Harsh Mankad thread -upto July 2005

Insider · Post by **Insider** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:26 pm

This sponsor will definitely receive my special attention when I am out shopping for a racket, shoes, bag etc.

Yep, same here.

Post by **Dhruv** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:54 pm

jai_in_canada wrote:P.S. Harsh used to play with a Babolate Pure Drive racket, if I am not mistaken. It would make sense if they were the ones that offered the sponsorship.

Yes he does play with Babolat, but unfortunately the sponsorship deal is not with Babolat but I'll let PKB do the honours as he did all the work.

Sandeep · Post by **Sandeep** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:02 pm

Is it Head?

Post by **jayakris** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:27 pm

Nope, it is not Head either

Jay

sanjay5goel · Post by **sanjay5goel** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 7:15 pm

Ahh!! I remember now - It is Wilson.

Sanjay

jai_in_canada · Post by **jai_in_canada** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:24 pm

Man, you guys can't wait, can you?

Haven't u hear - good things come to those who wait? It's happening to Harsh.

Great job by PKB, where none of the sports management companies could/ would do anything for India's #1 tennis player.

amr090 · Post by **amr090** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:46 pm

I wonder who it is???

I'd really like to know from PKB how he arranged all this. It would be really interesting to find out what kind of stuff he went through to get this done. Just a great day for Harsh, PKB and all of us!

Post by **jayakris** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:07 pm

Ahh!! I remember now - It is Wilson

Nope it ain't Wilson either ..

Jay

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:32 pm

I am sure he's test driven the new one enough to make the transition smooth. There is so much that goes into switching from one to other especially to make sure the new one is smooth on the wrist and elbow apart from power, control and the feel aspects to avoid any injuries.

PKBasu · Post by **PKBasu** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:43 pm

Harsh will be sponsored by Yonex.
I know some senior people at Sunrise Group in Singapore, who are the sole distributors for Yonex in non-Japan Asia. I discussed with them last November that it was a travesty that India's number 1 male tennis player did not have any sponsorship -- and they readily agreed to make it happen. By the end of 2004, they agreed in principle to provide US$10,000 of sponsorship for Harsh in year 1, including a racquet and equipment contract. The details of the contract were difficult to pin down as Harsh was in the midst of the season, and had little time to check out their racquets, etc.
Eventually, however, a mutually satisfactory contract emerged. It provides for an exhaustive amount of equipment -- including 8 Yonex RDX300SM racquets with RDX Midpoint racquet heads, all customised by Yonex to Harsh's specifications, 120 sets of strings, 11 pairs of shoes,plus bags, jackets, grips, wrist-bands, etc. precisely in line with what Harsh said he would require in the year. In addition, they will provide US$8000 in cash support, to be paid in four quarterly instalments -- provided he remains ranked number 1 or 2 among Indian male players. (My estimate is that, taking account of the value of all the equipment, the total support package is closer to US$11K-12K, with the condition that Harsh remains the India number 1).
My special thanks to Mr. Harinder Garga of Sunrise Singapore, his colleague Vikram Dhar of Sunrise in India, a15 (a US CPA who took care of some of the contractual issues), Nirupamaji, Jay, Samarth and Monisha for working on various aspects of the deal and making this possible. Through end-June 2006 (next year's Wimbledon), this contract should provide him an additional layer of comfort -- and make it possible to achieve new heights in his career.

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:47 pm

Team Harsh, that's simply AWESOME.

PKBasu · Post by **PKBasu** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:50 pm

The customised racquets will get to Harsh within the next fortnight, and he will make the switch whenever he gets a chance to practice with the newly-customised racquets for long enough for him to get comfortable with them. In March, Yonex had provided him 6 racquets from which he could choos one that would then be customised. (Incidentally, others sponsored by Yonex include Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian). Our exhaustive research suggests that none of the racquet-makers provide cash sponsorship support for any player outside the top-100 so this is a pretty good deal that Harsh has signed up for.

On another note, Harsh arrived tonight in Wrexham (UK) to continue with his physical training and also to resume playing tennis (which he was restricted from doing in Mumbai because of the monsoons!).

amr090 · Post by **amr090** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:57 pm

I think its safe to say that Yonex will be more than happy in its returns from Harsh in the near future!

COngratulations!!

Sandeep · Post by **Sandeep** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 2:03 am

Mr. Harinder Garga of Sunrise Singapore, his colleague Vikram Dhar of Sunrise in India, a15 (a US CPA who took care of some of the contractual issues), Nirupamaji, Jay, Samarth and Monisha

And ofcourse PKBasu

Amazing news.

Post by **jayakris** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 2:11 am

Hey, I had nothing much to do with this, except in making the initial "big pitch" document on Harsh late last year with Arumugam (a15) and then nudging Harsh a little bit as he was getting cold feet about changing the racket .... PKB was very persistent through the process and that is what worked.

But it is a small sponsorship contract when you consider what many of the top players get in most big countries, and that it had to come from Singapore and not from India talks about what our athletes have to go through.

For Harsh though, who was down to $300 in December in his bank account, this contract being in the works (along with a small $3K sponsorship from the Pasadena training clinic) gave a bit of peace of mind that he wouldn't have to quit tennis all that soon!

Great job, PKB and Team Harsh. And yes, Yonex will get their money's worth and then some, I am sure!

Jay