A nursery for young champions

Kalyan Ashok | NT

Bengaluru: The growth of any sport depends largely on grassroots development, in addition to other factors like financial and administrative support and proper infrastructure facilities. Tennis, which is one of the most popular sports in Karnataka and especially in Bengaluru is no exception.

In the last two decades, several tennis academies have sprung up in the city and quite a few are more concerned only about commercial success. It takes a visionary coach to look beyond commercial viability and focus on training young champions. Suraj Bikkannavar, who runs the Sol Sports Academy, a tennis training centre in the country, is one such coach.

Suraj is a former national player who excelled at junior and senior-level tournaments. He became a coach after completing certification from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and All India Tennis Association (AITA). He started his academy on a modest scale with just three clay courts and a handful of trainees in the neighborhood off Sarjapur Road in 2009. As the popularity of the academy grew, Sol Sports expanded its reach by establishing nine international specified courts in two centers at Sarjapur Road and Electronic City Phase 1.

The academy has 10 assistant coaches besides fitness trainers and physiotherapists.

“Majority of my trainees are in the age group of 7 to 18 years though we give training to 5-yearolds and adults as well,” says Suraj. “Our main focus is to provide a right environment for our youngsters to excel in the game at the State, National, and ultimately at International level,” explains Suraj on his objectives.

Suraj’s wards have done him proud with stellar performances. Speaking about their achievements, Suraj says, “Sol Sports has been one of the best academies in the country in terms of performance at a sub-junior and junior level. Our kids have been winning more than 50 AITA (All India Tennis Association) national tournaments every year for more than 6 to 7 years.

Our players have won the prestigious Nationals on four separate occasions in singles and twice in doubles. Tanussh Gildhiyal—current India No. 1 under 14—also the national champion in his age group is our trainee. Another champion is Kriish Tyagi —last year’s India No.1 U-14 and current No.4 U-16.

Sai Janavi.T, Sreenidhi Balaji, Sanjana Devineni are our other champions in their respective age categories. Aayush Bhat, the former under 12 and under 14 National champion was my trainee, top senior players Reshma Maruri, her sister Suhita Maruri and Soha Singh were also my trainees.”

He claims what sets Sol Sports apart from the rest is the innovative training methods with an emphasis on fitness.

“Playing at international level demands total fitness. We focus strongly on it for all our trainees with help of our fitness trainers and in our gym where we have strength building equipment” said Suraj.

Proper diet and good nutrition are also prescribed to the trainees. Tennis-wise, the youngsters are taught to enhance their mobility and agility besides sharpening their strokes and improving their overall skills. “Tennis is an evolving sport, so we are constantly innovating and adapting training methods in accordance with changes in the modern game,” says the coach.

During the lockdown, it was a real challenge for Suraj to keep the players in shape and in touch with tennis. He overcame that hurdle by designing online classes in tennis technique and fitness.“Our long-term goal is to build a narrative where Indian players should be able to train in India and still become world-class players competing at the biggest stages of the tennis world,” Suraj concluded.