Ankita Raina thread

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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by sameerph »

Ankita does win her first round match at Mumbai WTA and she will regain her position as India #1 after just 1 week out of it. In the live rankings, she is 282 ahead of Karman who is at 288.
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

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Ankita on the importance of coach, loneliness on tour, TOPS exclusion and so on: https://thefield.scroll.in/858789/on-he ... break-rank
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by S_K_S »

VReddy wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:32 pm Ankita on the importance of coach, loneliness on tour, TOPS exclusion and so on: https://thefield.scroll.in/858789/on-he ... break-rank
A sad state of affairs. I watched her play at the Edgbaston Classic and she is a talented player who has the potential to go much further.
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by knarayen »

S_K_S wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:47 pm
VReddy wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:32 pm Ankita on the importance of coach, loneliness on tour, TOPS exclusion and so on: https://thefield.scroll.in/858789/on-he ... break-rank
A sad state of affairs. I watched her play at the Edgbaston Classic and she is a talented player who has the potential to go much further.
If funding is an issue - if the need is for about $75K per year for a traveling coach - someone she is comfortable with - then lets set up a meeting with her and her potential travel coach and many of us in the forum can contribute - we can even make it an annual contribution of about $2K each that will go quite a ways with her request. I am ready to contribute, but only if we can organize this in some formal manner.

Prof
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by VReddy »

Very nice of you to state that Prof. I am in too and with the help of a charity, we can even have the donation matched by the employer. So if 10 of us pledge $2K, we can figure out a way to make it $30-$40k by matching.

Any pref on how to take it forward in terms of gauging how many of us are interested? Should we use a sheet like this? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by knarayen »

VReddy wrote: Thu Nov 23, 2017 2:12 am Very nice of you to state that Prof. I am in too and with the help of a charity, we can even have the donation matched by the employer. So if 10 of us pledge $2K, we can figure out a way to make it $30-$40k by matching.

Any pref on how to take it forward in terms of gauging how many of us are interested? Should we use a sheet like this? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0
A fund needs to be created, with a prospectus and a legal entity based in India, legit for tax purposes, probably a foundation of some kind, and to which people can contribute with the expectation of some kind of a dividend payment to investors. A finance professional needs to be consulted on the establishment of this fund.the fund will pay the coaches salaries - it should be a professionally managed fund that invests in securities just like any hedge fund would, for example. Investors to this fund can come from the readership to this forum and others interested in Indian tennis.
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by jayakris »

I will chip in (added to the spreadsheet). Not sure who can do the legwork in India, with some proper planning like Prof suggested. Jay
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

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knarayen wrote: Fri Nov 24, 2017 5:19 am
VReddy wrote: Thu Nov 23, 2017 2:12 am Very nice of you to state that Prof. I am in too and with the help of a charity, we can even have the donation matched by the employer. So if 10 of us pledge $2K, we can figure out a way to make it $30-$40k by matching.

Any pref on how to take it forward in terms of gauging how many of us are interested? Should we use a sheet like this? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0
A fund needs to be created, with a prospectus and a legal entity based in India, legit for tax purposes, probably a foundation of some kind, and to which people can contribute with the expectation of some kind of a dividend payment to investors. A finance professional needs to be consulted on the establishment of this fund.the fund will pay the coaches salaries - it should be a professionally managed fund that invests in securities just like any hedge fund would, for example. Investors to this fund can come from the readership to this forum and others interested in Indian tennis.
Prof / Jay - I agree. However, I feel that is a state we should reach once we done it for sometime i.e., atleast an year. If we aim for that state right away, it will very likely not even begin given that its uncertain how many of us are interested and how sustainable it is.

I would recommend we take the approach of working with an established local Sports NGO which is tax certified to fund her coach. After we know it is sustainable, demonstrated an impact and figured out all the chinks ourselves, then we would have enough momentum / insight to take this forward in the manner that both of you have called out.

In terms of an NGO that fits the bill, I think Lakshya NGO (http://lakshyasports.com/) would be perfect with its presence in Pune and with her coach Hemant also based there. Interested to know your thoughts if this approach makes sense. If yes, I can probably put in the effort to take care of the logistics / share the details
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by jaydeep »

I may be a spoilsport but I m not convinced by this approach.
This year, Mumbai tournament is Ankita's first tournament in India, she played tournaments in - China 8, Turkey 3, Great Britain 3, and one each in Germany, Japan, Belgium, Czech Republic, Thailand, and Uzbekistan.

So my questions are,
1. who is currently supporting her? (If she is supported by any sports NGO then it will be difficult)
- Previously her sponsors were 'Bharat Forge' and 'Adani Group'. (not sure about current status but I think, Adani Group is still supporting)
- She was also linked up with 'Laksya' due to Hemant Bendre. (not sure about current status)
- In 2014, PM Narendra Modi gave her immediate cash support (Rs 5 lakhs?) and promised Rs. 25 lakhs support per year (what happened to this?)
"It all happened very fast. They launched the policy within a month of that meeting and Ankita along with others started receiving the financial support. It was a fantastic move by them and I hope other state governments also follow the same policy," Bendre said from Pune adding that Ankita has been promised support of Rs 25 lakh per year.
2. If we help in the appointment of traveling coach and due to some issues that doesn't work out.
- Are we ready to help her appoint another traveling coach? (As our entity need to pay her previous coach as per the contract)
- Who is going to evaluate THE coach? (in end, our entity will be financing)

What Prof suggested, it looks more logical at creating a foundation, let's say 'Sports-India Foundation' to support players and through that monitoring our donations.

But again require brainstorming on any approach. :D
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by VReddy »

Well first things first - there is enough money in the system in the last 4-5 yrs - period. Lot of these player reports of lacking funds are a bit wobbly and one would not be able to just connect the dots (given all the funding reports). As Jay had mentioned a month back in some discussion, this is an issue on both player and federation side probably and sometimes I feel, it is a tactic used by players to get more funds even if they have already. As I found out with a Jr British Open Champ (Squash) from Chennai, sometimes these are new-age marketing gimmicks to get news/viewership. Now I doubt (or atleast hope) that is not the case here.

One needs to be a full-time activist or a righteous journalist to connect all the missing dots and clear the mess in the system (created by players too i think, not just administrators).

We can take the approach of doing a band-aid fix or trying to create a generic platform (i.e., a Foundation) which is useful for all players. While the latter is preferred, I question it - my reasoning is - as an outsider, I feel we are NOT positioned well nor have the bandwidth though we may have the expertise. If we do want to support, I vote for starting scrappy, get our feet in the water, get a sense of the landscape and then when we all feel we can do much more, then by all means start taking the steps towards registering a foundation and do all the steps above. Now if we have someone out of the blue investing Rs 1 crore (or even 50 lakhs) then its a different ball game. Though even then, if I were an investor, would recommend a start scrappy approach. Only when we get our feet wet in the water, we'll know who is in it for the long run.

Now for all the questions around what if things don't work out for Ankita with Hemant and so on - then its tough luck and it kind of ends there unless a suitable coach comes up that nobody has a question on and is still willing to support. Even she knows that the next 2 yrs are make or break for her to make it big. Even for Hemant, she is the marquee player. Both have a lot at stake.
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by jaydeep »

Ok, now I am bit rude.
I have a HUGE doubt on Hemant's coaching ability, Period. I don't want to discredit him, but in simple word - he lacks ability to take Ankita or any other to next level.
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by jayakris »

jaydeep wrote: Fri Nov 24, 2017 1:35 pmI don't want to discredit him, but in simple word - he lacks ability to take Ankita or any other to next level.
I have to agree. Not just about him, as I don't have enough evidence on how good/bad he is, but generally about any Indian coach - as none of them has really taken a player even into the top-150 (Sania doesn't count, because she was basically Sania :) )... Before we jump headlong into helping Ankita, a solid plan on who the coach will be, and how she plans to go about using say a $25-30K or something we try to raise (say enough for a period of 2 or 3 month period of 8 to 10 events with a good traveling coach) would be a key matter. If we can get a satisfactory idea of this through somebody who is in touch with Ankita, we could get somewhere. Ankita needs to know that the better the coach and the plan she comes up with, the better the chance for more people here and elsewhere to get convinced and support it. It takes some legwork.
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by VReddy »

jayakris wrote: Fri Nov 24, 2017 2:16 pm
jaydeep wrote: Fri Nov 24, 2017 1:35 pmI don't want to discredit him, but in simple word - he lacks ability to take Ankita or any other to next level.
I have to agree. Not just about him, as I don't have enough evidence on how good/bad he is, but generally about any Indian coach - as none of them has really taken a player even into the top-150 (Sania doesn't count, because she was basically Sania :) )... Before we jump headlong into helping Ankita, a solid plan on who the coach will be, and how she plans to go about using say a $25-30K or something we try to raise (say enough for a period of 2 or 3 month period of 8 to 10 events with a good traveling coach) would be a key matter. If we can get a satisfactory idea of this through somebody who is in touch with Ankita, we could get somewhere. Ankita needs to know that the better the coach and the plan she comes up with, the better the chance for more people here and elsewhere to get convinced and support it. It takes some legwork.
I wouldn't comment on the Indian coach part as I have no insight there. I agree on the second part that Ankita needs to have a rough plan herself which she should be detail out and articulate.

It would easier if somebody who knows her personally, talks informally and finds out. Her Mother occasionally comments on that fb page and probably can reach out but if they do put in their legwork and respond, then we may not be ready yet.
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by S_K_S »

Not sure I have time or the inclination for the creation of a fund etc. Personally, if a player needs funds then let him/her pitch for it on here and will be more than happy to contribute directly to the player if they have a strong case.
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Re: Ankita Raina thread

Post by jayakris »

S_K_S wrote: Fri Nov 24, 2017 2:36 pmNot sure I have time or the inclination for the creation of a fund etc. Personally, if a player needs funds then let him/her pitch for it on here and will be more than happy to contribute directly to the player if they have a strong case.
That is fine too. It doesn't have to be a "begging" kind of plea from her. Players are uncomfortable doing that, and understandably so. Somebody on her side can simply post a well-thought-out plan she could think of, and we can all take a look and decide as we all feel, to go ahead and do something to help her. But it needs to be realistic. It shouldn't be like the kind of plans the players give to company sponsors etc - which are exaggerated, because you are dealing with people who don't know much about it - and with the expectation that you would get say 1/3rd of what you ask for, as both sides are aware of the exaggeration. Many here are very well informed on what is needed on the tour, and what things cost, so we just need to know a realistic plan that we can all buy. And we don't need any sell-job or any big promise of "goal of going to top-50 in 3 months" or anything either --- because we know precisely about how good Ankita is, and that is why we are trying to help.
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