Shiv Khanna is an Eleventh-standard scholar of the Sanskriti School in Delhi. Like many of the younger tennis gamers, he has Roger Federer as his idol. His doting father Vidur Khanna, a profitable businessman within the jewelry and hospitality sector, took his son to Wimbledon just a few years in the past. The boy ended up watching Rafael Nadal in motion on the Centre Court.
So what’s particular? The boy isn’t a prodigy although he’s devoted to tennis and has been coaching for the previous few years for round 4 hours with coach Gaurav Sharma day-after-day.
Unlike each different boy who’s keen about rising within the sport and having desires of competing in Wimbledon some day, Shiv is pushed by his enthusiasm to help wheelchair tennis within the nation. It is uncommon to discover a younger tennis participant like him who needs to gentle up the lives of others.
“In Wimbledon, I saw wheelchair tennis for the first time. I was fascinated,” recalled Shiv after efficiently internet hosting a wheelchair match in Delhi for the second time lately.
“Last year, we did the tournament in a hurry. This year we planned it better. We messaged family and friends to raise money. Next year, we want to host an ITF tournament for wheelchair players so that they can improve their world ranking,” stated Shiv, who has launched a basis, Aces on Wheels, to help wheelchair tennis.
“This year, we had 21 men and five women in the fray. We want to do everything possible to help more play the game, give them all support in terms of better infrastructure, better quality wheelchairs, better training. Most of the players are from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Maybe, next year we will do a tournament in Bengaluru or Chennai to help players avoid long travel,” stated Shiv, revealing his plans — outstanding certainly for a boy so younger.
Vidur, Shiv’s father, has helped his son discover help in knowledgeable manner. He has opened an internet site acesonwheels.com to publish the inspirational tales of the 4 main gamers within the nation — Balachandar Subramanian, Karthik Karunakaran, Shekar Veeraswamy and Durai Mariappan. Though the web site stays a piece in progress, just like the undertaking itself, it has already attracted many eyeballs.
“Shiv’s dream has become our dream. We have jumped into this project with all our heart. Last year was a stepping stone for us to understand the sport and the players. We have spoken to the players, including the women, to understand their challenges. We have been joined by others with the same passion to take Indian wheelchair tennis forward,” stated Vidur.
Shiv Khanna with AITA president Anil Jain, DLTA president Rohit Rajpal presenting the winner’s cheque to Karthik Karunakaran in Delhi.
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As a lot as they’re eager to creating extra tennis courts throughout the nation accessible for wheelchair gamers, the father-son duo is especially excited about getting extra girls to play the sport.
“We have an entrepreneur Nalina Kumari. She plays the game and also tries to support the wheelchair community. Our best woman player is K.P. Shilpa. She wants to be in the top-50 in the world,” stated Vidur.
Shilpa, ranked a career-best 126 final 12 months, has been taking part in on the worldwide circuit from 2014. She has competed principally in Malaysia and Thailand aside from figuring in two tournaments in Australia final 12 months. International wheelchair tennis occasions in India might be a significant help for gamers like Shilpa to enhance their world standings.
The wheelchair makes a world of distinction.
“In the final, you could easily make out the difference between the wheelchairs used by Karthik and Shekar. Karthik had imported his wheelchair from London. It costs more than five lakhs. Shekar is very talented but he could not be that quick with his wheelchair which costs around ₹50,000,” defined Vidur.
There are many hurdles for wheelchair gamers, however Shiv and his father are decided to commit time and vitality to mobilise assets for enhancing and sustaining the expansion of wheelchair tennis within the nation.