Tennis prodigy serves on YouTube,US varsity volleys scholarship

Despite her hectic schedule,whenever Shilpa gets time,she makes it a point to collect as much information about the university from the internet as possible. “For the past four months,I have been collecting information about the university,plus I have regularly been in touch with the eight boys and girls who are also joining the university on a scholarship with me,” said Shilpa,who passed her Class XII exams from DAV Model School,Sector 15,Chandigarh this year.

Eager to get a scholarship to give her tennis career a boost,Shilpa,had uploaded a video of her practising on the tennis courts on social networking site,YouTube,a few months ago. The uploading of the video on the internet caught the attention of tennis coaches across the globe. Shilpa’s dream came true when she received an email from the Morehead University stating that they would be delighted to provide her a full scholarship.

“At that time,I was in a hurry and immediately signed one-year contract with them. It was then that offers from other prestigious universities started pouring in. I got calls from almost 20 universities,but I had already given my commitment to Morehead,” chirped an exuberant Shilpa.

Her decision to leave for foreign shores was not immediate. After Class X,her tennis career had come to a halt.

Though she did participate in School Nationals,Haryana Olympics (she won gold there) and CBSE Nationals,she did not take part in any AITA events. Prior to that,she had reached three consecutive semi-finals in doubles category in ITF tournaments at Jordan,Syria and Pakistan,even though she was unseeded in those events.

What more,she was ranked among Top 30 in under-16 category before a financial crunch forced her to concentrate more on school tournaments rather than big national/international tournaments.

“I even dropped out of CLTA a year ago and started devoting time in extra-curricular activities at school,” said the 18-year-old.

Inspiration to pick up the racquet also came from her brother,Digvijay Singh Naruka- one of the best tennis talents in Chandigarh,and support also came in abundance from her parents.

“I really want to make my parents proud. That is what I really want to do,and also give a push to my tennis career,” chuckled Shilpa,as she got ready to go to the market and buy a rakhi for her brother to celebrate the day before her departure.