CLTA felicitates Sanam

Officials at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) stadium were taken by surprise on Tuesday as they prepared to felicitate Chandigarh’s poster boy of tennis,Sanam K Singh. The huge boards near the stadium,announcing the felicitation,effortlessly drew in the crowds and their ever-increasing number kept the officials and guards on their toes.

Inside,budding players watched Asian Games gold medalist Sanam conduct a clinic,enthusiastically waiting for his autograph and photograph. Sanam happily signed autographs,clicked photos with them and also replied to their queries. Soon,the attention shifted towards the centre-court where Sanam played an exhibition match with top CLTA players. More crowd poured in and Sanam gracefully accepted the cheers. “This is where I have spent the formative years of my life and all memories of CLTA are still fresh in my mind. I have so many good memories here. I miss this a lot. It feels great to come back here and being honoured. This means a lot to me,” said the player,who was part of the Junior Development Programme at CLTA from 1997 to 2003.

Along with CHART trainees Sachin Kumar,Sanam took on the duo of Vijayant Malik and Ajay Yadav in a doubles match. Acknowledging every winning shot hit by his partner,Sanam gave a tough time to the opponents. Though he lost the match,Sanam seemed to enjoy his outing at the venue where he had played in junior sections. A bright golden memento was presented to Sanam,who was present with his mother Roopa Singh.

Sanam said how it was an awkward moment for him when his former CLTA mates sought his autograph. All praise for CLTA,the 22-year-old said: “When I played here,they had the best system in India. It was the hard work of the coaches and the officials that I have reached here.”