Karman shines brightly in Raja’s show

Ankita gives Sania 7/10 for her role in helping India qualify in the FedCup

Karman Kaur Thandi could not play the FedCup qualification to the World Group play-off in Dubai due to injury, but she was at her brightest in emerging the champion in the Instagram show ‘Chai with Raja’.

Unique chance

It was a unique opportunity for the entire FedCup team, including Sania Mirza, to put Indian women’s tennis in the limelight. Top doubles star Purav Raja hosted the six players in a 50-minute show.

The general questions, labelled Raja’s Wisdom, caught the girls on the wrong foot, but they were sporting and composed.

Sania was at ease and readily offered to donate the proceedings to the Chief Minister’s Fund if she won the FedCup Heart Award.

Sania said that she would seek about 1-1/2 weeks preparation in Latvia for the FedCup play-off tie, and said that it would be a 50-50 chance for both the teams.

Sania was the judge but left it to Purav by naming Sowjanya Bavisetti and Karman. Since Karman had answered most of the 15 questions, Purav had no hesitation in declaring her the winner.

Quite smart

Though she could not remember the other top-200 ranked players of the country, apart from Sania and Ankita, Karman, herself a member of that elite league, was quite smart otherwise.

Karman said that she was reading Sania’s biography and found it interesting. She gave eight out of 10 points for Mahesh Bhupathi in shaping her career in the professional circuit.

Sowjanya spoke about the tricky experience of competing in Nigeria immediately after winning the national women’s title last year.

Rutuja Bhosale said that it depended on the person to capitalise on college tennis in the US.

Quite nervous

She said she was quite nervous during the FedCup, despite having been part of the team since 2011.

Rutuja hoped to be in the top-200 by 2022, a sentiment echoed by Riya Bhatia also. Ankita Raina gave seven out of 10 for Sania’s role in helping India qualify in the FedCup, even though she herself had won the singles and doubles matches to steer the team.

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