arjun2761 wrote:I'm not sure that the truly talented are that affected by this as they will likely be as good as kids that are a year or two older. in other words, if you can't beat kids that are one year older, you are unlikely to make it in the open category. I think the biggest challenge, especially for the boys, is the transition from the juniors to the mens level. I am not endorsing age fraud in any way as it definitely impacts many. However, the elite players who have the talent to make (say the top 300 at the ATP level) at the open level are probably able to play through the cheaters even at the junior levels and should not be discouraged.
I agree to some extent with what arjun says (the part about the truly talented kids). However, we shouldn't just focus on the truly talented kids. I am not sure how it works in India but here in the US, there are quotas for each section for the higher level national tournaments. Only the top kids from each section get to compete at the nationals (in each of the 12s, 14, 16s and 18s age group). For example, for some of the national tournaments, the Eastern section that my son is part of only sends top 9 kids to the nationals. So if you factor in the age fraud, the truly deserving kids are losing an opportunity to play the higher level tournaments. There is another category of national tournaments where the qualification is purely based on the national ranking (i.e., the top 32 or top 64 national ranking holders). But if kids don't get to play the section designated national tournaments (the ones that pick the top section kids), it's tough to garner national points. Also, every kid matures at a different age - some peak early, some are late bloomers. By having to worry about this age fraud, it adds another dimension that they shouldn't really have to worry about.
The qualification criteria may be different in India. I am curious to know what criteria is used to determine which kids get to compete in the national tournaments.