Karman Kaur Thandi

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vatsal323
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by vatsal323 »

Karman is planning to make a comeback at the Pune $25K event. She is currently undergoing rehabs at the MTA in Nice!
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by sameerph »

Thanks for that info, Vatsal. Hope she gets back fully fit by then. She has some points to defend there. A good run at the end of the year can take her top 300 and better.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by sameerph »

Karman has reached the SF of $25K ITF in Pune and with that by my calculation she may just sneak ahead of Ankita Raina as India #1 when these points go into rankings on November 20.

Karman has 6 points to defend this week and has earned 18 points so far making a net addition of 12 points while Ankita has 22 points dropping off this week and earned only 1 which is a net deduction if 21 points.

That puts Karman at 163 points and Ankita at 162.

Ankita has entered $60K tournament in Japan next week. So, a win or two there can still take her ahead. But, Karman too can still earn a lot more in next 2 matches in Pune.

So, we will wait and watch but it does look like Ankita's long reign as India #1 for more than 4 years may finally end next week.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by jayakris »

sameerph wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 3:39 pmSo, we will wait and watch but it does look like Ankita's long reign as India #1 for more than 4 years may finally end next week.
Looks like it is coming to that. Quite an uneventful and rather unremarkable reign at the top, that too, despite the length of it. I think she did not have a single title abroad in that period, and had only one $25K title even in India. I guess it is more a reflection of how poor Indian women's tennis has been, that nobody was there to challenge her at the top when she herself was hardly much inside world top-250. Let us hope that Karaman can go much higher, and that Zeel and the other younger crowd will be after her too, so that we will have some 2 or 3 Indian players in the top 200 in the near future.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by sameerph »

Agreed that Ankita remained our #1 mainly due to lack of competition from other Indian players. But, we need to give her credit too. She has remained inside top 300 for about 4 year now ( although for large periods between 250-300). One cannot say the same thing about too many Indian women players before here. Players who were more talked about than Ankita such as Isha Lakhani, Ankita/Sanaa Bhambri, Tara Iyer etc. could not enter top 300 or could not stay there for any length of time.

I don't think we have a list of all time highest ranked women players like we have for men but I think with her career high ranking of 222, Ankita would be quite high in that list. Sania, Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Shikha Uberoi are the only ones I remember to be in top 200. Were there any others there in top 200 ?
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by bujilover »

Actually, irrespective of the fact that she has not won a title abroad, Ankita's #1 run still is creditworthy. That she had to travel places and beat foreign opponents and getting consistent QF, SF result without having a coach traveling is remarkable. I doubt Karman will be able to show us the same level of consistency - a lot of our younger players remind me of Sanam Singh. But I am sure Karman has a better overall game compared to Ankita and she is backed up by Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. This could be similar to asking how Simona Halep is ranked #1 without winning even a GS this year compared to her top-5 compatriots.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by bujilover »

sameerph wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 4:50 pm I don't think we have a list of all time highest ranked women players like we have for men but I think with her career high ranking of 222, Ankita would be quite high in that list. Sania, Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Shikha Uberoi are the only ones I remember to be in top 200. Were there any others there in top 200 ?
I remember following Sunitha Rao a few years ago. Not sure about her career high but she was definitely top-200 for some time. I know she is married now.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by jayakris »

Of course, I didn't mean to discredit Ankita's run at all. That is much better than what a lot of other Indians had done in terms of consistency. In fact an Asiad or Commonwealth medal or something would have made her reign a bit more memorable, that's all. But those are tough standards to achieve. Still, the fact that we didn't have anybody coming near her for so many years (after the period of Niru, Sania, Shikha, Sunitha etc) is what I was feeling sad about.

Sunitha Rao was ranked #144 at her career high.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by Observer »

Ankita has had access to a lot lesser resources and guidance than most of the other Indian female players who have done well. She is also shorter than most and despite that she has done better than everyone barring 4 of them(Sania, Nirupana, Uberoi, Rao). Sania was exceptional and Uberoi and Rao trained in the US. In a rich persons sport like tennis US based players in most cases have a major advantage over the home grown ones.
Ankita has done extremely well despite her limitations and is still our best player. I would trust Ankita way more than KKT against a top 250 opponent.

KKT, Zeel and others will hopefully go a long way but it doesnt take anything away from the fact that Ankita has done really well and would hopefully continue to get better as she is still quite young. The primary reason she didn't win many titles was because she always tried to make the best use of her rank and limited funds and chose to play in bigger tournaments. She could easily have won a string of smaller tournaments with her skills.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by sameerph »

Observer wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:04 am The primary reason she didn't win many titles was because she always tried to make the best use of her rank and limited funds and chose to play in bigger tournaments. She could easily have won a string of smaller tournaments with her skills.
Yes, that is well said, Observer. Many a times in the forum we have remarked that Ankita needs to come down and play some lower level events. But, she has steadfastly continued her schedule getting into many as many higher level events as possible with her ranking. She also reached a $60K final in China earlier this year which is no mean achievement in a tough field.

Same applies to Karman. She is yet to win any singles titles in her career. If she had played 15K tournaments this year, with her current level of play, she would have surely won a title or two. But, she continues to play 25K tournaments and reached QF/SF in a string of them.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by vatsal323 »

I think playing 25K's is a better idea for Karman. The 15K's hardly offer any points at all. Besides, Karman has reached the final of a 25K too.

Also, just a random thought. I think she has the kind of game to now and then upset higher ranked players at big events. So really looking forward to a big run at the WTA $125K event in Mumbai.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by arjun2761 »

Karman is definitely playing at the correct level as he is consistently getting wins. Making SF means you are in the top 4 in a field of 32, so she definitely belongs there. I am not a fan of playing down to boost your rankings unless it get's you over some milestone (like getting into GS qualies etc.) because you will likely improve more by playing better opponents.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by jayakris »

If you are getting 2+ matches at any level, you belong there. Karman should definitely be playing $25K or higher levels now.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by prasen9 »

Exactly. Honestly, I think trying to find your "correct level" thinking you can do a better job than a good ranking system or a good heuristic is hogwash. That gets sentimentality and unreasonable assumptions in the way often.

As long as your rank allows you, play at the top main tournament level you can enter. If it is really easier for travel/financial reasons or if you are coming back from an injury or are not in the best of health and do not want many matches in the week, play the qualies for the level you do not get a direct entry. I am never a fan of playing a lower level just to get easy points except again when you are returning from injury or long breaks and need a few matches in a week to tune up your game, try new things, and get match fitness. Even if points are falling off, do not play the lower level just to maintain rankings. Take a risk and play the higher level and when your ranking drops play the lower level to bring the ranking up again. Only play the lower level if it is may be substantially cheaper and money/travel is a very serious consideration.
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Re: Karman Kaur Thandi

Post by Observer »

prasen9 wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 9:57 pm Take a risk and play the higher level and when your ranking drops play the lower level to bring the ranking up again. Only play the lower level if it is may be substantially cheaper and money/travel is a very serious consideration.
Completely agree. Athletes hoping to make tennis their profession should aim to grow fast. Assuming they are going to make it at the top level, leveling up would in most cases not be a bad decision. It is also a good "fail-fast" strategy. Some of them would find out that they probably wont make it at the top level and that would help them reassess their priorities much sooner and plan out their lives better or maybe focus on doubles. Playing easy tournaments for points is only is only a temporary hack to make the rejection system called tennis reach its conclusion slower.

There could be some good reasons to occasionally play in easy tournaments like ease of travel, financial cost, regaining confidence when going through a bad patch. But in regular scenarios its almost always a good strategy to to grow as fast.
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