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Where are the sports lovers?
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Indifferent public response could prove detrimental to local sporting events
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SAAP complex bereft of spectators — Photo: P.V. Sivakumar
THE $ 10,000 International Tennis Federation Futures tournament, staged last week at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh complex, was a sad statement of declining public interest in a global competition held in their own backyard.
But for a handful of officials, ball-boys and players, the stands were empty. Such indifference by Hyderabad's sports-loving public was nothing short of shocking. Davis Cupper S.P. Misra felt that coaches of the Twin Cities, running various training schemes should have urged their wards to watch how some of the game's big players went about their work.
That the event had no sponsor was disheartening. One of the casualties of the corporate world's obsession with cricket was tennis, as players from nearly nine nations found that not many cared for their exploits. Left with limited finances, almost half of it rustled up by the organisers themselves, no advertising was possible.
The rain ruined the event further, holding hostage the first day's play and forcing the postponement of the doubles final by a day. The sponge surface soaked the rain water, but even a drizzle rendered it unplayable, for players were terrified of slipping on the markings especially and sustaining injuries that could prove costly in a highly competitive circuit.
World-class facilities
The facilities were world-class, acknowledged Aqeel Khan, the winner of the singles crown, of the seven-layered plexipave surface he played on at the SAAP complex. Back home in Pakistan, no such facility existed, he admitted. Hyderabad proved lucky for the 24-year old from Karachi, who had won three legs of the four-event Pakistan satellite tour recently.
The sparse would surface one day and disappear for the next two days. That Hyderabad's own Vishal Punna crashed out of the quarter-finals hardly helped matters. A day before, his brother Vikas ran into eventual winner, Aqeel Khan, with predictable results. Thus was effectively erased whatever semblance of hope there was of arousing local interest in the six-day event.
The enthusiasm of the organisers should have been watered down considerably but one hopes they will remain undeterred and make bids with renewed vigour, not only to host such events in future but attract better public participation as well. Tennis aficionados would do well in the meantime to spread the word around and turn out in large numbers to take in the action.
A. JOSEPH ANTONY
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