The Indian team sported a confident look on the eve of its departure for the Junior Davis Cup Finals to be staged in Antalya, Turkey, from November 1 to 6.
The Indian under-16 boys’ team had qualified in style by winning the Asia-Oceania competition in Delhi earlier this season.
Even though there were two changes from the three-member team that progressed to the World Group, captain-cum-coach Sajid Lodi was happy with the team.
Rushil Khosla in action during the Junior Davis Cup tennis tournament in Delhi. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan
Rushil Khosla was the hero of the team that won the event, but his teammates Bushan Haobam and Debasis Sahoo have slipped in the rankings and dropped out of the squad.
In their place, Kriish Tyagi and Vansh Nandal have earned their berths with good performances at the national and international level.
“Our team is strong and we have a good chance to finish in the top-8. We will take it from there,” said Sajid, even as he picked Rushil for special praise.
“Until he played the Junior Davis Cup we had known Rushil only as a left-hander, especially good in doubles. But the way he played against Iran and Japan, we do know that Rushil has evolved into an excellent player. He has been playing very good in the ITF junior events. He generates a lot of spin and will have the edge on the clay courts in Antalya,’’ observed coach Sajid.
Kriish Ajay Tyagi winning the boys’ singles National Junior U18 clay court tennis championship at the SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan hockey stadium, Egmore, in Chennai. | Photo Credit: R. RAGU
The captain also pointed out that Kriish was getting better with every tournament and has been winning the ITF junior tournaments. In fact, the 15-year-old Kriish has the distinction of having won the national title in the under-14, under-16 and under-18 sections.
“Vansh is also coming up well’’, said Sajid, acknowledging the good results.
In fact, Vansh was distraught when he was dropped from the team at the last minute for the qualifying event, after having been selected, but has stayed calm to strengthen his game.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Mexico, Paraguay, Spain, USA apart from host Turkey will be the other teams in the fray.
India’s best show was placing fourth in 2008.
