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Champ in the making
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Meet Sansitha Nandakumar, who serves her opponents out of contention
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SHE IS 10, slender and sports a boyish haircut. But don't get deceived by her looks. For, this kid turns in a powerhouse performance when she has a racquet in hand. She has already capped several district, State and All India tennis titles and is hungry for more. Meet Sansitha Nandakumar.
This Class four student of Vidhya Niketan School caught the attention of tennis buffs by clinching the under-10 title in the Air Mauritius Junior tournament in Chennai earlier this year. What surprised many was the way she played the game. She was fast, accurate and served her opponents out of contention in no time.
Sansitha managed to do that mainly because she has been tapping the yellow balls for hours together at the PSG Tech and Life Spring Sports Condo courts. "Her big advantage is her ground stroke," says her father, Nandakumar. "She hits the ball so hard that even boys of her age find it hard to return them," he adds.
As a child, Nandakumar dreamt of being a tennis player. But, owing to want of tennis courts in his village, he switched over to ball badminton. His dream came true when his daughter took to the racquet.
Sansitha started learning the sport as a six-year-old. A good amount of hard work saw her winning several district and State-level tournaments in the under-10, 12, 14 and even the under-18 age groups.
Her efforts also fetched her quite a few `Best Player' awards. But, the one she relishes most is the applause that she got from Bhupathi Senior in Bangalore last year.
Sansitha, like any other player, aims to reach the top. But, the areas she needs to improve upon are serve and volley. If she does that, she will develop the bite and staying power that will take her where she wants.
RAYAN ROZARIO
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