Wrist Injury pushed me to Depression: Sania

Forced to stay away from courts for almost half the season, a fit again Sania Mirza is eyeing a comeback at January’s Classic tennis tournament in Hong Kong and revealed that she almost sunk into depression while struggling to recover from a wrist injury.

The Indian ace is out of action since Beijing Olympics, where her wrist injury flared up again and she had to concede her first round singles match.

Sharing the trauma she faced when she ran out of options to get her wrist healed, she said it was difficult to cope with the situation at that time.

“It was scary. It was career threatening. I was almost going through depression. I think the post-injury period is more difficult to cope with and I am happy to be back. But I never doubted that I cannot make a comeback ,” Sania, who is in capital for the treatment, said.

Sania said she was keen to make a comeback but was not in a hurry. She confirmed that she will play a team tournament in Hong Kong in January before resuming her Tour activities.

“It is a big honour to represent Asia. It is great to be a part of such a large field, where you have players like (Jelena) Jankovic and (Maria) Sharapova. But we still have two-and-a-half months to go and it is very long period in tennis,” she said after spending about an hour on the DLTA courts, practicing with Radhika Tulpule.

Talking about the next season, she said she was approaching it cautiously. PTI

Japan Open- Shika Uberoi Loses

Shikha Uberoi and her American partner Mashona Washington lost out in the 2nd round at the Japan Open in straight sets 3-6, 4 to Vania King and Tiantian Sun in Tokyo on Thursday. They have added 35 ranking points and $1250 for their efforts

Paes regrets playing with Bhupati

Leander Paes seems to be turning the heat on Mahesh Bhupati. He called his teaming up with Mahesh Bhupati for the doubles are the worst decision in his career. He further goes on to say that he sacrificed his singles career so that he could concentrate on doubles. According to Paes, he was at his prime during the late 1990′s during which his ranking had gone up to 78. He had even beaten the likes of Pete Sampras and other top ranked players.

However Paes seems to have forgotten that Mahesh Bhupati and himself complemented each other perfectly. They went on to become the number 1 doubles players in the world, a ranking which I doubt Leander would have ever achieved if he had stuck to singles. This duo popularly known as Lee and Hesh during their playing days, surely made an impact at the Tennis Scene in India. So much so there was a renewed interest in the game after the heroics of Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj were long gone into oblivion.

It is time that Lee and Hesh sink in their differences and play as a team. They dont have to like each other to play together. All they need to realise is that they have to play to win and to play together to achieve that goal.

Another injury scare for Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza is worried over her recurrent wrist injury as it could either result in a surgery or require her to change her grip and action, an idea she is not keen on at this stage of her career.

Sania, who played in pain before losing to Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells on Tuesday, said she would try to avoid surgery but is also not keen on changing the way she grips the racket at the crucial stage in her career.

“Right now it’s very, very painful… I couldn’t move my wrist,” she said after her 1-6, 6-7 (4/7) loss.

“Usually it doesn’t get this sore, so I’m a little worried right now. It gets sore and then it gets OK when I ice it and do whatever I have to do,” she told reporters.

Sania, seeking MRI to diagnose the actual problem, said she would look for some other options to cure it.

“It’s a big step to even change it half an inch because my game is my forehand. You know, it’s not easy to change a grip at the stage where you’re, like, 30 in the world. I would obviously like to look at other options before that.”

Sania had suffered the injury after US Open last year which had also forced her to withdraw from the Kolkata Open last year.

http://www.rediff.com/sports/2008/mar/19sania1.htm

ITF: Sunitha, the lone Indian left

Sunitha Rao kept alive the Indian challenge in the $ 50,000 ITF women’s tennis event by advancing to the singles quarterfinals while compatriots Ankita Bhambri and Isha Lakhani crashed out after losing their second round matches in New Delhi on Wednesday. Seventh-seed Sunitha regained her form to outclass Serbian Teodora Mircic 6-1, 6-3 in her second round match in one hour and 13 minutes at the DLTA Complex.

National hard-court champion Isha paid the price of playing with uncontrolled aggression to succumb to a 2-6, 4-6 loss to Hungarian Aniko Kapros, who was once a top-50 player.

Delhi girl Ankita squandered a good start to be beaten by a much higher ranked South African Chanelle Scheepers 7-5, 3-6, 2-6 in nearly two hours.

Isha attacked right from the word go but could not execute her plans as her powerful strokes resulted in unforced errors.

Aniko, on the other hand, was calm and composed, played accurate shots rather than trying to hit powerful strokes.

Isha began the match by dropping her serve and failed to hold the fifth game, handing her opponent a 4-1 lead in the first set. Next three games went on serve before writing the first set in the name of Aniko.

It was tough for the national champion in the second set too as she was down 15-40 in the very first game but saved break-points and went on to win the game.

It was a fiercely fought set as no player was able to hold her serve in the next six games. If Isha was agile on the court, Aniko was better in smashing accurate shots.

When the scores were tied 3-3, Isha failed to hold her serve in the seventh and go up despite having an advantageous 40-15 point, thanks to a double fault and unforced errors.

Aniko then did not give any chance to the Indian and was clinical, converting second of the two match points in the 10th game to advance to the quarterfinals.

“I could not execute my plans. She is an experienced player and I have to learn to keep a cool head,” Isha said after her match.

Sunitha, second highest ranked Indian at 175, displayed a quality game as she regained her touch to beat Teodora.

The Indian, who overcame a bout of food poisoning, raced away with the first set in no time as she broke the Serbian thrice in the first set. She was strong in rallies and set up points beautifully.

Her fluent stroke-making continued in the second set though she was broken in the first game. She retaliated by breaking back in the next when she hit a stunning forehand winner.

Sunitha also effectively used drop-volley shots and closed the match when a Teodora forehand sailed long.

“I am building match after match. I played well today. I had beaten her earlier on clay but it was easy to beat today,” Sunitha said after the match.

Sunitha next face Belarusian Ekaterina Dzehalevich, who on Wednesday stunned second seed Mathilde Johansson of France 6-3, 6-1.

Top seed Andreja Klepac of Slovenia had crashed out of the tournament after being beaten by Carmen Klaschla of Germany on Tuesday.

Welcome to Other Sports

Welcome to Othersports. This is a haven where you will find news about sports, other than Cricket. It doesnt matter what sports as long as it is not cricket. Our Indian Cricketers get their fair share of publicity and money while the rest from the “Other Sports” rarely get a mention. Here is an attempt to let people know that other sports do exist and so do other sportsmen …