Young Tennis Champion From Bengal Aims to Play French Open
Yubrani Banerjee, national Under-16 tennis champion, has shown potential to make big on the international stage
- Saurabh Gupta
- Updated: October 28, 2016 08:01 PM IST
Highlights
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Yubrani Banerjee won the national Under-16 National Championship
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She wants to play in the French Open next year in the Under-18 category
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She hails from Chandannagar, near Kolkata
We always ask why a nation of over a billion does not produce enough champions when it comes to sports other than cricket. The answer is that we do not groom our talent from an early age who could win medals in the future.
Many talented players simply do not move into the international stage due to lack of financial support. The latest junior tennis sensation who is competing to win an entry into the French Open simply cannot afford any international exposure or training due to lack of financial support.
Yubrani Banerjee, 15, tells NDTV, "I want to play Wimbledon. I can't say I want to win Wimbledon as that is still far away. I am trying hard to play Wimbledon and I hope I play well and become World Number 1."
Yubrani's coach says she hits the tennis ball like a champion. One of India's best tennis coaches, Enrico Piperno told NDTV: "Having worked with Sania Mirza in the past she sort of reminded me of the pace with which Sania hit the ball with when she was 12 or 13 years old. That sort of convinced me that she was the right person to join the trust."
After winning the Under-16 National Championship, Yubrani wants to play in the French Open next year in the Under-18 category. But to perform well she needs international exposure and training along with participation in international tournaments, all of which costs a lot of money. Hailing from Chandannagar, a small town near Kolkata, that kind of money is difficult to arrange for.
Her father says he is doing everything he can but he simply cannot fund her training with a limited income. Yubrani however is hoping to improve her game by giving it her best and never misses practice, even on days when the city is flooded and no one ventures out.
"She got down from at Metro at Rabindra Sadan station and did not find any conveyance so she walked down three kilometres and came up to here just to attend the gym session and that day there was no one in the club except me," says coach Sayandeb Chakraborty.
For India to produce more international champions, talent like Yubrani has to be nurtured from an early stage. The Ordnance Club is Kolkata takes care of her training in Kolkata but that is simply not enough.
"The family of Ordnance Club has given me a lot of support. She is practicing here without paying fees and has access to everything," Yubrani's father Arabinda tells NDTV.
"Individually you can support someone to play national level tournaments. It's affordable. Now the next level is international tennis. And that's a different ball game all together with funds that are much much higher and that sort money is required to be able to send them out to play," Enrico Piperno adds.
And if she gets the support, India's next Sania Mirza will be ready to compete and win medals.