Ramesh, in the City as part of CLTA's coaching schemes for juniors, also happens to be the chairman of AITA's junior coaching scheme. He felt that with the infrastructure and the coaches the CLTA has at its disposal, it could play a lead role in the mushrooming of young talent at the regional and national level.

``They have all the three surface courts (clay, synthetic and grass) and I am very impressed with the way they function. The youngsters have the advantage of practising on the clay (best, he feels), availing the synthetic courts (match play) and fine tuning their technique on grass. The physical fitness aspect is also taken proper care of and the results show for themselves. CLTA's products, Akshay Vishal Rao and Sunil Kumar have been doing wonderfully well at the sub-junior level and I am confident of more and more youngsters following their footsteps,'' Ramesh said.

However, one thing that was rankling Ramesh was the lack of major tournaments at this level. ``We don't have many good tournaments and this hinders the development of a young player. He can implement whatever he learns from practising only in a match situation. If more and more tournaments are conducted, the players will be richer through exposure and the points they earn,'' Ramesh stressed.

Giving details of the proposed AITA camp-cum-clinic, Ramesh informed that around 30-34 players in the age group of 12-14 years would be selected from the different zones of the country and then put through the grind. He also said that he has proposed holding of a coaches' workshop to the AITA as well. ``The weather would be fine in November (proposed month). Lets hope the AITA finalises the final modalities of the camp-cum-clinic soon,'' he said.

``I think Chandigarh has very good young talent. Not only their game but the way they carry themselves off the court, they are very good ambassadors of the City's culture. Very soon you will find players from Chandigarh breaking into the national Davis Cup squad. This will be a further boost to tennis in the City,'' felt he.

``Why only Chandigarh. CLTA should evolve other cities of the region -- Amritsar, Patiala, Yamunanagar -- and spread the tennis culture. Only then will we be able to produce champions.''

Ramesh also approved CLTA's Rural Talent Search Scheme. Sunil Kumar, incidentally, came into reckoning only through this scheme. Rajan Kashyap further invited Ramesh to be a consultant with CLTA. ``We are very happy to have him here. We feel we can benefit immensely through his experience. Our coaches, too, are learning his technique and hope to implement them in his absence. If he agrees, we will chart out a programme under which he will visit the centre frequently,'' Kashyap said, even as Ramesh was nodding his head in approval.

``With only 7-8 years of schemes behind us, we have such good results. We are proud of our achievements and as Ramesh felt, we will try to put in more good tournaments for the youngsters,'' Kashyap promised.

If indeed CLTA is lucky enough to rope in Ramesh, a new dimension in tennis in the region is on the cards.