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Advantage Sudan
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The immensely talented Sudanwa Sitaram has won a chance to train at Mahesh Bhupathi's academy
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PHOTO K ANANTHAN
PROUD MOMENT Tennis player Sudanwa Sitaram with his mother Sowmya Sitaram.
He is a tough cookie. It is this quality that has earned him a stint at the Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy (MBTA) in Bangalore. Meet Sudanwa Sitaram, a rising tennis player from Coimbatore.
Sudan, as he is fondly called, caught the attention of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association as well as the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs with his excellent run in 2005. The Ministry gave him a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh for his hard work.
Dubbed `workhorse' by his Italian coach Mose Naverra, 15-year-old Sudan started his career at the age of eight. For almost a year, he showed interest only in picking the balls. But he was learning a few basics from the sidelines. In the second year, he began whacking the ball and soon made winning a habit.
His first victory was at the children's under-10 event at the YMCA Triangle Tennis Trust in Chennai in 2001. Since then, he has managed to win almost every major tournament in his age group.
Bouncing back in style
In 2004, he was injured and almost written off, but he bounced back in style the following year. He won seven major tournaments. His victories include the Nike Junior Masters in Bangalore and the Asian under-14 Series at Dhaka and Mumbai.
He also finished runners-up in the Masters tournament, Asian under-14 series in Delhi, the under-14 national series in Mumbai and the under-16 national series in Delhi.
His exploits at the Nutrine Naturo, Nike Junior Masters and Asian championships earned him an opportunity to play in France and Australia. And the tennis greats he got to watch there included the likes of Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. He still remembers the advice of former Wimbledon great Margaret Court after reaching the final of the Asian under-14 Masters in Melbourne, Australia.
Sudan lost at Nice to the top seed and eventual winner of Nike Junior Tournament International Masters, but won kind words from the French press. "Boys under-14 top seed Radim Urbanek hardly raised a sweat as he raced past Sudanwa Sitaram of India 6-1 6-0 in just 45 minutes. Despite the scoreline, credit has to go to the youngster from India who never gave up, chasing down every ball," they wrote.
Sudan owes his success to the early training he got from Manoj Kumar and K.S. Vaidyanathan, father of Indian tennis star Nirupama. His school, Stanes Higher Secondary School, has also played a vital role. "Without the constant motivation and support of my Principal Jacob and all my teachers, it would have been very difficult for me to concentrate on the court," says the youngster.
His biggest asset is his will power. "He has come back into the game many a times after trailing," says his mother Sowmya Sitaram. Sudan is currently training under Mose Navarre and ex-Davis Cupper Prahalad Srinath and is confident that they will shape him to reach greater heights.
RAYAN ROZARIO
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