‘Hope Prinkle, like Sania, will represent India at highest level’

Before the ITF World Junior competition, Prinkle, along with her team-mates Mahak Jain and Shivani Amineni, will visit Bangkok to take part in the ITF Asia 14 & under Development Championships-Division 1, that will be held from March 14 to 27, and face players from countries like China, Korea, Uzbekistan, Phillipines and Kazakhstan.

This will be Prinkle’s maiden appearance for the Indian team. Immediately after wrapping up the tournament, Prinkle will return to India as she is in line to play the HSBC Road to Wimbledon Junior Masters in New Delhi from April 6 to 11. From the top 16 boys and girls, who have qualified for the Junior Masters, Prinkle will be among the two boys and girls looking to secure her berth in the UK HSBC National Finals to be held in Wimbledon in August.

After the Junior Masters, Prinkle, a trainee of CLTA, will then shift her attention to the ITF World Junior Tennis Competition Asia/Oceania final qualifying. The Indian team will board the plane to Bangkok in the last week of April to play in the week-long tournament, in which teams from Asia/Oceania are competing in the round robin format event.

“There is no doubt that she will have a busy schedule in the month of March and April. However, we have chalked out her itinerary to ensure that the tournament does not clash with some other event. We are really happy with the way things are going for her and we will make sure everything goes smooth for her,” said Gajendra.

While her busy schedule might pose a problem for the Chandigarh player, Prinkle’s game will not let her down. Prinkle has hit the purple patch of her career as she has won three consecutive Road to Wimbledon tournaments in Kolkata, Chandigarh and Delhi, and is yet to taste defeat in singles this year.

And given her current form at the start of the new year, it wasn’t a surprise when she made it to the Indian U-14 team. “She is playing really well. I remember taking Sania Mirza to Pakistan to take part in the same tournament in 2000. I hope Prinkle will follow in her footsteps and go on to represent India at the highest level one day,” added Gajendra.

Prinkle will not only match the feat of her elder brother Sumit Pal Singh, who was a member of the Indian team in the Qatar Asian Junior U-14 Team Cup U-14 held in December 2013, she will better it when she returns to Bangkok to play in the ITF World Junior event next month.
Currently ranked No. 2 in AITA U-14 rankings, she is trailing top-ranked Mahak Jain to become the numero uno in her age category. Despite enjoying success in the last couple of months, Prinkle is not taking anything for granted and is slugging it out on the court with her coach to perfect her game. “We are making Prinkle play more sets now as the tournament will get tougher from here. So, she needs to be ready to play more sets and be in good physical condition,” said Gajendra.