Saturday 2 June, 2007

Rohit aims to break into top 100

Rohit on the right

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

DECCAN: The 14-year-old right-hander Rohit Bisht hopes to have a better season on the traditional surface, including the finals of PYC ATF U-14 Series to be played on Saturday against his 12-year-old brother Ronit Bisht.

He goes into the finals as the favorite to win the title. He is in excellent form and his confidence has shot up an extra yard after finishing an impressive second in overall standings in the recently concluded ITF Asian U-14 Championship held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Rohit, however, have to play extremely well if he wants to continue his form to compete at the highest levels. He is gearing up to reel off some exhilarating stuff from his racket when meets Ronit in the finals. He has lost to him only twice in the 28 times that he had met him before.

After this tournament, Rohit is aiming to leave a trail among his Asian U-16 squad members in the forthcoming Euro Tour.

Known for his precision and control over, Rohit, prior to this tournament, managed to claw his way out of trouble to post a win over Sameep Mehta in the Boys U-16 singles finals of the DHFL and IOC All-India Series Junior Tennis Tournament at Mumbai’s Practennis courts.

He also finished second after losing to Vaidik Munshaw in the finals of Mumbai Gymkhana TCS All-India National Super Series Junior Tennis Tournament 2007. The result, however, did not dampen his spirits.

Speaking to Maharashtra Herald here on Friday, Rohit said: “Being top seeders in most of the tournament, I and Ronit meet either in the semi-final or finals, but I do not regret to lose to him because at the end of the day, the cup comes to the Bisht family.”

What are your chances against Ronit? He said: “I have a great chance because I have won 26 times against him. My brother apes Roger Federer, believing in an attacking game, and I believe in Rafael Nadal’s approach. I like playing in the ball all the time, without making mistakes. That exactly I will be doing in the finals.”

Behind Rohit and Ronit, there is their father Rajinder Bisht, a former national hockey player, who wanted his sons to play individual game than team game where an individual’s performance got overshadowed. “I asked them to play tennis instead,” Rajinder said.

“Papa is a perfect coach. He taught us tennis with a desi andaz of putting two cones at the baseline and asking us to keep the ball in all the time you connect the ball,” Rohit said.

However, Ronit has a different story to tell – why not he is a diehard Federer fan.

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