Saketh Myneni, V. Jyothi Surekha to give fillip to Andhra Pradesh sport
Vizag only city in AP which has infrastructure for sports aside from cricket
Vijayawada: The victory of Vizag tennis player Saketh Myneni and Vijayawada archers V. Jyothi Surekha and Purvasha Sudhir Shinde at the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea has brought cheer on the faces of sports lovers in AP after the loss of stars like Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal to Telangana state post the bifurcation.
While Mr Myneni shared the gold medal in the mixed doubles with Sania Mirza, Surekha, 18, and Purvasha, 16, teamed up with Trisha Deb of West Bengal to win a bronze in the team archery event.
The sporting fraternity is looking to the state government for encouraging sportspersons and improving facilities for sports in the state. Except Vizag, no city in the state has even basic infrastructure for sports and games apart from cricket.
“Their victory should be an eye-opener. These players bought the equipment on their own and practiced without any state support. Meanwhile, TS is giving crores to medal winners. They also have world class facilities in Gachibowli,” said a senior physical education trainer in the municipal school here.
Surekha’s father, Surendra, said the government should bring centrally funded institutes to promote sports locally. “Instead of hiring foreign coaches, the government should concentrate on grooming coaches here.”
AP lacks quality infrastructure like hard courts for tennis and it is time to spend money to develop infrastructure in Vizag, Vijayawada and others to promote the game, says tennis ace Saketh Sai Myneni. Saketh won gold and silver medals in mixed and men’s doubles events at the 2014 Asian Games.
Saketh said that it is very difficult to produce top players from the state unless without the support of the state administration.
Saketh said his priority is to break into the top 100 world ranking. “My next goal is to play in the 2016 Rio Olympics and also to get a medal,” he said.
I can fulfil my dream only by playing as many tournaments as possible and I need to increase the tally tournaments,” he added.