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Dubai, June 7 (UNI) Even
though his previous brainchild - the BAT academy in Chennai
-- could not live up to the expectations and had to wind up,
former tennis ace Vijay Amritraj has not given up and plans a
series of tennis academies in the continent.
''Gulf News'' quoted Amritraj -- who along with Bjorn Borg
and Jimmy Connors formed the ABC of tennis -- as saying that
he was planning to set up three academies and Dubai would be
one centre.
''A tennis academy here looks very feasible. Most probably,
it will start in India and Singapore and then Dubai would
follow,'' Amritraj said.
The former Davis Cup captain was behind the Britannia
Amritraj Tennis (BAT) academy which came up in Chennai in the
mid-1980s and produced Leander Paes before going defunct
couple of years ago.
Observing the game has changed a lot since the time he and
his contemporaries roamed around the court, Amritraj said,
''Techniques in tennis have changed so much. The last I
played at Wimbledon was in 1990, and that's 15 years back.
And things have changed so much since then that I look so
outdated when on court.'' ''There is a need to teach today's
youngsters new skills and how the game has to be played,'' he
said.
Amritraj is presently visiting the Dubai Aid City and the
Dubai Humanitarian City in his capacity as the United Nations
Messenger of Peace.
Describing sports as the ''biggest and most effective means
of communication'', Amritraj said, ''Whatever sport you
choose, you can be sure of a healthy life, and secondly,
there is the element of education in it.'' ''My best years of
learning have been on the court. The best education and
character formation for me has been inside the stadium and
not merely in school.'' ''Sports is the world's greatest form
of communication. It's so much like music, and it is also a
fabulous way of bringing up a child. Sports teaches you
everything,'' said the flamboyant Indian whose colourful
career also saw him acting in a James Bond movie ''Octopussy''
beside leaving his mark as a commentator.
"A tennis academy here looks
very feasible. Most probably, it will start in India and
Singapore and then Dubai would follow," Amritraj said.
Amritraj was here to visit the Dubai Aid City and the Dubai
Humanitarian City in his role as the United Nations Messenger
of Peace.
The US-based former tennis player said the training venture
would consist of both elements commercial and scholarship
based. "I view sports as the biggest and most effective means
of communication," he said.
"Whatever sport you choose, you can be sure of a healthy
life, and secondly, there is the element of education in it,"
he told the Gulf News here.
"Sports is the world's greatest form of communication. It's
so much like music, and it is also a fabulous way of bringing
up a child. Sports teaches you everything."
The Indian tennis star, who founded the BAT Academy
(Britannia Amritraj Tennis) Academy in Chennai, said
"techniques in tennis have changed so much. The last I played
at Wimbledon was in 1990, and that's 15 years back. And
things have changed so much since then that I look so
outdated when on court."
"There is a need to teach today's youngsters new skills and
how the game has to be played. My son is playing tennis and
it seems he lies between yesterday's and today's tennis," he
said.
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