India up Down Under

NEW DELHI: Rupesh Roy gave warning of his intentions for this year, beginning on a winning note by claiming a Grade 1 ITF junior doubles event along with Aussie partner Stephen Donald in the second week of January.

The eighth seeded duo in the Australian Open juniors draw on Thursday subdued Koreans Soong-Jae Cho and Yong-Kyo Lim 6-3 6-4 in the semifinals to earn their finals berth. They next face Graeme Dyce (GBR) and Harri Heliovaara of Finland. The dice is loaded in the favour of the Indo-Australia pair as they had prevailed against the top seeds in the quarterfinals and that too in a third set tiebreak after losing the opening set.

Also, this is not Rupesh’s first showing on a stage this big. Last year he had lost the boy’s doubles final at Wimbledon alongside Hsin Han Lee of Taiwan. The experience of that match may well be pivotal in the contest on Friday. The Rupesh Roy story is a typical fairy tale.

The son of a small-time Bihar farmer, Rupesh worked on the sidelines of tennis courts along with his uncles who are markers in Kolkata before he picked up a racquet. His good fortune began when Paes en Sport looked to support some impoverished boys and free training and equipment came his way.

While Vinod and Manoj Sewa were the ones who showed initial promise, they were unable to carry on despite obvious talent because of paucity of funds. Rupesh’s story also appeared headed for a similar sad conclusion till he was picked up by the Boston-based Bosse Foundation in April 2005. The scholarship is for three years and according to Bengal Tennis Association functionaries it is worth $100,000 plus and includes free training, equipment and accommodation as well as travel grants to play tournaments.

At the time his age was ostensibly 16 but the talented youngster has always faced aspersions as to whether he has fudged his certificates. Perhaps a junior Grand Slam crown will allow him to silence his detractors.