Indian girls to compete in World junior tennis Finals

A three-member Under-14 Indian team, comprising Mehak Jain, Prinkle Singh and Shivani Ingle will compete in the ITF World junior tennis Finals, beginning August 3 in Prostezov, Czech Republic.

The Indian trio had finished fourth at the Asia\Oceania regional leg, held in Bangkok, to qualify for the Finals.

Mehak and Shivani will reach Czech Republic from Germany, where they are on a European tour as part of the ATF development team.

Prinkle will leave with experienced coach Nar Singh from the national capital.

Sixteen teams will be divided into four groups where teams will compete in round-robin format. The top team in each group will qualify for the semifinals.

Coach Nar Singh is hopeful that Indian girls will put up a good show in Finals, where competition will of high level.

“It is like Davis Cup. You play tough teams but if you are motivated and can handle pressure, you will do well. Prinkle has solid ground strokes and serves well. She is good from the baseline. Mehak is a consistent player, she can think well and she applies mind while playing. Shivani has a good overall game but she sometimes struggles on converting winning points,” Nar Singh told PTI.

“That is where my job starts. I have to keep the players motivated and instill in them the confidence that they can do well at the big stage.”

Asked about India’s chances, Nar Singh said, “The girls have been preparing well. Prinkle has been training in Chandigarh and Mehak along with Shivani are in Europe for some time. They will fight hard. Even in Bangkok, nobody gave us a chance but the girls did well. I always ask the players to fight hard and that is what we will do in Czech Republic.