“We need corporate sponsors,” Ushna told The Express Tribune. PHOTO: FILE
Ushna said due to the Pakistan Tennis Federation’s (PTF) financial constraints, players are not able to afford international trips and miss out on the chance of competing at a higher level.
“We need corporate sponsors,” Ushna told The Express Tribune. “That is the only solution left for us now. But it is never easy to rope them in.”
The 19-year-old, who has won the most singles matches for Pakistan (six out of nine) in the Fed Cup, said that a struggling tennis player needs to play at least 30 tournaments in a year in the international circuit to make a mark.
She also revealed that she does not have any tournaments in the near future on her schedule as she is still looking for a coach who can guide her through the tours.
“To play international tournaments, one needs a good coach and I don’t have one at the moment,” said Ushna. “I have been training but tennis is a very competitive sport. I need proper training before even setting out for an international event. Tennis is an expensive sport and one has to put in a lot to get results.”
She further said that although it is a good start from the PTF to send a women’s squad to the Fed Cup, more efforts are needed to win major honours.
“The PTF is trying but their efforts are not good enough. We need international events, at home or abroad and the federation needs to step up. We can’t just keep putting in all the money we have, the support has to be there.
“Right now my priority is to get a good coach. We lost the Fed Cup because we never got any proper training before going to Kazakhstan. It would’ve been a different story if we had a proper camp.“
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2013.
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