Strings attached

Surrounded by scores of bare frames and 10-mt spools of thread wrapped in plastic,Halim,who works a shift of 10 hours,begins the task of stringing by ripping out the existing weave on a racquet. The replacement string is then woven on the stringing machine with the appropriate tension into the grooves on the frame. Once the lengthwise grooves have been threaded,the string is cut and the process is repeated on the horizontal grooves.

Unlike at his regular job at his shop in Kuala Lumpur,where he recommends string tension and makes of raquets to customers,Halim says he never suggests anything to players.

“Most professionals already know what they want and are very finicky about it. Their preferences don’t ever seem to change. Someone like Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) will use BG 66 Ultimax and have his racquet strung at 30 PSI (pounds per square inch). It gives a decent mix of power but also allows a lot of control for playing delicate shots. Saina Nehwal prefers Nanogy 98 but will have the tension at around 28 PSI. That’s really high for a woman player. But the most extreme player will have to be Peter Gade (Denmark). His racquets are strung at 36 PSI. At that kind of tension,you need really powerful wrists to control the kind of force you get with the shuttle. Most Asian players won’t be able to handle it,” he says.

The automatic machine which sets tension at the click of a button means that the work,while time consuming,is no longer as labour-intensive as it used to be. When Halim first started stringing for the Yonex stringing team,some 10 years ago,he used an entirely manual machine. “So you had to hand-crank 30 pounds and then hold the clamp to secure the string while the grommets are threaded. Doing one racquet was hard enough but if you had to string during a competition,your arms would become very sore by the end of the day,” says Halim,who has strung racquets in many tournaments,including several Super Series,the Thomas and Uber Cup,although he regrets,not the Olympics.

Halim laughs when asked whether anyone could do his job. “Anyone could do my job but he would break a lot of string and a lot of racquets doing it. You need to be particularly careful about the top men players because their racquets are strung to a very high tension. Most beginners will avoid stringing a racquet to a tension of more than 26 or 28 PSI because the string can snap and sometimes even the racquet frame can crack. While that is bad,the worst is when the frame has a hairline crack which isn’t noticeable. But the moment a few shots are played on the court the entire frame will shatter in the middle of a point. Luckily that hasn’t ever happened with me so far,” he says.

Halim’s busy work schedule means that the reason he decided to become a stringer hasn’t been realised. “Like any kid in Kuala Lumpur,I was passionate about the game but wasn’t very good at it. I would try to watch all the best players in tournaments but it would be quite expensive. So I realised that the best way to get to see all the matches was to work in the tournament itself.”

Unfortunately for Halim,his work timing coincides perfectly with the time players play their matches. “I sneak a look at matches from time to time but I don’t think I have gotten a typical view from the spectators’ gallery for many years now. It’s all from the side of the courts. One of these days I’m going to do that though,” he says. That day unfortunately won’t be at the India Open. A day after the Saina match,Halim was recalled to Malaysia where he has to help prepare for another tournament.