When Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) launched its new initiative to popularize wheelchair tennis in Mumbai recently, the centre court was set alight by two-time wheelchair Grand Slam doubles winner Jayant Mistry of the UK. However, even as officials made tall assurances that Mumbai would be on the world map of wheelchair tennis soon, 100 metres away, a set of partially hidden rusting wheelchairs barely managed to hide the tale of a previously failed attempt.

Back in 2004-05, MSLTA had launched a similar programme, picking four to five disabled athletes from city to train them. However, after initial enthusiasm, the whole exercise came to a halt. Contact between MSLTA and trainees too broke down to the extent that MSLTA did not even invite its previous trainees at the launch of the new initiative.

“I came to know about the new initiative through newspaper reports,” said Satyaprakash Tiwari, one of the leading disabled athletes from Mumbai who has represented India in various disciplines at international events including wheelchair tennis.

Despite failing in its previous attempt, the MSLTA president believes the launch of a new programme will be welcome. “The initiative was launched to get new trainees introduced to wheelchair tennis. There was no need to invite previous trainees who had already gone through training,” explained Bharat Oza, president of MSLTA, who is also joint secretary of the All-India Tennis Association (AITA).

Oza also refuses to believe that the previous attempt was a failure. “It wasn’t a failure but we could not sustain it for various reasons. After the initial enthusiasm, the athletes started skipping training and later our coaches were busy from time to time with regular tennis activities that is our primary concern,” said Oza.

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