makeover before 11,000 people see the ladies play ball.

The refurbishing cost Rs seven crore approximately and took almost eight months but from Shikha Uberoi to CGK Bhupathi, Chuni Goswami and WTA supervisor Giulia Orlandi, opinion is unanimous that it's been worth it.

Maybe, all this would have happened even without the sensation called Sania. But her presence has lifted a Tier III tournament into a different orbit in a country not used to live top-flight tennis. Going into 2004, the world's biggest democracy wasn't even on the WTA list.

Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva, who between them have won 12 singles titles including a Grand Slam event, may be in the draw but there's no denying who the top draw is.

Sania has not lost a WTA Tour final in her own country and the only one here with a singles Tour title this year. She became the youngest Indian to win a Tour event, in Hyderabad 2004. From playing Serena Williams to beat ing Svetlana Kuznetsova and meeting Maria Sharapova, she's been on the history drive since.

Around this time last year, she was making ITF finals regularly but in the time of under-achieving Indian sportspersons, she has spectacularly punched above her weight.

That it took fourth-seed Maria Elena Camerin seven years to break into the top-50 and more than 400 matches for Austrian mother Sybille Bammer to notch up her first main draw victory tells you why Sania thanks god for 2005. She's rested after the Bali bloomer and beginning against a qualifier should help her get into the groove before she takes on the winner of Melinda Czink (121) and Ma Emilia Salerni (103).

Tennis-wise she is in the zone, hitting and moving well in practice and if the draw opens up a little favourably, she really can stay here till next Sunday.

Things aren't quite hunky-dory off the court though. Sania's security reminds you of the protection shield around Michael Jackson. Whether she is a prisoner of her own device or is simply trying to come to terms with being put in 'Neverland' is not central to the discussion here. Whether it distracts her is.

Likhovtseva and Karolina Sprem and Antonella Serra Zanneti, who made the Wimbledon third round this year, are in her half of the draw as is the veteran Argentine Emmanuelle Gagliardi who like Sania is a Slam fourthrounder this year.

Flying in from Paris after Fed Cup duty, it will be important for Myskina too to stay focussed. The willowy top-seed hasn't had a good year and stumbled against Likhovtseva (they can't meet here unless they are playing in the final) in New York but often top guns misfire soon after a major event. Unless, of course, you are Roger Federer.

Likhovtseva has had it better than Myskina this year. True, she was whipped in the French Open semi-final by Mary Pierce but it fetched the Russian a career-high of 15 this year. However, with 23 doubles titles including three this year it is clear where this 30-yearold's priorities lie. That the courts here are on the slower side also isn't something Mahesh Bhupathi's former mixed doubles partner would look forward to. But the Russians are likely to play doubles and that opens the possibility of a high-voltage clash between them with Sania and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

For Sunitha Rao and Shikha Uberoi, this is a wonderful opportunity to gain points. For Pratt, Tanasugarn, Gagliardi and Virginia Ruano Pascual this could be another stop on the Tour. Let the action begin.

Sania’s chance to conquer Calcutta

Calcutta: The stage is set, the players are ready. It’s all systems go for the WTA Sunfeast Open that kicks off on Monday at the recently renovated Netaji Indoor Stadium.

A week-long electrifying show — to be played on imported Greenset hardcourts — is in store, with some of the biggest stars on display. And none bigger than our very own Sania Mirza, who has managed the impossible by directing this cricket-crazy country’s attention to another sport.

The tight security around her because of the controversy over her on-court dress code may prove to be a damper, but obviously no one, least of all the state government, is willing to take any chances.

The high-profile meet — the second WTA tournament in the country after the Hyderabad Open which is three editions old — is being touted as one of south Asia’s biggest events with a prize money of $1,70,000.

The 32-strong field will see two top-20 players — world No. 13 and former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina and world No. 16 Elena Likhovtseva — in action. Other international offering includes world No. 127 Nicole Pratt of Australia, winner of the Hyderabad Open in 2004; Italians Maria Elena Camerin (72), who lost to Sania in the second round of the US Open, and Antonella Serra Zanetti (78). Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn is also in the fray.

Top seed Myskina, who hasn’t won a title this year, begins against Romania’s Edina Gallovits (125), and cannot meet Sania until the final, should they both make it that far.

For Myskina, a former world No. 2, a triumph in Sania territory should propel her back into the top-10.

World No. 1 doubles player Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual, meanwhile, will be teaming up with Sania in doubles.

All eyes, however, will be on the talented, tenacious, aggressive and fiery Sania. Tennis’ newest glam girl has had a dream run this year, rising meteorically from 206 at the end of 2004 to 34 in the world, beating her own deadline of making it to the top-50 by three months.

Playing at home may just prove to be a catalyst and an obviously partisan crowd might just push her all the way to a second career title — she won the Hyderabad Open in February.

Not that she will have an easy run to the final. The first two rounds might be a breeze, but after that the going will get tough.

She will begin her campaign on Tuesday against Japanese qualifier Junri Namigata, who booked her place in the main draw with a 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4 win over Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hsieh.

Sania should get past her, and next up will be the winner of the match between Argentine Ma Emilia Salerni and Hungarian Melinda Czink.

Salerni, 103 in the world, refused to comment on the potential match-up with the Indian, saying she was “focused on her first match. I’ve never played Sania before, so I can’t comment. Let me get to the second round, then I will speak about meeting her.”

If Sania makes it to the last four, a match-up with Likovtseva seems likely, but before that she may be troubled by Karolina Sprem. The Slovak girl is ranked below her, but is known for her giant-killing ways.

Sania, of course, will be looking to cock a snook at her critics, who continue to revile her serve and the fact that she commits too many unforced errors, by going the full distance here.

The other Indian in the main draw hoping to steal Sania’s thunder is Shikha Uberoi (151), who is up against Japan’s Ryoko Fuda (185) in the first round.

Sister Neha (248), a wild card entrant who plays for the US, will kick off her campaign on Monday against Sunitha Rao (161), another American of Indian origin.

The winner of this match is likely to face Likovtseva next.

Two other Indians made it to the main draw: Rushmi Chakravarthy and Ankita Bhambri, who won their respective final-round qualifiers on Sunday. While Rushmi outclassed Chin-Wei Chan of Chinese Taipei 6-3, 7-5, Ankita battled her way past countrywoman Isha Lakhani 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Ankita is slated to meet Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi in the first round on Monday. Sister Sanaa, however, failed to qualify, losing 1-6, 4-6 to Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei.

It’s not going to be easy for Sania

Sania Mirza at the Netaji Indoor Stadium stands on Sunday. Picture by Gautam Bose

After decades, the Netaji Indoor Stadium will echo to the sounds of tennis. The dilapidated stadium refurbished in record time is dressed up to international standards. The Sunfeast Open 2005 Tier III with prize money of $170000 commences Monday and concludes on September 25.

The tournament is of great significance to sport and tennis in West Bengal. The vibrant and enlightened response of the chief minister and sports minister to enterprising promotion, and the involvement of large industrial houses have made such an event possible.

The presence of Sania Mirza, a near icon at the tender age of 18, has pumped life into what could have been labelled as a comatose rip-off meet.

A couple of years ago I saw Sania at Deshapriya Park, watched and supported by her omnipresent mother. Thereafter, since last year I watched with great interest her spectacular progress on the television and also her match against Sharapova in the fourth round of the US Open. In between, she had collected the scalps of Kuznetsova and Petrova, two top ten Russians.

Sania’s victories were hotly debated on the cocktail circuit. The jealous verdict, which invariably emerged, was that she was overrated, boosted by sponsors and very lucky. Her generous TV endorsements raised the jealousy factor a notch higher.

After Wimbledon and her superb match against Kuznetsova I wrote that there is ‘something special’ about Sania. On Saturday when I watched her at close quarters practise at the Netaji Indoor Stadium and not on a 29 inch television screen, which can never convey to you the real speed of shot, I was bowled over by her speed of shot and aggression. No wonder, she had the long-legged Sharapova go from modelling mode to undignified scampering at Flushing Meadow. Sania looked slim and fitter than what I saw of her in her television matches.

In Sania’s (seeded three) quarter all the players are ranked 100 and above except for the 7th seed Karolina Sprem of Croatia. I remember Sprem at Wimbledon 2004. She was 18- year-old and ranked No. 30 in the world. With a stream of crisp winning shots she mowed down Venus Williams, Shaughnessy, Maleeva, all seeded players before Davenport put her down in the quarters.

Though Sprem is ranked 85 now, her previous record shows that she is capable of playing top quality tennis. After Sprem, Sania will take on Russian might if everything goes according to the seeding. Likhotseva in the semis and Myskina in the finals. It is a tough tournament for Sania to win and she will have to be at her very best.

The presence of the Uberoi sisters, Shikha (ranked 151) and Neha (ranked 248), along with Sunitha Rao (ranked 161), will certainly add to the interest in the tournament. In Sania’s shadow one tends to dismiss them lightly. Believe me, to get to where they have, is not at all easy. One has to admire the enterprise, sacrifice and hard work put in by these girls. Special mention has to be made about the parental support, which entails far more sacrifice and is a much harder and trying job.

Whatever the results of the tournament, it has resuscitated tennis in Calcutta and put it back on track. To pull up sport onto its feet one requires a strong organisation with international awareness and vision, unstinted government support and the cooperation of industry. Only when these have jelled can we aspire for greater things.

As a lover of sport one has to applaud the chief minister, sports minister and the sponsors for putting Calcutta back on the tennis map. In equal measure, the enterprise shown by Jaidip Mukerjea, the tournament director and the Bhupathi family in organising and putting together the whole show, is laudable.

To stray from my blinkered vision of tennis I can see a golden opportunity for development of sport in West Bengal. Industry in West Bengal is at full throttle on the runway. Thousands of crores will be invested in industry and new townships. This is the time sport must be woven into the fabric of our lives, especially for the generations to come.

The current generations have suffered much due to the lack of sports facilities and a tunnel vision concept of education. Now that West Bengal’s economic future seems secure, we should think about sport. Think Big. Build football fields, astroturf for hockey, gymnasiums, athletic tracks, tennis courts, basketball, badminton etc. Let every child in the state have access to sport at minimal affordable cost.

Sania show begins in-camera

KOLKATA: Move aside Sourav Ganguly, Sania Mirza is here. Not that she is tipped to win the Wimbledon or the US Open next year, but her mannerisms will put to shade the Men in Blue.

Security men surround her 24x7 and if you dare to venture close by, be prepared to be shoved away. If Sourav has been threatened by extremists, Muslim clerics have issued a fatwa against her for wearing 'un-Islamic' dresses.

There's more: The young lady's family wants the media stay away from her practice sessions.

Photographers, keep away please. The family means business as Sania, who arrived in Kolkata late on Friday for the Sunfeast Open, practised incamera' on Saturday morning.

When you ask her about all this, she is quite curt. "Let's talk only about tennis." Tennis is what she plans to focus on, in the coming week. is always great to play at home and I am looking forward to good week. I am going to play my game and hope for the best." She starts off against a qualifier on Tuesday at 7 pm.

The first-round clash can happen against an Indian as quite a few of them are in the fray. "I haven't played against an Indian for a long time and really do not know what to expect."

She definitely would not like to lose early, as she did in Bali. "Well, I cannot win everything. There will be the losses, whether in the first round of a Tour event or the fourth round of the US Open,"she shrugged.

She has learnt to take defeats in her stride and hopes fans learn to accept them.

Sania's recent successes have taken her from world number 142 to 34 this year and she cited that while scoffing at suggestions that she was inconsistent.

All eyes on glamour girl Sania Mirza for WTA event at home

KOLKATA, India (AFP) - India's Sania Mirza, who made the fourth round of the recent US Open, will be the focus of attention in a WTA tournament starting here on Monday.Mirza has been seeded third in the event behind Russians Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva in the tier III event, which is being billed as the biggest in the region.

It is seldom that an Indian ranks among the favourites for such a tournament but expectations are high of 34th-ranked Mirza, who won her maiden WTA title in her home town of Hyderabad earlier this year.

The teenager, a picture of confidence, admitted however that the upcoming tournament would be tougher than the one she won.

"This will be a lot more difficult than it was in Hyderabad, but let's hope for the best. I will concentrate hard and play my natural game," said Mirza, who has an easy draw till the semi-final stage.

She will play a qualifier in the first round on Tuesday and then take on much lower-ranked opponents before a possible semi-final encounter with second seeded Likhovtseva.

Three Americans of Indian origin, Shikha and Neha Uberoi and Sunitha Rao, will also be seen in action in the main draw.

Seventh seed Karolina Sprem of Croatia, doubles' world number one player Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn are the other crowd-pullers.

The seedings

1. Anastasia Myskina (RUS)

2. Elena Likhovtseva (RUS)

3. Sania Mirza (IND)

4. Maria Elena Camerin (ITA)

5. Antonella Serra Zanetti (ITA)

6. Laura Pous Tio (ESP)

7. Karolina Sprem (CRO)

8. Rika Fujiwara (JPN)

Indian tennis player Sania Mirza gestures during a news conference in the eastern India city of Kolkata, previously known as Calcutta September 17, 2005. (Parth Sanyal/Reuters) Posted by Picasa

Can Sania Mirza do a Bjorn Borg?

Sumit Bhattacharya in Kolkata

If Sania Mirza sneezes, it will be news.

From food - she doesn't like coconut in anything - to what traveling coach John Farrington thinks of her - he is reportedly working on her sideways movement - the 18-year-old is the toast of the Sunfeast Open being played in Kolkata from September 19 to September 26.

On Monday evening, she and West Bengal Chief Minister Budhhadev Bhattacharya serve off the Women's Tennis Association's tier III event with prize money of $170,000 (about Rs 75 lakhs).The Netaji Indoor Stadium, the venue for the event, has been specially renovated at a speed faster than Sania's ferocious forehand - the 'stadium' was more a venue for trade fairs and musical concerts till two months ago.

But now, with an army of policemen, private security guards and organisers in tow, it is the court of India's reigning tennis queen. When she walks into a qualifying round match, all cameras - there is no 'audience' except a ball boys' battalion, the media and organisers -- turn from the game to her and her family - father Imran (who celebrated his birthday on Sunday), mother Naseema and sister Anam.

Ticket sales for the tournament - they are priced at a very reasonable Rs 100 to Rs 400 - also depend on the girl who sports the most photographed nose ring in Indian sporting history.

"Sania days will be sell-outs, we hope six days out of seven are Sania days," says one of the organisers, smiling. And everyone is hoping for a final between world number 13 Anastasia Myskina and the Indian girl who is ranked 34.

Can the personality cult help Indian tennis?

"Before Bjorg happened, there was no real tennis in Sweden. After him there were half a dozen champions from Sweden. Mahesh (Bhupathi) and Leander (Paes) have inspired a many youngsters to play tennis. Now, Sania is inspiring the whole country," says says Dr C J K Bhupathi, Sania's first mentor and the father of one half of the duo that fanned to the Great Indian Tennis Dream in the late 90s.

The history of tennis in India has been the history of sporting families, elite clubs, limited access. Even Lee-Hesh came from established sporting families. Then just how did Sania Mirza, a girl from a city better known for its biryani and historical monuments, and from a family with no real sporting history, come to be at a stage when the WTA tour inspector is amazed at her popularity?

"Mahesh personally picked her up from my tennis academy. Globosport (that manages Sania) nurtured Sania because of Mahesh (Bhupathi). Globosport is Mahesh, Mahesh Is Globosport," says Dr Bhupathi.

Mahesh had played the junior circuit too. And he knew Sania was ready to take on the big guns.

It began with an e-mail. 'Now we should send her outside. It is time to take her to someone like Bob Brett,' Mahesh wrote to his father. Dr Bhupathi knew his son was right. So began Sania's sessions with Brett, one of the biggest tennis coaches in the world. For one month first, and then in instalments.

Mahesh helped Sania get wild cards to various tournaments. "But Sania pounced on every opportunity and made the maximum out of it, thanks to her phenomenal talent," Dr Bhupathi is quick to add.

Would there be a day when India wouldn't need to send a talented tennis player out to learn more?

"There are people like Vijay Amritraj who can probably be as big as Bob Brett, but he (Amritraj) is not in this business," Dr Bupathi points out.

What about the age factor? Don't most Indian tennis players hit the big time, if they do, pretty late?

"Some make it at 14 like Martina Hingis, some make it between 16 and 19 like Sania. Some make it later. Making it is what matters, doesn't matter at what age you make it," says a smiling Bhupathi senior.

"Those who make it at an early age are geniuses. Like Michael Chang, Martina Hingis, Boris Becker, Steffi Graf - a different league.

"Sania is in a different league."

The Rediff Interview/Mahesh Bhupathi

The Rediff Interview/Mahesh Bhupathi

'Sania will be a one-woman industry soon'

Mahesh Bhupathi exudes the confidence of a man who has nine Grand Slam titles at home: be it flashing a V sign to cameras during the unveiling of the Sunfeast Open or snubbing you with a terse "Don't ask me stupid questions" when you ask him why the security overdose around tennis sensation Sania Mirza.

Bhupathi and Sania at the Sunfeast OpenIn Kolkata, Mahesh is sporting a new avatar. His organisation, Globosport, is one of the organisers of the Women's Tennis Association tier III event. And insiders say it is largely because of him that big names like world number 13 Anastasia Myskina are participating in the event's debut year.

On the sidelines of a qualifying round match -- eyes constantly on the ball on court -- Mahesh spoke with rediff India Abroad Senior Features Editor Sumit Bhattacharya about India's newest sports sensation.

Tennis in India was a niche sport. You and Leander Paes inspired the Indian tennis dream. Do you think the game is poised for a mass revolution in India?

I think it's a process. Leander and me probably started the revolution, and now Sania is taking it to a different level. So as much success as Sania has, people are just going to keep coming to the game more and more.

Why do you say Sania has taken it to a new level?

I think you guys can see it for yourself. The media she gets, the fans and the following that she has, the endorsements that she has... . She has created an image for herself and she is, hopefully, going to be a one-woman industry soon.

How did you spot her?

Spotting talent -- I guess if you play the game or understand the game enough – it is not that hard. I obviously knew she had something special. Even at a young age, she had that forehand of hers. It was just a matter of developing it. Obviously, she has put in all the hard work she had to, to get to this level today, so she deserves it.

What do you feel are her advantages on the court and off it?

Her forehand is a big weapon. She has got very solid ground strokes. She has got a big heart and she is not scared of playing the big names. Off court, she carries herself great. You know, there are a lot of celebrities who don't have personality, but she has a great personality and she deals with the media really well. She deals with her sponsors very well, and I think that's why they are lining up to sign her.

Any weaknesses?

She's got a few parts of her game which she can work on. She's young and she's got a long way to go, so, hopefully, she will identify them after her season's over this year and work on them in the off season.

Do you see her developing as a doubles player?

Ya. Why not? It's a process again and she's got to start playing a lot more doubles; she hasn't played that much. More she plays, she'll understand the game and become more comfortable with it.

At this level, how do doubles pairings work?

She would just have to ask someone who she is comfortable playing with, who she enjoys playing with and they'll have to make a team out of that.

Tennis has always been a glamour game. When we think off Chris Evert-Lloyd, we probably think of more than just her game. Do you think glamour plays a part in being a tennis star?

I don't think tennis is a glamour game, not at all. For every Chris Evert there's a Martina Navratilova, for every [Boris] Becker there's an [Ivan] Lendl, who is 100 per cent hard work. And there's no glamour attached to that.

Do you see a change in the way sponsors are approaching tennis players post you, Leander and now Sania?

No. Sania obviously has a market for herself. Other than that, people have to prove themselves before sponsors approach them.

The vice-president of your organisation Globosport was quoted as saying Sania is being offered more money by sponsors than Rahul Dravid is. Comment.

Don't believe everything you read. Obviously, those quotes were fabricated, because I know for a fact he didn't say that. I think we know today that Sania is in the top five celebrities in the country, sports-wise. That's all because of her hard work and she deserves every bit of adulation that she is getting.

What about the blanket security cover around her here [Kolkata].

What about it?

How does it affect her as a player, this talk of a fatwa?

It affects you, obviously; when you don't do anything wrong, and when you are doing everything to bring fame to your country, you come home after a great US Open, and the first thing you hear is this in the press.

Obviously, it's going to affect you. I know it for a fact it has affected her. But I know she is mentally pretty strong and, hopefully, she will get over it.

Sania is style icon for Bangalore youth

By Manjusha R Deccan Herald News Service Bangalore:
The gutsy Mirza, with oodles of confidence and attitude, is inspiring a lot of children in the City to take up the racquet.

She’s got attitude. She has no qualms about being aggressive on court and her never-say-die attitude has floored millions of teenagers across India. And closer home in Bangalore, teenage tennis sensation Sania Mirza has a new fan following.

The latest entrants to this scene are the City’s tennis coaches, budding sport aspirants and their parents who are busy hailing Mirza as the best thing to have happened to the sport.

Five of the major tennis academies in the City vouch that Sania Mirza is the role model for all those girls who are enrolling for tennis lessons. Of course, Sania is a fashion icon for them. According to Krishna Bhupathi, father of Mahesh Bhupathi, the number of girls enrolling for the game of tennis at the Bhupathi Tennis Village in Hebbal has increased by more than 100 per cent ever since Sania Mirza emerged as a tennis star. “Last December, 34 children had enrolled into our academy, and most of them were boys. But this year, the figure has touched 75, with more than 60 per cent of them being girls,” said Bhupathi, a former coach of Sania Mirza.With Sania winning laurels for the country, the confidence level of budding professionals has also seen a steep rise.

According to chief coach of Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association B M Ramesh, there is also a definite change in the mindset of the students who enroll. “The seriousness towards the sport has increased.

“Of late, I have students demanding rigorous tennis lessons, wanting to be another Sania. Hopefully, the dropout rate among teenagers, which is usually high, will be brought down,” he said.

Incidentally, even the number of tennis training camps in the City has seen a spurt, from 6 to 12.

The advent of Sania Mirza has brought about a subtle change in the attitude of female students, said tennis coach of Kinesis Tennis Training Krishna Kumar.

“Most girls by nature are not blatantly aggressive. But after watching Sania Mirza strike unapologetically, they want to play hard and mean,” he said.

The male to female ratio in his academy has also changed from 70:30 to 60:40, which is a remarkable improvement, Kumar said.

Dinesh Reddy, former national-level player and now a professional coach, said that even pep talks have been peppered generously with “If Sania can do it, so can you!”

State-level player Archana Venkatraman, 26, admits that Sania Mirza in many ways is showing the way for all budding tennis stars and fast becoming a “source of inspiration”. “She has both charisma and talent rolled into one,” she added.

Fashion icon

It is not just her sporting prowess that has Mirza fans enthralled. Even her T-shirts with bold statements emblazoned on them, the cluster of earrings and the inimitable nose ring, are being emulated by teens for the so-called ‘cool factor’.

T-shirts a rage

A die-hard Sania fan Shashikala, 18, who is all set to play a national level tournament in Delhi, admits that even her T-shirts and the way she conducts herself is being tailored on the gutsy Sania Mirza.

“I have funky T-shirts with attitude written all over it,” Shashikala gushed.

“Sania has made us realise that we too can make it big on the international tennis circuit. I hope to set a similar trend,” said 14-year-old Sphoorthi.

“I admire her as a person and as a player and more importantly, I love her killer attitude,” said Aditi J B.

Some parents in the City see a Sania in their own children. Mrs Anuradha Ram, who has recently enrolled her seven-year-old child into a tennis camp, hopes that her daughter would strike it big too.