The prestigious Arjuna award couldn't have come at a better time for the 29-year-old Saketh Myneni, who returned to action just a month ago after a shoulder injury that put him off the professional circuit for over six months. “It's a great feeling to be bestowed with such a coveted award,“ said Saketh, speaking to TOI from China, where he's currently playing a tournament.“It's not official yet as I haven't received any official confirmation from the government in this regard,“ he said about the award. “Certainly, it's a great inspiration for me to win more medals and laurels for the country .I feel humbled, honoured to be in the company of some great champions who had won this award before,“ said the India's golden boy at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, where he combined with Sania Mirza to clinch the mixed doubles title.
Saketh, in fact, had a grand double at the Incheon Asian Games as he also bagged a silver in the men's doubles partnering Sanam Singh.He also thanked Sania, who partnered with him to win the Asian Games gold, for nominating him for the award.
The `painful' shoulder injury has taken its toll on his ranking as he slipped from his career-best world ranking of 113 last year to 442. “I'm not looking at the ranking now.I'm just happy to stay healthy ,“ the Visakhapatnam lad said.
“The Arjuna award is a big boost for me ahead of the India's Davis Cup World Group playoff against Canada next month,“ he said. “I'm really looking forward for the Davis Cup tie. Hopefully , we will beat Canada and enter the elite World Group again,“ he said.
However, Saketh, who had won nine ITF and two ATP Challenger singles titles in his career so far, was cautious about the controversial remarks made by his Davis Cup teammate Rohan Bopanna, who had lashed out at the All India Tennis Association (AITA) for not recommending his name for the Arjuna award. “It's unfortunate. I really don't know about the criteria followed by AITA with regard to selection of players for Arjuna award. So, I can't comment on the issue. Rohan is a quality player. Hopefully, he too will get the award soon,“ Saketh said.
However, he denied facing any trouble in the Dragon Land particularly in the aftermath of the India-China standoff over the Doklam row, “Everything is normal here. Certainly , I haven't faced any issues regarding visa, whatsoever. China is a developed country and for sportsmen these things doesn't matter much,“ he said.
He thanked his first coach PK Kishore of Viskhapatnam and CV Nagaraju of Hyderabad for helping him fine tune his technique. “There are several people who supported me all these years and I'm very grateful to all of them,“ said Saketh, who is eagerly awaiting for his return to the country next week.
Saketh, in fact, had a grand double at the Incheon Asian Games as he also bagged a silver in the men's doubles partnering Sanam Singh.He also thanked Sania, who partnered with him to win the Asian Games gold, for nominating him for the award.
The `painful' shoulder injury has taken its toll on his ranking as he slipped from his career-best world ranking of 113 last year to 442. “I'm not looking at the ranking now.I'm just happy to stay healthy ,“ the Visakhapatnam lad said.
“The Arjuna award is a big boost for me ahead of the India's Davis Cup World Group playoff against Canada next month,“ he said. “I'm really looking forward for the Davis Cup tie. Hopefully , we will beat Canada and enter the elite World Group again,“ he said.
However, Saketh, who had won nine ITF and two ATP Challenger singles titles in his career so far, was cautious about the controversial remarks made by his Davis Cup teammate Rohan Bopanna, who had lashed out at the All India Tennis Association (AITA) for not recommending his name for the Arjuna award. “It's unfortunate. I really don't know about the criteria followed by AITA with regard to selection of players for Arjuna award. So, I can't comment on the issue. Rohan is a quality player. Hopefully, he too will get the award soon,“ Saketh said.
However, he denied facing any trouble in the Dragon Land particularly in the aftermath of the India-China standoff over the Doklam row, “Everything is normal here. Certainly , I haven't faced any issues regarding visa, whatsoever. China is a developed country and for sportsmen these things doesn't matter much,“ he said.
He thanked his first coach PK Kishore of Viskhapatnam and CV Nagaraju of Hyderabad for helping him fine tune his technique. “There are several people who supported me all these years and I'm very grateful to all of them,“ said Saketh, who is eagerly awaiting for his return to the country next week.
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