The Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Togo to be played on the hard courts at the DLTA Complex on February 1 and 2 may not be that much of a challenge for the host, but Indian tennis is looking to capitalise on the event to strengthen its roots.
To that extent, three bright youngsters Aryan Shah, Chirag Duhan and Yuvan Nandal, have been added to the training squad and will start the preparation at the venue on Thursday with coach Ashutosh Singh.
Of course, Aryan was part of the team for the last tie against Sweden, but could not get nomination this time.
With three singles players in S. Mukund, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Karan Singh in the squad, along with doubles exponents Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli, the selectors were not taking any chances against Togo.
The visitors will not have the strength of internationally ranked players, as the best player Thomas Setodji is ranked 1258, but the team has beaten Latvia 4-0 and Indonesia 3-2 to reach this far.
“The tie will give us the option to groom the next generation players in the Davis Cup environment. We will utilise the home advantage and home support,” said the captain of the team, Rohit Rajpal.
Karan and Ramkumar are expected to start training with the three youngsters from Thursday, while Mukund, Balaji and Rithvik are expected to join the squad in the next few days.
Published – January 22, 2025 07:40 pm IST
