By IANS
Kolkata : With an eye on producing a Singles Grand Slam winner from India, tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi Saturday said his company Globosports, in partnership with Apollo Tyres, hopes to pick and groom talented youngsters.
Mahesh, along with a panel of experts, conducted a talent hunt in the city at the Jaidip Mukherjea Tennis Academy here to scout talent for the final selection for ‘Mission 2018’ — with the aim of producing a Singles Grand Slam winner form India.
“I think we have taken a step in the right direction to enable the players perform at the international level. The partnership between Apollo and my team is enabling us to fulfil a dream we have always had — to groom the right talent.
“I am confident that we will do something good for tennis and this country,” he said.
“The Britannia-Amritraj academy had begun one such project. But they did not go all the way. Still they were instrumental in producing some of the biggest tennis names in the country. We hope to go all the way with the weight and support behind us,” he said.
Hemant Kaul, Divisional Head, Corporate Communications, Apollo Tyres, said: “We plan to pump in Rs 1 billion over the next 10 years. We will provide all the support necessary for the player to blossom.”
The expert panel include C G K Bhupathi, Prahlad Srinath, Sandeep Kirtane, Manisha Malhotra, Health Mathews (International physical trainer) and Tony Beecroft (eminent physiotherapist).
On the programme format, Bhupathi said: “A select group of players are picked on the basis of their fitness, tennis intelligence and how they construct points. They will be in a residential camp in Bangalore where they will be groomed by our team of experts.”
“It also includes playing abroad and getting coaching abroad. And more importantly it will be a continuous process,” he added.
The panelist has already spotted 10 players in Bangalore and nine in Mumbai. Kolkata and New Delhi will complete the selection.