Our gamble paid off, future secure: Piperno

With their stunning display, they have — for the time being — answered how and why the old guards had been ignored for such an important event.

But ask the man closest to the action — coach Enrico Piperno. And he vouches for the ‘girls I chose’ wholeheartedly as he bared his heart for The Indian Express. ‘‘I gambled with the team and am glad the gamble has paid off,’’ gushed Piperno soon after his arrival in New Delhi on Wednesday night. ‘‘It could not have been better for me. The girls proved me right and I am pretty excited about the future now,’’ said Piperno.

Quiz him more on team selection and he comes with the answer: ‘‘AITA and I wanted a team that could play for India in case we qualified for the World Group play off in two or three years from now. We figured there could not have been a better moment.’’

Right from going around the country choosing the ‘elite’ pack, Piperno had been closely involved with the Asia Oceania Group II camapaign in Tokyo. Though the three opponents — Philippines, Kyrgystan and Pacific Oceania — were not difficult, it was the manner of wins the girls achieved that had Piperno going ‘ga-ga’ over ‘his’ players. ‘‘It was total domination by us and that is what impressed me the most.’’

The former coach of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, however, did not wish to give the credit to one individual but was all prise for Sania Mirza. ‘‘Sania (Mirza) has come a long way,’’ was his opinion about the Hyderabad girl.

Said Piperno: ‘‘The moment we landed and Sania started knocking around, I felt we could go all the way.’’ And that is why, as he claims, he was not ‘pleasantly surprised’ and knew of Team India’s win.

In all the hype surrounding the young guns, Piperno also did not forget the contribution of the senior pro Manisha Malhotra. ‘‘For all the fluent wins by Sania, there was Manisha to compliment and that helped us no end.’’