Sania Mirza Can Now Apply For Calcutta South Club Membership

Tennis male bastion falls - 48-year-old rulebook rewritten to allow women members

Sania Mirza can now apply for Calcutta South Club membership. Had the tennis star from Hyderabad applied earlier, the Woodburn Park club could have thrown its 48-year-old rulebook at her, debarring women from membership.

At an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday evening, the club, once called the Wimbledon of the East, served an ace — unanimously voting to let in women members.

For this, Clause 4 of the Articles of Association, which states that “women shall not be eligible for membership of the club”, will be amended as soon as the resolution is cleared by the registrar of companies. “Over the past few years, the thinking inside the club has changed,” says club honorary secretary I.N. Chaturvedi.

The likes of Yagnaseni Das Biswas, who plays tennis regularly with her physician husband at South Club, are all for change in the “chauvinistic attitude that discourages single and qualified women from approaching clubs for membership”.

Was this a knee-jerk reaction to Calcutta Club’s decision to allow women members in its centenary year? No way, protests South Club. “Talks have been on since September. While Calcutta Club was only following a tradition, we had a disabling clause for women in the Articles of Association that took time to amend,” explained club president Rajat Majumdar.

Veterans like Akhtar Ali have termed the move “a historic one” for the club. “This has basically been a men’s club because, even till about five years ago, women’s tennis was not big in India,” said the director of the club’s junior coaching programme.

That, of course, has been changed by the forehand and the fame of a girl called Sania Mirza, who had last stepped on to the South Club greens four years ago as a ‘junior’.

Sania Mirza back to training

Sania Mirza, accompanied by father Imran, enters the courts at the SAAP Tennis Complex in Hyderabad, where she resumed training on Tuesday after an injury lay-off.

The Indian tennis sensation was out of action for seven weeks because of a knee injury.

"The knee is 90 per cent okay; there is little pain and she looks rusty after the long break," Imran Mirza said.

"After two weeks' training on her favourite surface -- hard court -- she will decide on the comeback date," he added.

Sania sustained the knee injury during her first round match at the Qatar Open in February. A medical test in Hyderabad revealed a Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury but surgery was not necessary.

The 20-year-old is now following a schedule given by her trainer, Heath Matthews, who will join her next week.

Injury time over, Sania Mirza returns

Sania Mirza is back where she loves to be, after a frustrating seven-week limbo due to a serious knee injury. Sania Mirza wants to get a clear idea on how long it will take for her to be back in business.

At the Centre Court of the SAAP Tennis Complex Sania dabbled with the racket for about half-an-hour on Monday. "It is okay and let's see how things shape up," was her crisp remark to the waiting family members.

South African trainer Heath Mathew, who left for a break only last week to be back next week, has given Sania Mirza a comprehensive schedule of training.

Sania Mirza is trying her best to be in her elements. Obviously it is frustrating for any champion to be away from the playfield and Sania is no different.What exactly did she do today? Sania served a little bit and looked confident despite the obvious limitations on her first venture on to the tennis court after a long gap.

Sania Mirza is planning to play in the German Open from May 7 if everything goes well or might delay the return till the Morocco Open on May 14. Sania Mirza did not make any serious effect to stretch fully in the warm-up session, which was closely monitored by father Imran Mirza. "We will see how things develop over the next four to five days.

There is a little pain and she looks rusty after the long break," Imran said. he knee is 90 per cent okay. After two weeks of training on her favourite surface -- hard court -- She will decide on the comeback date.

The beaming faces of the Mirzas is a clear hint that Sania Mirza seems to be truly back on the road to regaining peak physical fitness. That is good news for her fans not necessarily for her opponents in the circuit!

Indian squad minus Sania leaves for Fed Cup

The Indian Fed Cup tennis team was scheduled to leave for New Zealand on Thursday to participate in the Asia Oceania Group I & II qualifying round from April 16-18 in Christchurch. But Sania Mirza won’t be on the flight. India’s best player is recovering from a knee surgery.

Nonetheless, captain and coach Enrico Piperno is hoping that the team members - Sunitha Rao, Ankita Bhambri, Shikha Uberoi and Tara Iyer – deliver the goods. India will play a minimum three rounds in the three-day competition. They will play among the following teams - Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, China, Kazakhstan, Korea, Thailand and Uzbekistan.

India missed out on a spot in the World Group II Play-offs when they lost to Australia in the final of Asia/Oceania Zone Group I last year in Seoul. Sania was at her best, winning two singles matches and partnering Shikha Uberoi in doubles. Riding on Sania’s performance, India had defeated Chinese Taipei and New Zealand before facing Australia in the final.

The other time India had come close to a World Group berth was in 2005, when India played without Sania in New Delhi in 2005. India had then defeated Kazakhstan and Singapore en route to the final, where they lost to Korea.

“We will miss Sania,” said Piperno. “She was at her best in the last edition in Korea. Now she is improved much more. However, we have to play without her. But I have hopes from other players, especially Shikha Uberoi and Sunitha Rao. This is a good opportunity for them to prove themselves.”

Sunitha, an American citizen, had applied to the ITF (International Tennis Federation) to represent India. They’ve given her clearance.
The other interesting fact is that Shikha has a very good record in the Fed Cup. She has won six matches and lost only one in singles, while in doubles her win-loss record stands at 3-1.

“Shikha is our hope now,” Piperno said. “She has always played her best in the Fed Cup and this time we are banking on her as well as Sunitha.

“We have four days to practice and any one of Ankita, Sunitha and Shikha could feature in singles, depending on their form. In doubles, probably Shikha will team up with Sunitha. However, it is too early to announce the team composition.”

On newcomer Tara Iyer, he said, “I don’t know much about her. I will see her play and then decide.”

Piperno emphasised that weather could play an important role. “It will be cold there,” he said.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=02faa287-bbb3-4630-a6b6-813a233bc28a&

Sania's father against ban on essential drugs

Ace tennis star Sania Mirza's father and coach Imran Mirza may take up the WTA's stringent ban on taking drugs even for minor ailments with the tennis body as he held that the restriction may affect players' performance on court.

Imran told media on Monday that Sania was suffering from fever when she played the doubles semifinals in the just-concluded Sony Ericsson International WTA tennis tournament here on Saturday.

''She could not take medicine even for cough as we feared it may contain banned substance... we did not want to take any chance during the tourament... I am thinking of taking up the issue with WTA authorities as it may affect players' performance on court. At least, the WTA can recommend some medicine for minor ailments like cough and common cold. In Grand Slam, there is no such ban... only the WTA has come up with such stringent measures,'' he added.

Sania was suffering from fever, cough and cold when she, partnering with Mara Santangelo of Italy, lost the doubles semifinal to Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia.

Asked about the super tie-breaker introduced by WTA in the decider, Imran said ''I am against it, it is not the correct way of deciding the winner. It has been introduced in men's tournaments, but for the first time WTA introduced it in this tournament. May be their intention is to finish off the game early.''

Giving credit to Russian Yaroslova Shvedova, who downed Sania in the quarterfinals, he said ''the match was a grand one and teenaged Shvedova's performance was superb, she really played well. Moreover, you cannot expect professionals to win all matches.''

Ranked 46, Sania's next tournament would be the Doha Open. ''We will not prepare for all these matches. Preparation will only be for Grand Slams,'' he said.

Sania's home campaign comes to an end

Sania Mirza partnering Mara Santangelo and seeded no2 went down 4-6, 6-3, 5-10 to Hsieh-Kudryavtseva pair to end her campaign at the Bangalore OPen. Two time doubles winner Sania Mirza will for the first time in the last three years return empty-handed without a title at India.

Sania had earlier lost in the singles to the Russian Shvedova 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson International WTA tennis event, at the KSLTA Stadium, on Friday.
Shvedova played some aggressive tennis and served brilliantly to oust the second seeded crowd favorite from the Quarterfinals of the Bangalore OPen.

Sania Mirza later admitted that her opponent played much better tennis to win the match. "She served incredibly. The second serves were almost going over my head. I don't think I played a bad match today, she just played some amazing tennis,"

Sania Mirza through Sony Ericsson International Quarters

Heavy crowd favorite Sania Mirza playing infront of her home crowd overcame Belarusian Tatiana Poutchek in three sets 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Sania will play unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia in the quarter finals.

Tatiana started the match on fire, while a nervous Sania spraying errors all around the court. Tatiana raced to a 5-0 lead with breaks in second and fourth games. At 0-5, Sania won her first service game to get on board, Sania won three consecutive games quickly for 3-5, but that was not enough and Tatiana successfully served out the set to win the first set 6-3.

In the second set, Sania started playing well and raced to a 5-2 lead, but lost 3 consecutive games and allowed her opponent to level the score to 5-5. Sania regrouped to win the next 2 games and set 7-5.

In the deciding set, Sania played much better and overwhelmed her opponent with solid ground strokes. Sania won the deciding set 6-2

"I was spraying everywhere in the first set and even at 5-2 in the second I didn't have the confidence. But I got back my rhythm only in the third set. It's hard to play at home," said Sania.

"I'm playing some of the top players and that's what keeps me going. It builds confidence and in the last six months I'm also working a lot on my fitness. Hope I play better tennis tomorrow when I take on young and talented Shvedova who has a big serve. But for the moment I'm still recovering from that first set," said Sania.

Sania didn't play her best today, but two semi-final appearances in the current year at Hobart and Pattaya City with a 9-3 win-loss record so far this year helped her to find out a way to win eventhough she is not playing her best.

Sania also won her doubles match on Wednesday playing with the top seed Italian Mara Santangelo. The top two seeds won their doubles match against A Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus

Sania-Mara pair won the match by 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

Sania bubbles into top 10!

Sliding down tennis charts, but a winner in ad rankings

Her tennis rankings may have slid over the past one year, but you can’t take the fizz out of Sania Mirza.

The Hyderabad girl, who has slipped to 53 from a career high of 31 in October 2005, made it to at least one No. 1 slot in 2006 — thanks to Sprite, and also Tata Tea.

According to a survey, Sania beat a whole bunch of actors to clinch the top spot among celebrities advertising food and drink on television. Only Hrithik Roshan, who does it for Coke, matched her zing, bubble for bubble.

AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research, which analysed the TV ads, says Sania is the only one not an actor on the list of top 10 celebs who endorsed food and drink on TV last year.

Sania and Hrithik’s share of the celebrity endorsement is 9 per cent each. The others on the list are Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan (8 per cent each), Kajol (7 per cent), Rani Mukherjee and Aamir Khan (6 each), Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan (5 each), and Juhi Chawla (4).

Sprite, from the Coca-Cola stable, paid Sania to promote the message that it was just a soft drink — nothing more — through ads like the one in which a pesky journalist asks her why she always wears T-shirts that have something written on them.

Sania mumbles something for the camera, then tells viewers in an aside that she drinks the cola because she likes it.

Colas need stars.

In 2006, according to the AdEx survey, 34 per cent of all celebrity endorsements in food and beverage on TV were for aerated soft drinks. Biscuits followed at 23 per cent, chocolates at 12 and chips and wafers at 8.

So while Sania and Hrithik promoted Sprite and Coke, Shah Rukh swore by Pepsi.

The volume of food and beverage ads on TV grew 35 per cent in 2006 over the past year. The colas, however, didn’t record as impressive a growth as, say, the humble cooking paste, which marked an 11-fold increase.