Twelve-year-old tennis player Rishikesh Mane, a resident of Koperkhairane, has made the city proud as he has been selected to represent Team India at ITF South Asia Under 12 Tournament to be held in Dhaka in Bangladesh from May 16 to 20.
Mane is among three children selected from India to represent the country. The two other children are from Pune and Rajasthan.
Rishikesh Mane |
Players from across Asia to participate
Apart from India, players from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives will participate in the tournament, and the venue is Sheikh Jamal National Tennis Complex, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Mane says that his role model is the famous Serbian professional tennis player Novak Djokovic and he wants to be a professional tennis player like him. “I have a dream to win a Golden Slam for the country,” said Mane. Talking about the competition, he says, “I know there will be a tough competition at the ITF South Asia Under-12 Tournament in Dhaka. Players from Pakistan will give a tough competition.” However, he is confident that India will win the Gold medal in the competition.
Mane ranks third in India in U-12 section
Mane started playing tennis at the age of four and he has already won a number of tournaments playing across the country under-12 category. At present, his current Indian Ranking as on April 3, 2023, is third in U-12 All India Tennis Association (AITA), and 155 in U-14 AITA.
Gitesh Awasthi, Director of Belief Tennis Academy at Nerul Gymkhana and coach of Mane, said that Mane has improved his ranking a lot in the last couple of months and this is a good sign. “He has got the potential to grow as a professional tennis player,” said Awasthi.
On his significant achievement at a very young age, Mane says that his hard work, support from his parents, practice regime, and unconditionally helpful coaches at Belief Tennis Academy are key factors. He said that he received a lot of support from his school St. Mary’s ICSE, Koperkhairane.
