Chinese Tennis System Vs Indian Tennis System Published Times of India June 11th.

It was the summer of 2002.I had just moved to California after my marriage. I got a call from a friend to practice with the Chinese tennis team that was in California for a short break. I had played against the girls many times in recent matches and so I went along to practice. There were about 7 to 8 girls including Jie Zheng, Li Ting and a few others ranked in the 300s to 400s on the WTA tour.
The Chinese team was in US for 3 months to play the US circuit and was travelling with 2 coaches. After about 3 hours of intense hitting, we all took a break and the Coach told me “We are preparing for the Olympics”. I assumed it was for Athens Olympics in 2004, but he quietly said “No-we are practicing for Beijing”. I looked at him incredulously and thought this man had gone mad!!
Our Indian National teams are announced a couple of weeks prior to an event and usually there is a small camp leading up to it. I had never heard of a country planning and practicing for an event 6 years in advance. Hell, even a year ahead, was like eons from where I came from!!
In 2004, just 2 years later, two of the girls I practiced with that day won the Gold Medal at Athens Olympics. Li Ting and her partner Sun TianTian created history and totally transformed the face of women’s tennis in China and achieved their goals much earlier than expected. After that gold, more money was poured into structured programs for grass root level tennis and for talented juniors .China has now nearly 30,000 tennis courts and an estimated 14 million people regularly play tennis.
Li Na popularized it more by entering into the top 20 in the World and being a serious contender for Grand Slam titles. With Li Na’s recent French Open title, tennis will assume more importance. It is already the 3rd most popular sport in China.
I was in China twice last year, first time to play some tournaments as a warm-up before the CWG and next for the Asian Games in Guangzhou. In the ITF events I played, I was the only foreigner in a qualifying draw of 64 entries. The level of tennis in that $10,000 Women’s event was higher than some of the $50,000 challenger tournaments in India. All the Chinese players travelled from various provinces as a team with a coach. There are so many advantages when travelling as a team as there are good practice partners, a coach to oversee the training and matches, security, cost effectiveness amongst many other factors. I have often wished for that when I travelled alone in Europe as an 18 yr old from one tournament to the next.
China has taken goal setting, planning and execution to a whole new level. It is obviously pure magic when all the elements in this equation like players, coaches, parents, tennis federation and Government are single-mindedly working towards a common goal. I am also sure that are some pitfalls and challenges that are associated with such a strict regime, but they seem to be able to overcome these quite effectively.
India has a long way to go to come close to China’s progress in tennis. When I first turned pro, everything I did was by trial and error starting from entering tournaments to choosing the right tournament to securing my own visas to buying my air tickets. We never had more than one pro tournament in India and due to this, I had to base myself in Europe, away from my family for 2 years.
I know as a junior, Sania’s parents have sacrificed a lot to give her the best possible training and opportunities. After her junior Wimbledon doubles title, she may have gotten more sponsorships, but in terms of training and practice, she has had to do it alone. In my opinion, she would have benefitted most if she were part of a team of girls when she had just transitioned to the Women’s tour. It’s always easier and more fun to do physical fitness like gym work, pliometrics, quickness drills, stamina and weight training when it’s done in a group. It’s also proven from the Chinese that when a competitive group practices with a systematic approach, miracles happen. Years ago, I was the only woman from India going from week to week on the pro tour and now a decade later, Sania is the only woman going places there.
In India, we have never had a proper structure to identify, guide and nurture youngsters in a completely professional environment with everyone working together towards one goal. There are some academies that are quite professional, but they work independently of the AITA or the Sports Ministry. It would also be great to see more sport persons involved in this entire process. But first and foremost, we need to accept the fact that big changes are needed. Only then can things fall into place.