Telangana girl Thaniya Sarai braces for big league

Hyderabad: For the 12-year-old Thaniya Sarai Gogulamanda, it is nothing short of a dream come true. The youngster has made it to the Indian team for the upcoming ITF World Junior Tennis Championship Asia/Oceania final qualifying matches which will be held in Kazakhstan from June 14 to 19.

Battling hardships and financial struggles, the daughter of an autorickshaw driver Samson, the tennis player from the State is leaving no stone unturned to realise her dream. Thaniya has put in consistent performances to make it to the Indian team. She also won the national title in under-12 category in singles and doubles last year. She backed it up with impressive performances with back-to-back titles in under-16 categories in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Kakinada tournaments.

“I am delighted to be selected for the tournament. We will have a camp before departing for the tournament. I am eager to learn as much as I can and improve my skills. It is a big boost to my game and confidence,” said Thaniya, who is ranked No.5 in the under-14 category.

Thaniya, who turns 13 next month, has also set her sights on achieving the India No.1 rank in the under-14 category by this year end. “I am very confident about my game. I have a strong serve and forehand. I played 12 back-to-back tournaments and won 10 out of them recently.”

However, she said the lockdown has forced her out of training. “I am not able to train now because of the lockdown. But I am working hard on my fitness now,” said Thaniya, who trains with Mohammad Ghouse at the Professional Tennis Academy in Manikonda. “I put in eight hours of work daily with over 90 minutes of fitness, gym and swimming sessions.”

Thaniya, who admires Serena Williams for her aggressive style of play, started the game when she was seven years old. She was fascinated by the game when she saw people play tennis at a college in Rajahmundry but with a poor financial background her father Samson could not afford her daughter to play the game. “We didn’t have money. My mother was also sick and we had to spend all our earnings on her treatment,” said Samson.

Samson had to shift to Hyderabad for his mother’s treatment and also keeping in mind of providing Thaniya better coaching facilities. She started training at the St Thomas School before moving over to Sania Mirza Tennis Academy and was trained free of cost. “But I could not drive the auto as the academy is on the outskirts. So we shifted to Manikonda to address my financial struggle,” explains Samson.

Samson further said: “After my mother died, Thaniya was shattered. She wanted to play tennis and earn money to adopt the hospital where her grandmother died. She is a determined girl. She also got sponsorship from Rohan Bopanna and his Sports School. But the parents were not allowed to stay with their child. So we opted for education alone rather than coaching,” he revealed. She is now a Class VII student at The Sports School.

Once the lockdown eases, Thaniya plans to play in ITF tournaments abroad. “We are planning to go to Kenya for an ITF tourney in Nairobi. But we have financial constraints and are looking for sponsors,” said the youngster.

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