Nursery of Tennis talent
Sarbjit Dhaliwal

At first glance Jassowal-Kular village, which is situated a little off the highway to Ludhiana from Jagraon, appears to be like any other normal Punjab village. But its sports connection makes it special. Nestling in the rural ambience is a tennis academy — Harvest Tennis Academy — which is like a virtual wonderland in the area.

The brain behind seting up this academy in a non-descript village is Harvinder Saran, alias Harvee, and his brother Hardeepak Saran, who is a former IAS officer.

"Love for the village and Punjab brought me back here from Canada where I am in the business of building apartments", says Harvinder.

Vigorous training sessions build up budding players’ stamina

"I was just 12 when I left for the Philippines and then moved to Canada in 1969. I returned to the village in 2004 to do something for my motherland", he adds. He started building the academy in 2005.

"I started at a small level. It took almost five years to create world class infrastructure at the academy", said Harvinder, who has spent Rs 20 crore till date to set up the academy and an international residential co-educational school with curriculum based on national curriculum of the UK.

"I spend Rs 30 lakh per month and the return is just of Rs 10 lakh from the academy", he adds. The world class training comes free of cost for the budding players from the village and the nearby area. However, others have to pay and fee ranges from Rs 3,500 to Rs 35,000 per month, depending on the training programme one joins. As many as 70 trainees of senior and junior levels are undergoing training at the academy at present.

Spread over 2.5 acres, the academy now has all facilities and infrastructure available in the best tennis academies in the world. There are 14 floodlit tennis courts and 11 of these are deco turf courts and three are clay courts. The school campus also has a mini stadium with Central Court.

There is a state-of-the-art gym, swimming pool, and grounds for other games, too, on the premises.

There are three types of accommodation for trainees — dormitories, pre-fabricated accommodation and hostel, all with air-conditioned facility. Besides Director Coaching Gurvinder Singh Sahota, there are 10 certified level 1 and level 2 coaches. Three of them are Australians. There are three trainers, one physiotherapist, one doctor and one sports psychologist and one dietician. Apartments have been built for coaches and other staff.

Stringent training and physical fitness schedule are an important part of the trainees’ daily routine at the academy. "Our endeavour is to equip the players with technical, mental and physical abilities to endure the pressures of the game at the highest level", says Harvinder. And the efforts are already bearing fruit as two girls — Rajbir and Rimpledeep — from the village, have made a name at national level in tennis. There are girls from Mumbai and other places in the country. "Our trainees have started showing results in different competitions", says Hardeepak.

Recently the academy also hosted the Asian Tennis Ranking competition for different age groups in which players from India, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries participated.

Twist in T20 tale
Abhijit Chatterjee

It was billed as one of the richest cricket tournament outside the World Cups. With a winners’ cheque of Rs 30 crore, the Champions League T20 saw the best T20 club sides of the world competing in a tournament where the games were intense. It is only a pity that the much-hyped Indian teams with their pricy players failed to make a mark. And to top it all the tournament failed to get fans of the game to the stadiums or the television audiences at homes to sit in front of their sets. What was the reason? Was it indifference on the part of the fans, was it viewer fatigue or was it something more?

One probable reason for the poor spectator response to the Champions League could be the lack of big names in the teams, including the home teams, which took part in the tournament. There was no Dhoni, no Tendulkar, no Harbhajan Singh and no Yuvraj in the teams which battled for honours in the Champions League. And the Indian players who did take part do not have the kind of fan following that these big names have.

Of course the Champions League tournament had its share of pluses in spite of playing in front of near empty stands. From a pure cricket perspective, the standard of cricket and the standard of matches was superb. The Champions League Twenty20 gave the West Indians the chance to see the true strength of West Indian cricket once again.

For the lesser known players the competition has given them opportunity to showcase their talent and the capacity to prepare themselves for international cricket, as well as opportunities to play for other domestic teams when their schedules allow, whether that occurs in India, Australia, South Africa or elsewhere. It is quite likely that some of the IPL teams might want to scout for less expensive talent from the teams which took part,

But what should worry the stakeholders of the tournament, the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, is the drop in television viewership of the tournament, because it is in this viewership that gets the real money to the organizers. As long as the local teams, Royal Challengers in Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils in Delhi and Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad, were in the fray the telecasters could ask, and did get, the broadcast fee for the advertisement spots. But once these teams made an exit (all Indian teams failed to make the knockout grade) the television viewership fell dramatically and with it the rates for advertisement spots fell too, though nobody is willing to disclose it openly.

One only hopes that fans that stayed away from the stadiums this time around do not do so in the future. Otherwise the tournament would be doomed and that would be a disaster for the young cricketers from around the world who are hoping to catch the eyes of the big teams (read Indian IPL team owners) with their performances.

Fit Zone
It’s all in the mind
Bharat Thakur

Out of the millions inhabiting every corner of the world, there are only a few who catch our eye and appear to be different from the rest. Something about their personality seems to draw us to them and makes us want to believe every word they say; whether true or not.

What is it about some people that makes them so charming? Usually it has nothing to do with looks. How a person is on the outside does not affect his inner true self. It is all about how you carve yourself mentally and emotionally. You need to control your mental and emotional being. You may do numerous asanas to work on different parts of the body, but you reap the true benefits of yoga when you are also able to work on your mind and your attitude. After all, in the words of the great sage Patanjali, chitt vritti nirodhah" or Yoga is a technique of control of mind.

The eight-fold path to yoga or Ashtang yoga comprises yama, niyama, pratyahara, asana, pranayama, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. The first three, i.e. yama, niyama and pratyahara help one to gain control over mind. They teach the basic principles of leading a good and peaceful life; something that we often choose to ignore and hence make our lives complicated. Having a set of values to abide by, good physical and mental hygiene and control over senses makes one strong and fearless and a source of inspiration for others. You will become so independent that you will not be affected by the world around you. You will not have to look anywhere for solutions to problems. The solution will come from within. You will not have to depend on anyone for happiness. You will be the source of your own happiness. If you look at the world around you, this is what most people lack and this is also what only a few possess that makes them charming and magnetic.

A good leader is one who has the clarity of mind and control over his senses. Trataka helps in balancing the nervous system and develops a strong will power, memory and concentration. Nadi Shodhana Asana balances and harmonises the flow of energy in the body. Moorchha Pranayama takes this balance to a higher-level cutting out distractions from the outside world and helps in attaining a high state of mental tranquility.