The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sania looking forward to Dubai Open

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 21, 2005

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Sania looking forward to Dubai Open

KOLKATA, FEB. 20. Sania Mirza said she is looking forward to play at the Dubai Open and would start training on Monday despite her ankle injury.

``I am looking forward to play the Dubai Open. I will try to do my best. I am yet to recover from the ankle injury but will start training tomorrow,'' Sania, the first Indian woman to win a WTA Open at Hyderabad, said here on Sunday.

The 18-year-old, who has turned down a wildcard for the Qatar Open beginning on Monday, said she planned to leave for Dubai on February 25 or 26.

However, Sania's father Imran Mirza said that she was still awaiting the wildcard for the Dubai meet. ``She expects to get it this week and will leave soon after.''

On a whirlwind visit here, Sania said she was yet to decide on her next assignment after Dubai and would focus primarily on improving her fitness by undertaking six to eight hours of training daily.

``The next assignments will depend on the condition of my ankle. It is much better now but still there is some pain,'' she said.

The Hyderabad girl had shared the dais with Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly and football star Baichung Bhutia for a fund-raising programme at Siliguri on Sunday.

Asked if she had received any advice from the Indian captain, Sania said, ``Sourav gave me some tips on how to be more patient.''

Sania said she was not bogged down by pressure and only wanted to enjoy the game and train harder to improve her performance on the court.

``I just go on enjoying the game... enjoy hitting every ball,'' she said.

Asked to comment on Shikha Uberoi and Ankita Bhambri, her teammates in the Fed Cup zonal tie in April, Sania said both of them were great players and had the potential to make it big on the professional circuit.

``Shikha is a great player and a good team-mate. I am looking forward to team up with her in the Fed Cup,'' she said.

About Bhambri, Sania said: ``She is of my age. She is also a great player. On a given day, any of us can beat the other.''

Sania said she did not accord as much importance to ranking as performance of a player on a particular day.

Visit to orphanage

The 250 girl inmates of a city orphanage here had the experience of a lifetime, getting to spend some time with Sania, who boosted their morale saying they only needed to work hard to attain success in life.

Sania went round the Calcutta Muslim Orphanage, shook hands with the girls and signed autographs.

``She is a role model for us. I want to emulate her and make a name for myself,'' said 17-year-old Manwara Khatoon.

Sania, who arrived at the orphanage along with her parents Imran and Naseema, sister Anam and former Davis Cup coach Akhtar Ali, spent around 30 minutes with the girls.

``What can I say on such an occasion? I'm lucky that I've an opportunity to be with you,'' she said.

``It will make me really happy if I can be your inspiration and you can learn from me. Whatever I have achieved you can also do. Whoever tries hard will succeed in life,'' she said.

The girls presented Sania a silver salver and two cups, a prayer mat and some books including President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's autobiography Wings of Fire.

Sania donated some money to the orphanage, but the amount was not disclosed to the media.

Media scramble

Sania also took exception to the media making a mad scramble to cover her engagement at the orphanage, saying members of the fourth estate should know where to come and where not to.

Sania had a tough time meeting the inmates with lensmen and electronic media personnel trying to capture every minute of her stay.

``I did not come to meet you. I came to meet the orphans,'' Sania said in an unusual stern reaction when asked by a scribe how she felt about the media craze around her.

``Well, I do feel good at all this attention from the media (since my recent successes). But then, media should know where to come and where not to,'' she said. — PTI

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