Double devotion
Leander Paes’ recent mixed doubles win at Wimbledon was another shining moment for India, but are we throwing up tennis stars for the future, too?
K. Datta

There was an air of expectation in the early March chill of Chandigarh in 1990, as a young lad from Kolkata was about to take the court in the Davis Cup for India. Zeeshan Ali stepped on court with Kolkata city-mate Leander Paes to face the Japanese duo of Shuzo Matsuoka and Shinego Ota in the crucial doubles. Paes was nearly three months short of his 17th birthday, but had fierce determination in his eyes.

The lad, whose sporting pedigree was well known, being the offspring of Dr Vece Paes (Olympic hockey player) and Jennifer Paes (basketball), caught the imagination of a country searching for a successor to Ramesh Krishnan. Quite the opposite in demeanour and with an open display of emotions on court, Leander announced his arrival in a fiercely contested five-set win over the Japanese in the decisive doubles.

The same hunger for success has carried him through more than two decades, with him capturing yet another Grand Slam title at Wimbledon this year, weeks after celebrating his 37th birthday. In between came the Olympic bronze medal at Atlanta in singles, though Leander went on to become world number one in doubles and continues to be ranked as high as number six with his fierce competitive spirit that spurs him on to greater glory.

A year after his baptism by fire at Chandigarh, Leander turned professional. A product.of the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy, the boy knew quite early in life that he had a future in the game. There were others, too, at the academy in those years, who were to serve Indian tennis later, Rohit Rajpal among them, but in single-minded determination, talent and longevity, none could match Leander.

Like the eras of Ramanathan Krishnan and Vijay Amritraj, Leander can claim a whole epoch in Indian tennis, even if it may not be as illustrious as the earlier ones. Krishnan, 72, twice Wimbledon semi-finalist in 1960 and 1961, was the supreme touch artist of his time, able to hold his own against the serve-and-volley opponents of the 1960s from Australia, America and Europe. With the late Premjit Lall and Jaidip Mukerjea, Krishnan made Indian tennis a force to reckon with in world tennis, India reached the Davis Cup final in 1966, when they lost to formidable Australia 1-4. State recognition for Krishnan came in the shape of a Padma Bhushan.

The high points of the Amritraj era that followed were India’s entry into the Davis Cup finals in 1974 and 1987. For all the pleas by Amritraj, the government refused the Indian team permission to play South Africa, a country with which there were no diplomatic relations then because of its apartheid policy. The next time India were there, they found the Swedes too good for them in the freezing Gothenburg winter.

The Davis Cup is the tennis equivalent of the soccer world cup, so to say. That is where patriotism comes into the picture. In the Davis Cup, a tennis player plays for his country. Ask any young Indian tennis player what his ambition is and he’ll tell you it is to play in the Davis Cup. That’s where Leander is seen proudly displaying the Tricolour. For that matter, he is fired up whenever and wherever asked to take the court in the cause of the country. Leander has the unique distinction of having taken part in five Olympic Games, winning the bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics and being chosen as India’s flag-bearer at Sydney. These events will remain two of the proudest moments of his life.

After 20 years as a Davis Cup player and captain, Leander, now approaching middle age, still has the same old passion he first showed when he made his debut for the country in Chandigarh in the spring of 1990. A new generation of Indian players has risen since then. For the sake of Indian tennis, how one wishes several more of them could show the same burning zeal for the game. There is the US-based professional Somdev Dev Varman, but India is in dire need of a few more players of hiscalibre.

Last year, Yuki Bhambri, from a tennis-playing family of Delhi, created a stir by winning the junior singles title at the Australian Open. It remains to be seen if the Bollettieri Tennis Academy-trained lad will be able to fill the void that will be left when Leander finally decides to hang his racquet. The state of health of Indian tennis can be declared as sound when there is a solid base of dozens of young players capable of making an impact in the increasingly competitive world of the senior game.

For all the tennis academies that one hears of, there is not much talent to do the country proud on the big stage. Even Sania Mirza, who once figured in the 30s in the world women’s rankings, has slipped below the 100 point. The US-born Oberoi sisters lent some strength to the Indian Women’s Federation Cup team, but they are no longer eligible because of the Sports Ministry policy that only Indian passport holders can find a place on national teams.

If you have the talent and the determination, tennis can open the door to a secure future, as the Paes and Bhupathys, and before them, the Amritraj brothers, Krishnan and son Ramesh have shown. The Amritraj siblings combined their talent for tennis with sharp business acumen and are well settled in California. Vijay has also made a name for himself as a tennis commentator and has had the distinction of serving as a United Nations Messenger of Peace. `A0In the case of Paes and Bhupathy, they have proved that there is a life even after a tennis player ceases playing singles. There's more fun to be had playing doubles, men's or mixed.

Stand apart
Sachin Kalra

Does entering the gym give you jitters? Do terms like dead lift, bench press, and squats seem totally foreign. Well, do not despair. Here, we take up an exercise and give you in-depth knowledge about it. So, next time you enter a gym or talk about exercising....you feel like a pro.

It is everybody’s dream to have strong, lean and sexy legs. And it takes more than just the typical exercises to get a pair. The following exercises are recommended to strengthen and tone up your legs. These can be done by both men and women. Care should be taken that these are done after a proper warm-up and stretching session. When performing these exercises, you should strive to complete 10-15 repetitions, rest for 30-60 seconds, and then do another set of 10-15 repetitions. A total of 2-3 sets should be done. The motion during the exercises should be smooth. Do not pause or make jerky movements. Doing lunges is a good way to get great legs.

Muscles used: This exercise works the quadriceps, hamstrings, rear, hip flexors and calf muscles.Equipment needed: None for beginners, dumbbells for advanced. Method: To start, stand with your hands on your hips or two dumbbells at your side, feet almost shoulder width apart and your upper body erect. Then, step forward with your right foot while keeping your left foot in place. Keep your back straight and abdominal tight and then lower your body until your left knee is about 3 to 4 inches off the ground. Next, push with your right foot into the floor in an upward and backward motion to return to the starting position.Repeat the movement until you have performed the desired number of repetitions and sets for your right leg. Then, do the same for your left.

Walking lunges develop strong, lean legs. This exercise places emphasis on the glutes (butt). Walking lunges feel more natural than stationary lunges. Hold a pair of dumbbells to add resistance and increase balance. Walking lunges transfer well to sport and life

With this move you use no weight and hold on to a wall or chair for balance. This allows you to focus on your form without other distractions.

For bitter or for worse
Experts caution against the bitter juice of bottle gourd, cucumber

After the recent death of a scientist due to the drinking of lauki (bottle gourd) juice, doctors and health experts have warned people against intake of the juices of gourds, pumpkins and other vegetables of the cucumber family as they have high levels of toxins.

Sushil Kumar Saxena, 59, a senior deputy secretary at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) died in New Delhi after drinking lauki juice. He complained the juice was quite bitter but still drank it. Soon afterwards, he began vomitting blood and died. Doctors said that bitter-tasting juice should be avoided. "People should not take juices of such vegetables as they are toxic. It may lead to diarrhoea, bleeding and vomitting. Bitter-tasting juice should be avoided," A.K. Seth of B.L. Kapoor Memorial Hospital said. Seth said that several such cases had come up in the Capital earlier, too. However, some doctors feel that lauki juice is good for health, but advise that it should be avoided if it is too bitter. "Lauki juice is an excellent remedy for excessive thirst caused by diarrhoea, over consumption of fatty or fried foods, and diabetes. But before making a glass of this juice or from any other gourd vegetable, people should discard a vegetable which is too bitter as it may have toxin content," says Subha Sabarwal, head of the Department of Dietetics at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi.

According to nutritionist Saschi Sohal, vegetables like bottle gourd, cucumber, squash, pumpkin and melon are healthy, but can turn deadly if the bitter parts are not removed before eating. "These parts have harmful substances called tetracyclic triterpenoids or the cucurbitacins compound, which can be very poisonous if they taste unusually bitter. It's better to cook or avoid bitter-tasting varieties of the cucumber family," she said. "Due to increased usage of chemicals and fertilisers, the vegetables toxin level increases. — IANS