Former Indian tennis ace and current Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali is keen to help tennis in Assam live up to its potential but says a proper system to educate the coaches and train the youngsters has to be in place.

The 46-year-old, who decided to come back to Bangalore, where he has his academy, after living abroad for 16 years, says he will soon work out a programme with the All Assam Tennis Association (AATA) to promote the game at the grassroots level in the state. Saurav Bora caught up with the suave and down-to-earth Ali, who is here as coach of the Indian tennis team taking part in the 12th South Asian Games, on Tuesday.

Excerpts:

Q. You are fielding a second-string team for the Games. Why?

A. I wouldn't say that it's exactly a second-string team. Except for Somdev (Devvarman) and Yuki (Bhambri), if you look at the ATP rankings, we have Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni who are in the top 200 and also part of the Davis Cup team. So while we might not have a full team, we still have some of our top players, which to me is important because the South Asian Games is not the top priority for players in the ATP circuit. But the fact that they are here shows they are a patriotic lot and the tournament is important.

Q. Sania's absence has taken some of the sheen out of the Games. What do you feel?

A. Sania (Mirza) is in Russia for a tournament but it would be a little bit too much to ask her, given the depth in the women's team that we have here for the Games. We have Ankita (Raina), Prerna (Bhambri) and Prarthna (Thombre) who are very good. But yes, looking at the glamour part of it, Sania would have been a huge draw.

Q: But it's been a cakewalk so far for a young Indian team and you are probably eyeing a clean sweep. Does it augur well for tennis in the country?

A: Well, our standard of tennis is probably one or two levels higher than the rest of the teams here.

Also, in the world circuit, there are only 17 countries having four players in the top 200 and India is one of them, which I think is a very creditable performance.

There are 125-odd countries playing tennis and it shows we are heading in the right direction.

A lot of tennis is played in India and players are improving.

Q: Any comments on the AATA complex here?

A: It's encouraging to see Guwahati has a tennis complex as good as this. The courts are up there among the best.

 

Q: How do you see the tennis scenario in the Northeast?

A: You obviously had good players like Bidyut Goswami nearly 30-40 years ago. Then there is Somdev (from Tripura) and Parikshit Somani (from Jorhat) who is currently training under my father (Akhtar Ali) in Calcutta. But we can produce more players from Assam provided a proper system is put in place to educate the coaches and train the players.

Q. How can the Zeeshan Ali Tennis Academy play its part in developing tennis in the region?

A. We are in talks with Raktim Saikia (the president of the All-Assam Tennis Association) and will soon try to put together a programme where I can come here and get involved. There is a lot of potential at the junior level and the good thing is that the association is keen to do its part to promote the game. I have come back from abroad after 16 years only to promote the game at the grassroots level in India.

Q. Can everyone afford to take up an expensive sport like tennis?

A. It's here that you need corporate sponsors or a federation that is willing to back you. But a lot has changed. We have a number of local tournaments and leagues with lots of prizmoney on offer. Things have changed.

Q. When was your last visit to Guwahati?

A: (Smiles) Oh! It's been a long time - probably in 1984. Things have changed for the better and I see development in every sphere, which is encouraging.