Tennis fans and fraternity today acknowledged the success of young national champion Ajay Malik, who overcame several hardships to become the national champion, with a few coming forward to lend him support. 13-year-old Ajay was crowned Under-14 champion despite not having exposure to facilities as he practised on just mud courts in his village but still developed enough skills to be the
best in the country in his age group. En route to the title, he beat several players who had practised with better coaches and trained under much better facilities.
India's Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali has offered a scholarship to Ajay.
"We want to train this kid at our academy in Bangalore. He can stay here and we will take care of his training and fitness," Zeeshan told PTI.
A tennis fan in Hong Kong came forward to offer help after reading the PTI news story on social media.
He has committed tennis shoes and a string of roll to the the young champ from Madina village in Gohana, a tehsil in Haryana. He prefers to remain anonymous and has promised to deliver the goods in 2-3 days.
Another tennis fan from Zurich has also enquired about the kind of support.
It has also been learnt that a few senior Indian players plan to have a look at his game.
Many seasoned Indian players such as Vishnu Vardhan, Jeevan Nedunchezhian, country's number one women singles player Ankita Raina have also spread the story of his success on social media.
Meanwhile Ajay's father Ajmer Malik's phone has not stopped ringing since morning and one of the congratulatory messages came from Haryana Sports Director.
DLTA coach Arun Kumar, who has played a significant role in Ajay becoming a tennis player, says now that he is getting support, the kid needs to deliver.
"He deserves support and more people should come forward to help him. With his limited resources he has done well but now he has a chance to make the next grade. But we should not put pressure on him and let him be himself," he said.
Father Ajmer said he will take a call on Ajay's future after consultation with coach Arun Kumar.
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