Sunrise to sunset: Players and coaches during good times at the National Tennis Centre in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: special arrangement
Exactly four years after it was launched with the aim of producing a pipeline of talent to replenish the barren terrain of singles tennis in India, the National Tennis Centre (NTC) in New Delhi has ceased operations as on December 31, 2024.
The programme was headed by Zeeshan Ali who had moved from Bengaluru lock, stock and barrel. Zeeshan was India’s Davis Cup coach from 2013 and had resigned in August last year.
Shockwaves
Sources told The Hindu that the move to close the NTC came as a shock and it was conveyed to those working there, Zeeshan included, via a terse email, without specifying any reasons. Calls to Anil Dhupar, the then secretary-general of the AITA, went unanswered.
It is to be noted that the administration of the AITA is currently in limbo, with the elections held on September 28 yet to be ratified by the Delhi High Court. A petition filed by former players Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja alleging violation of the Sports Code by the AITA is pending.
The decision to close the NTC was taken at the Annual General Meeting held on September 28. The NTC was set up to give the talented players, who would have otherwise found costs prohibitive, a chance to excel.
It provided accommodation, coaches, fitness trainers and other services to athletes from around the country. There was also a pay-and-play component, but at subsidised rates.
Digvijay Pratap Singh, who made his Davis Cup debut against Morocco in Lucknow in 2023, and 21-year-old Karan Singh, who has been named for the tie against Togo in February, came through the NTC.
But, in the last year, it is understood that the overall standards had gone down, so much so that the centre didn’t even have a physio.
“At one point, we had close to 45 to 50 of India’s best junior and senior players, leaving aside the top-five like Sasikumar Mukund and Sumit Nagal,” said the source.
“We had the best players in the country training together, a system that has worked wonders in countries like the United States, China and many European nations. We produced 10 National champions in different age groups in the first three years.
“But that vision became distorted. As players graduated out of the juniors, they needed more support. But what we promised them, things like a travelling coach, expenses for trips abroad, never materialised and players started leaving.”
Midway, the AITA decided that the NTC should have U-12 and U-14 players, and to accommodate them, some of the senior players were asked to leave. Towards the end, the NTC had solely become a pay-and-play academy, militating against its founding principles.
Published – January 11, 2025 05:00 am IST
