Srishti Kiran makes Asian U-14 team for ITF events in Europe

Srishti Kiran had a memorable time reaching Europe from her training base in Florida, USA, when called to make the Asian under-14 team as part of the Grand Slam Player Development Programme (GSPDP) of International Tennis Federation (ITF).

It was Jensi Kanabar who was selected following back to back girls’ singles titles over a fortnight in the Asian event held in Delhi. Jensi who made it to the Wimbledon under-14 event, could not accept the invitation for Europe.

The 13-year-old Srishti had directly left for USA after the Asian event in April with her dad. Once the opportunity came from the Asian Tennis Federation and ITF, the necessary was quickly procured for Srishti.

Since the ITF does not allow parents to accompany the players, and there would be dedicated coaches to take care of them, Srishti had to fly alone from USA to Paris.

“Originally her ticket was from West Palm Beach International Airport, which was close to the academy where she trains. However, due to bad weather at her connecting centre, the airlines was not allowing unaccompanied minor passengers. Instead, they gave another ticket from Miami to Dallas and to Paris,” recalled Kiran Gopalrajan, Srishti’s father.

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The tricky part was that Srishti had to rush to the Miami airport, 130 kilometres away, to board the flight..

“Midway through the flight, the American airlines upgraded Srishti to business class. She even got to experience the cockpit,” said Kiran.

After a three-day camp in Paris, Srishti would be competing in a tournament in France this week. Thereafter, she will have another tournament in France before the Asian team moves to Germany and Belgium.

The coaches – Czarina Arevalo of Philippines, Matrin Setiawan of Indonesia and Ranil Harshana Sri Lanka – accompany the Asian players.