Paes' former coach to train IIT Kharagpur team and enthusiasts

Kolkata: IIT Kharagpur has taken a giant leap towards the promotion of sporting activities among its students by roping in T J Hyman, former coach of ace tennis player Leander Paes, to train its tennis team and enthusiasts.

The institute has allocated Rs 10 crore for the upgradation and renovation of sporting activities and facilities to host the Inter IIT 2019. This is in addition to the allocated annual sports budget of Rs 1.5 crore.

A senior professor of IIT Kgp said that tennis has recently received a major thrust with US-based alumnus and entrepreneur Vinod Gupta facilitating a training programme and sports kit upgradation.

"He has roped in US-based Tennis professional T J Hyman to start a training programme for enthusiasts at IIT Kgp. Hyman has earlier coached in the Britannia Amritraj Tennis programme, where Paes trained under him. He will receive assistance from Warren Rhomfeld from the US Professional Tennis Association," he said.

"I love tennis as a game and as an exercise. I want the IIT Kgp team to be the best. I have asked T J Hyman to train our team. He is one of the finest tennis coaches. There are endless opportunities to give back as an alum and my agenda is to promote wellness through sports among the students," said Vinod Gupta, who funded the management and law schools at IIT Kharagpur.

IIT Kharagpur will build two respective synthetic courts for tennis, basketball and volleyball, one synthetic track for athletics, an indoor stadium with a food court. In addition to the centralised indoor facilities, the institute already has a stadium for athletics, a ground for cricket and soccer, several outdoor courts for tennis, basketball and volleyball and a swimming pool.

"The enhanced focus in sports activities would strengthen the wellness initiatives. Sports tend to inculcate qualities like resonance, leadership, discipline, decision-making, facing challenges, etc. We have observed that students who enroll in NSO Sports, Inter-IIT and Inter-Hall Sports General Championships at IIT Kharagpur, exhibit these qualities and are more resistant to negative thought process," said William Mohanty, president of technology students' Gymkhana, the nerve centre of students' activities at the institute. IIT Kharagpur also has an inhouse coach. Over 200 IIT students sign up for tennis training each year.

The 2017 Inter-IIT Sports Meet for students and staff is scheduled to start in December in Chennai. As many as 23 IITs will be participating in the event of 13 categories. Preparation and practice for the annual meet is in full swing now.