Tennis, Boys

In a country where children grow up playing gully cricket and football, learning tennis at the age of six is fairly uncommon . “However, where I’m from, most students joined at  a young age, and all except the interested left it fairly quickly. I thought I was quite good at it then. When you get positive feedback, it really keeps you going,” Shubhankar Srivastava, the Boys’ Tennis captain this BOSM, said, with a smile on his face.

For him, seeing every tennis player getting cheered on by the rest of his team is the most inspiring thing about BOSM. Being a dynamic game, stamina is as important as skill. Luckily, tennis games are, on average, only an hour long. The team has been practising rigorously for the past couple of months, twice a day, with enough refreshments to keep their energy levels up.

Many wonder what makes a doubles team click. Shubhankar, a Federer fan himself, believes that the chemistry that the teammates share is more vital than most other things. “However talented you are, without proper support from your partner in times of need, you can’t expect to always get far.”

Shubhankar believes that BOSM provides a great platform for many upcoming players and is really happy to see the large numbers of colleges that flow into Pilani every year. However, he does feel a lack of support from the BITSian crowd, which is generally overpowered by those from visiting colleges, but he does hope that the case won’t be the same this time around.

Nevertheless, the team’s practices are in full swing and Shubhankar has a lot of faith in this year’s bunch, especially the single new recruit. As the fest approaches, Shubhankar walks around with utmost confidence and is optimistic about his team’s chances.

We wish him and his team the best of luck for BOSM 2015!