Govt measures discourages tennis in Orissa

While India is striving to prove itself as a rising force in world tennis, the sport suffers in Orissa due to discouraging measures by the State Sports Directorate, particularly the in-charge of city-based Kalinga Stadium.

Promising players and their coaches are getting a raw deal instead of being encouraged. Though the Directorate has set up 10 courts for tennis in the multi-discipline stadium, it has not provided a coach to groom the young players. Two of the courts have become unfit for lack of maintenance.

Reserving four clay courts only for veterans has deprived up- coming players of much needed practice on the surface. Two months ago, the Directorate equipped the remaining four courts with floodlights, spending Rs 11.75 lakh. But the lights are yet to be used.

However, everything was going well with four senior players imparting  coaching to youngsters on a regular basis. Thanks to the coaching, youngsters showed progress in the National circuit tournaments with two of them claiming place in the top-ten ranking.

But things went wrong last month following an unpleasant happening involving the four players-cum-coaches and an IAS officer. It all started with State Soil Conservation Director Wapang Ao asking the quartet to give him some practice one late afternoon. But the players did not oblige as they were busy playing a doubles match.

A peeved Wapang then picked an argument with the players, questioning their right and competency to play there. Disturbed, the players also did not hesitate to give him a fitting reply. When the bureaucrat lodged a complaint with stadium in-charge P K Sahu over telephone the latter without making any inquiry stopped all the players from using the courts after 10.30 am and before 3.30 pm.

The strange decision caused a lot of inconvenience for a number of promising players who were preparing themselves for the ensuing Junior National Championship at Chennai. The unpleasant incident occurred when the new Sports Director Vishal Gagan was on a study tour to the USA. After his return Gagan, who happens to be a friend of Wapang, did duty for a few days before he was withdrawn as the Sports Director and was posted as the Energy Secretary.

But before leaving, Gagan debarred Santosh Mallick, one of the four senior players involved in the incident, from entering the stadium. The ban order against Mallick, who is also a qualified coach (he possesses a Grade-I coaching licence from All India Tennis Associaion), has come as another blow for many promising players, who have been training under him. Without the coach they have also stopped coming to the stadium.

‘‘Mallick helped Ansu Kumar Bhuyan reach top 10 in the National under-12 rankings. He also contributed a lot for the development of many more youngsters, including junior international Susita, Chinmaya Pradhan, Vijay Avinandan. If the ban is not lifted immediately, the careers of many promising players will be jeopardised,’’ said the parents of the affected players.

‘‘The coach was debarred only to please a bureaucrat. These measures will severely hamper the growth of sports in the state,’’ felt a freelance coach. ‘‘The Sports Directorate should make arrangements for optimum use of infrastructure facility, instead of keeping it idle,’’ suggested State’s No 1 player Satirtha Patnaik.

‘‘I have been working diligently to nurture talents and help Orissa make a mark in the tennis map of the country. I am also trying hard to shape up a career in coaching. By debarring me from entering the stadium the State government has denied me the right to work,’’ lamented Mallick.