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Krishna packs the punch

M D Riti, in Bangalore

When they chose chief minister S M Krishna to be their president, it was 'advantage' Karnataka State Lawn tennis Association all the way.

After a very long time, the association, under the leadership of its new chieftain, will see some of the tennis greats of the country on its clay courts this week. This summer festival of tennis was the brainchild of Krishna, who is all set to give the fading association a new lease on life.

And this is only to be a small beginning. The rest of Krishna's grand plans, if they materialise, should certainly put Karnataka on the international tennis map in a short while. In September, he plans to organise a 'Legends' tournament, in which some of the best international players, mostly from the past, like Mats Wilander, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Yannick Noah and Jimmy Connors, will play.

Tennis superstar Mahesh Bhupathi's father C G K Bhupathi, who heads the programme committee of the association under Krishna, is all appreciation for Krishna's enthusiasm. "He seems to love the game so much that it's a pleasure to watch him plan all these activities," he says. "He is certainly the only chief minister I know of to have readily accepted the stewardship of a tennis association, and actively participated in its planning, despite his numerous other pressures."

As soon as Krishna took over the association, he began, quite typically, by giving them a huge document, which he called a vision plan. This plan envisages that in four years, Karnataka would have no less than 400 public tennis courts. About 100 of these would be built every year. Krishna's tenure as chief minister also comes up for review by the electorate in four years' time, if he is fortunate enough to last that long.

Then, he hopes to develop the tennis stadium in Cubbon Park into a popular international centre that will become a part of the WTA and ATP tours. This centre would have 40 coaches attached to it. A professional management team would run this centre efficiently. Talented local adolescents and children would be adopted and groomed to professional standards.

Typically again, Krishna quickly followed his proposal by action. He shot off missives to district commissioners to identify suitable land for building public tennis courts in all their territories. Half a dozen DCs responded immediately. Even before the district courts have come up, Krishna has put out advertisements in all the local newspaper everywhere calling for skilled and experiences tennis coaches.

Krishna is even ambitious enough as to dream of holding the World Doubles Championships in Bangalore, shifting from its venue of Hartford, USA. He has invited senior ATP officials to visit the KSLTA courts to study their facilities, and ATF has apparently promised to do so.

To the delight of the members of the association, Krishna is not just going to sit back, organise all these exciting tournaments and then enjoy them as a spectator from the grandstand. He intends to actually play in them, starting with the ongoing summer festival, where he will grace the courts with old friends Vijay Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan on June 1 and 2.

Although he no longer has the time to play tennis, his former tennis partners recall that he had a good forehand, could lob some terrific volleys and play an overhead shot from any point in the court. He usually played at the Bangalore Club courts. Club sources reveal that they have spotted Krishna sneaking in for a game or two even after he took over the reins of the State some months ago.