Bajwa retains U-16 national tennis title
Bajwa has had an envious track record this year.
Paramveer Singh Bajwa in action. (Source: Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
No matter how many times he tried, Paramveer Singh Bajwa couldn’t suppress the excitement in his voice. Even though he doesn’t always wear his heart on his sleeve, Bajwa let his emotions go after winning the boys U-16 singles title in the 8th Ramesh Desai National tennis championship for under-16 and under-12 at the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association’s courts in Mumbai on Saturday.
After all, Bajwa had successfully defended the title he won last year and once again asserted his supremacy in the under-16 age category with a dominant performance against Maharashtra’s Rian Pandole in the final, where he won 6-3, 6-1. “I shouldn’t be saying this but it was an easy match. The weather was very hot and I thought I would need a lot of stamina to beat Rian. I was keeping a watchful eye on him but I never expected to win so easily,” said Bajwa, his voice choking with emotion as he spoke to Newsline over phone from Mumbai.
Bajwa has had an envious track record this year. Just over a month ago, he made it to the three-member Indian team for the Asia/Oceania groups stage of the under-16 junior Davis Cup and then reached the final of the AITA Rs 1 lakh men’s and women’s tennnis tournament held at CLTA early this month. Now, with another Nationals title under his belt, Bajwa is literally on a roll. “My confidence got a boost after the junior Davis Cup and then I defeated some of the top players in the country in the AITA Rs one lakh tournament. It was definitely one of my best performances. Moreover, I have been working on my fitness with my coach Gurvarinder sir and it is paying off,” added Bajwa, who is currently No.3 in AITA U-16 rankings.
In fact, fitness was the key that led to Bajwa’s rise to stardom in the last one year. Once he regained full fitness, he went on to win U-16 National Series titles at Kolkata and Mumbai and followed it up with the U-16 Nationals at Mumbai last year. He also reached the last four of Delhi Nationals last year. Bajwa has successfully made an impact at the ITF juniors tournaments, reaching semi-finals in three out of the ten tournaments he has played till now.
“This is my last year in U-16 age category. Now, I will be focusing on men’s and junior ITF tournaments,” said the Class XI student of DAV School, Sector 15.
Delighted with the way Bajwa is racking up titles, his coach Gurvarinder Singh Sahota, Director Coaching of Tennis Excellence Academy- where Bajwa trains, said,”Bajwa has shown a lot of promise in the last one year. Now I want him to take it to the next level. He has already played Grade 4 and 5 ITF juniors tournaments. To become a better player, I want him to play in Grade 1, 2 and 3 tournaments. I am sure he will go on to become a top player for India in the future.”
Bajwa, who originally hails from Jalandhar but moved to Chandigarh five years ago for better facilities in the sport, is already working on his dreams and will fly to Indonesia next month to take part in ITF Juniors Grade 3 tennis tournament.
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