This is unprecedented in world sports history. In this time and era how could this happen is the question. With more than a million people in the air travelling around the world at a given time, Corona circumvented the planet in a very short time and became a pandemic. In a single stroke and in [...]

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Corona stops global tennis

Davis Cup guide
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This is unprecedented in world sports history. In this time and era how could this happen is the question. With more than a million people in the air travelling around the world at a given time, Corona circumvented the planet in a very short time and became a pandemic.

In a single stroke and in mere weeks, Corona has brought sporting traditions to a halt. These are traditions which made sports to be what it is today over the last one hundred years. The restrictions imposed to stop the spreading are gravely touching sporting participation, profession and values. They are inevitable and how long it would last, how much it would cost and how much it would change sports globally are the growing concerns.

Professional bodies have stopped all global competition to tide over the Corona threat. This does not mean that the events will go ahead after that. Tennis events involves travel and close grouping, both detrimental in curtailing the virus spreading. Premier league football in Europe is played without spectators.

Sports news will be missed

The two major professional tennis spring events in the USA, Indian Wells and Miami Open cancelled this year’s events. Each would incur loss of over 50 million dollars and the players their prize money. The cancellation of events would touch the validity of the global rankings. An enthusiasm loss towards the ranking would certainly follow.

Physical and social interaction is the basis of sports. With the extreme precautionary measures in place, for a good while people are going to miss sports news. It is a good time to dig into sports history, an area from which too little has come out to educate the world. Players’ ethical conduct will improve knowing sports history.

Why our poor tennis standard?

Sri Lanka went down tamely to Paraguay in the Davis Cup tie. It is their match play ability that gave Paraguayan Tennis the easy win. Unlike ours, Paraguay is a country with 40 tennis courts in one club. All the Tennis courts we have in the island could be in three clubs in Paraguay. With tennis being played all the time, Paraguayan players’ tactical approach and efficiency is sky high compared to ours. Sri Lanka lost this Davis Cup tie without winning a set. This leaves questions unanswered for us.

From early 1990s ITF started coach’s development programme with stringent inlet standards to be a coach. They insisted on very high standard of playing ability to enter the coaching profession. Then the programme was high-jacked. For other reasons, they have made even a court helping hand an ITF certified coach. When coach’s recruitment standards are brought down the teaching standards also dropped, mere bucket ball hitting stroke makers appeared. Some young players do not even play a set for months.

Now we have 50 times more coaches than good players. In short, with short sighted approach, ITF which serves their sponsoring sports good manufacturers more than tennis players, free-for-all coach’s inlet programme high jacked our national tennis for employment sector. This somewhat amounts to cheating parents and young players. Tennis coaching is not a paper qualification. I do not think officials are unaware about this even now.

In the last 20 years no player has entered WTA or ATP top 100 rankings living in Sri Lanka. (Harshana Godamanne was developed in Thailand with his parents bearing immense cost and it is the same with Shamal Dissanayake even now)

Now what is left is for the controlling bodies is to walk back 20 years and erase the work of the past decisions made by people who were only interested in procuring positions in the local tennis committee, IOC and that of ITF. I am sad that I have to state this. Many past players will join me in this lamentation. Right now what we have is 10,000 players starting tennis at 8 years of age and almost all giving up before 14 years. Sad!

Davis Cup – another restart?

After every Davis Cup defeat, a great deal of lamentation, promise of a new era and insignificant highlights always follows. It is the broken record playing the same tune over and over again.

What happened in Paraguay is not a surprise for those who understand competition tennis. Paraguay is situated between Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The three tennis giants of the world always had Grand Slam winners and top hundred players by the numbers. With that type of competition available at their doorstep, their under 16 boys walked passed our team with the greatest ease. Their national standard is way above ours and their programme of elite player development is a tightly associated with past players.

The main abilities of an elite player are their playing and tactical ability. This cannot be taught but only be infused by playing ten practice sets/matches five times a week. If a past player could give a feedback to the players, it will be even more effective. Another is good coaches play sets with students. All prospering countries follow ATP and WTA approach in development strategy. We should also do so.

—George Paldano, Int. competition player; Accredited Coach of German Tennis Federation; National coach Brunei, Sri Lanka, Davis-Cup & Federation-Cup. geodano2015@gmail.com

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