Vedant Mohan was the only player in the elite field of 14 boys under the age of 10 who had traveled to the Croatian resort of Umag without a coach. But the young Indian tennis player made light of his torn shoes to leave all but one of the competition behind and finished second in the Champions Bowl World Finals.
Vedant qualified for the meet, Europe’s prestigious U-10 tournament, by winning regional and national meetings in Spain, where he trains. The 10-year-old lost to the Greek Rafael Pagonis, with whom he won the double title.
The fifth grader trains under Daniel Kiernan at the Soto Tennis Academy in Sotogrande and is regularly on the Spanish circuit, where trainees from the world’s best academies compete against each other. The family moved to Spain after his father, a pilot, lost his job.
While rankings for the most formative age group, the under-10 class, are strongly discouraged, where Vedant is among his peers, his triumph in the national competition in Spain, which helped him to qualify for Umag, can be won.
The other players in Umag also came through a similar two-stage event held in their respective countries.
Parents made bold decisions
Vedant, a left-hander, trains overseas due to some brave decisions made by his parents.
The Mohans – Anisha and Dhruv – from defense had turned to renowned international coaches to assess Vedant’s talent. Among them was the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, which also aroused interest in the boy’s training.
They decided to join the Soto Tennis Academy 13 months ago and decided to move from Muscat, where they lived, on the day Dhruv, a commercial pilot, got the pink slip amid a raging pandemic.
With no jobs or savings, which would at best keep them alive for a few months, the family of four came to Spain, where strict labor laws even prohibit foreigners from waiting at tables without a permit.
They’ve managed to get away with parenting and sibling loans so far, but it only gets tougher from here as they owe thousands of pounds to Kiernan, a former pro and the director of the Soto Tennis Academy, and that counts.
Vedant qualified for the meet, Europe’s prestigious U-10 tournament, by winning regional and national meetings in Spain, where he trains. The 10-year-old lost to the Greek Rafael Pagonis, with whom he won the double title.
The fifth grader trains under Daniel Kiernan at the Soto Tennis Academy in Sotogrande and is regularly on the Spanish circuit, where trainees from the world’s best academies compete against each other. The family moved to Spain after his father, a pilot, lost his job.
While rankings for the most formative age group, the under-10 class, are strongly discouraged, where Vedant is among his peers, his triumph in the national competition in Spain, which helped him to qualify for Umag, can be won.
The other players in Umag also came through a similar two-stage event held in their respective countries.
Parents made bold decisions
Vedant, a left-hander, trains overseas due to some brave decisions made by his parents.
The Mohans – Anisha and Dhruv – from defense had turned to renowned international coaches to assess Vedant’s talent. Among them was the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, which also aroused interest in the boy’s training.
They decided to join the Soto Tennis Academy 13 months ago and decided to move from Muscat, where they lived, on the day Dhruv, a commercial pilot, got the pink slip amid a raging pandemic.
With no jobs or savings, which would at best keep them alive for a few months, the family of four came to Spain, where strict labor laws even prohibit foreigners from waiting at tables without a permit.
They’ve managed to get away with parenting and sibling loans so far, but it only gets tougher from here as they owe thousands of pounds to Kiernan, a former pro and the director of the Soto Tennis Academy, and that counts.
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