From the desk of Mustafa Kamal......
Sania in the past couple of matches has played excellent tennis, the brand of tennis that I always believed an Indian can play.... so I can say that she has redeemed me.
I still remember this parent Mrs. xxxxx whose daughter was being coached by me... in fact her daughter had a better game at that time, Well it was 2002 and I was trying to convince her to send her daughter more on the tour and she was like " Indian girls are good for nothing, they cannot achieve anything in tennis." to which I had remarked " Sania is doing everything right, she is playing a lot of tournaments which is giving her invaluable experience and its a matter of time when she strikes it big" Well just one year down the line Sania Mirza was given a hero's welcome in the city.
... And to think all the times Sania and this lady's daughter played Sania always lost. I do not attribute Sania's success to her talent.... It was Naseema's contribution that made Sania a champ. We have many Sania Mirza's languishing in this country. We need Mom's like Naseema Mirza. I have seen her sacrifices, her commitment, her marketing skills.....I can say this because I have seen them from close quarters since 1994. The first time Sania played with me in IAS Tennis courts at Begumpet.
.... and then I cannot forget the role played by GVK Group, with all the attributes of Naseema Mirza and all the achievements of Sania it would have been impossible without Mr. GVK Reddy's support. It's only due to his patronage that Sania got the mileage for her achieviements ....
..... And then Sania was lucky to have the unflinching support of AITA and APLTA. I guess if we go by the history of wild cards given to any single player, Sania will top the list..... So was it pure talent or Sania is a manufactured player..... To be honest I will opt for the later because I am sure 90% of the players will perform at Sania's level if provided by the backend support which was made available to her.
....... That means if APLTA / AITA can adopt a bunch of players instead of one on a long term contract / commitment and their efforts are backed by a large corporate house, these players are marketed properly in the media..... WE HAVE A SUCCESS FORMULA. We will have many more faces on the Women’s Tour. If it’s so simple then you might ask that why don't we implement it...... Well here lies the catch...... unfortunately in our "Mahaan" country we start everything with a good intension, we allocate funds too.... but by the time these funds reach the real beneficiaries we all know what happens. We NEED MORE ACCOUNTABLITY. More COMMITMENT.... and above all a burning desire to make our country PROUD.
Against this entire backdrop we need a pro-active media, we need reporters who are able to understand what they are talking about, and it’s a simple equation...... I may know a lot about tennis, may have all the correct insight to develop tennis..... but can I apply the same to promote hockey or football, the ground realities will change so I feel that unless and until former sportspersons are encouraged, trained and convinced to participate actively our reporters will always be filing reports just on hearsay. I personally will appreciate if the media gives EQUAL coverage to every sportsperson without a bias.
How many people remember the Junior Wimbledon champions from India ?
How many people know that India has produced "x" number of Junior Single's Champions ?
How many of these Champion's were given the financial support extended to Sania Mirza? By the respective associations or the Government ? How many of these Champion's were adopted by the corporate houses ?
Just think.......
And to top it all........ Sania loses in 3rd round and there is a big hype about it..... Do you remember the Indian who won the title in the same tournament ?
Well Sania keep it up. All I can say is that you are at a stage where it is easy to get lost.
I am not saying that Sania does not deserve the limelight, I want to see no sportsperson deprived of his/her due just because he/she lacks the support of marketing skills or the patronage of a corporate house like GVK. Sania's experiment should fuel more Corporate's coming forward to adopt and promote tennis players. Sania is just a begining. I hope to see many more Indian players taking up tennis full time as a profession and make our country proud.
P.S: Its time for Sania to stop claiming to be a devout Muslim. She should remember that she is an INDIAN..... Nothing more, Nothing less. Religion is a personal issue. KEEP IT THAT WAY.
"LET'S STRIVE TO MAKE AT LEAST SPORTS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AREA"
