A young player on the academy’s court. (Kundan Yolmo)

Siliguri, Nov. 4: Leander Paes may be the last bet to save a tennis academy built with the dream of taking the sport beyond Calcutta.

Former Davis Cupper Jaidip Mukherjea’s school in Siliguri is struggling to stay afloat for want of sponsors.

“I had started my dream project, the Himalayan Tennis Academy, in 2002 to promote local talent. But unfortunately, I have not been able to fulfil my dream… no sponsor has come forward to help the academy stand on its feet,” he said.

Desperate to revive interest among the people here and possibly reach out to corpor- ate sponsors, Mukherjea has brought four kids from Calcutta who will stay at the academy and train. With them hitting around on the two clay courts, the school opened its doors after months today.

Mukherjea hopes to organise a tournament in mid-December with Leander Paes in action to attract sponsors, but he knows it may not be easy. “Being a sportsman, I can’t quit mid-way,” he said. “I will gi-ve it a try with the prize-money tournament. It should at least make residents aware of the academy’s existence.”

Mukherjea, the principal coach of the Indian tennis team for the Delhi Commonwealth Games, had organised a similar tournament in Siliguri four years ago. Sania Mirza, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna had turned up.

“I have similar plans this year as well. The players usually start their season from January. Before that, most of them get some time off their busy schedule,” Mukherjea said.

However, he doesn’t know where the money for the event will come from. His only hope — the possible star cast.

There is no other academy outside Calcutta now. About 6km from the heart of Siliguri town, it was set up on 40 cottahs provided by the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Au-thority. It began well, with 30 students, but then the crunch started biting.

Mukherjea’s wife Sharmin, who was in charge of the academy, said: “Running a full-fledged facility requires at least Rs 1 lakh a month.”

If the December gamble fails, it is going to be game set and match for tennis in the Himalayan foothills.