Love all, TSTA is all in the family

After players, parents and fans blew hot at the state of affairs, more muck is gushing out of the Telangana State Tennis Association (TSTA) office with questions being raised on officials running the body with scant respect to rules.

Secretary Ashok Kumar is facing the heat. He is accused of inheriting the honorary post and clinging to it for over a decade now. His father late Raja Narasimha Rao was life president of the body in united Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh Lawn Tennis Association.

Only secretaries of affiliated district associations are eligible to hold office in the TSTA. Ashok was not one when he took over, which prompted former TSTA joint secretary and Hyderabad District Tennis Association secretary Praveen Bhargava to move the City Civil Court, much later.

The matter has been subjudice for long now and Bhargava is beginning to get tired because of lack of support.

“When the new districts were carved out, they gave affiliation to 18 of them. Ashok affiliated himself as secretary from his family stronghold of Jagitial. All other secretaries are a coterie comprising cousins, relatives and friends,” Bhargava accused.

“None of these are really interested about the game in the state, there are no ranking tournaments whatsoever. Whatever action happens is limited only to the Hyderabad district and thereabouts. They are not even bothered about the Annual General Body meetings. The show just goes on,” Bhargava rued.

“District secretaries have been nominated without following proper norms. For most of them it’s just an identity,” Bhargava said.

Vexed with this, Bhargava opted out of the body as did former Davis Cupper and national selector S. P. Misra.

Regular tournaments are the need of the hour if a steady line of players is to be developed in the interests of the city, state and country.

It’s high time things are set right in the association for the benefit of young players who have dreams of making it big lest we lose another generation to the sidelines and feel guilty about the costly drop when it’s too late.