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Team Punjab Marshalls owner Gurpreet Singh spoke exclusively to Sportskeeda about the upcoming Champions Tennis League, and he is confident of the league’s success.
Here are excerpts of the interview:
What made you choose tennis over other sports?
I am a keen follower of tennis. I played the sport when i was in school and was greatly inspired by the likes of Vijay Amritraj, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and others. Tennis is not played all over the country due to lack of training facilities and infrastructure. We want to make sure the sport gets maximum reach not only in Punjab, but throughout the country.
How will you ensure that young players at schools and colleges take up tennis?
We are working on a ‘Child to Champion’ model wherein kids in schools are given access to all the necessary facilities to learn the sport and take it up as a career. We want to see them represent the nation at international events in the future. Most schools in Punjab have lawn tennis courts and there are coaches who nurture young talented players. There will be school level competitions to start with. Best schools will then feature at the district and the state levels.
Punjab is known for world-class boxers and wrestlers. Do you think the state will embrace tennis?
People of Punjab love tennis. There are many people who play it on a regular basis. Jalandhar has many tennis courts which are of the highest quality. Yes, it is a fact that over the years, boxing and wrestling have traditionally been the most popular sports in the state. We are proud that many medallists come from this region. But, it takes time for any sport to gain that sort of a popularity. We are confident that people will come in large numbers to witness matches of Champions Tennis League.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has become a successful model since its inception in 2008, but that could be because cricket is considered to be a religion in India. Do you expect the CTL to have the same kind of impact in the coming years?
Of course. We cannot deny the fact that cricket remains the most popular sport in the country. Other sports are slowly catching up. We saw many leagues succeed – be it the Indian Badminton League (IBL), Kabaddi league or the recently started Indian Super League (ISL). We hope tennis gets the same kind of reception from the people of India.
How will the CTL help Indian players?
The CTL sees the participation of top ranked players from around the world. They have years of experience playing at the highest level. Indian players can learn a lot from them just by spending time with them be in off court or in practise sessions. There will also be two young Indian players in every team who do not play in the league, but accompany the team throughout the tournament. They will get plenty of encouragement and support from senior players and that can only help them in the long run.
There will be two tennis leagues in the next few weeks. How is the CTL different from the IPTL?
Both of them are different leagues. The CTL is focussed primarily on Indian tennis and spread across six cities. We are not competing with the IPTL in any way. Our aim is to give the Indian players international exposure.
Your team has a mix of experience and youth in Greg Rusedski, David Ferrer, Somdev Devvarman and Garbine Muguruza. Your thoughts on the team.
We have a very balanced team for the tournament. Greg Rusedski has been a terrific player. His experience will definitely help the team. We are proud to have ‘The Wall’ David Ferrer in our team. He is known for his fighting abilities and always gives his 100% on the court.
Somdev is India’s highest ranked singles player. He has played a lot under these conditions and won a crucial match for India in the Davis Cup recently. Garbine is an upcoming talent. She has caused a few upsets on the WTA tour. We expect our team to go all the way in the CTL.
There is no information on fees paid to each player in the league. Why was this kept a secret from the media?
It was a conscious decision taken by Vijay Amritraj and the owners of all teams. The fees was discussed with the player agents and we reached an agreement with the players.
Who do you think is your toughest competitor in the league?
I think Bangalore has a very good team. They will definitely be a threat to other teams, Having said that, any team can lose a match if it has a bad day. That is the beauty of sport.
When do you think your team can break even?
We can expect to break even in the third year.
