Sports Village ties up with Sweden's Good to Great Tennis Academy

Hyderabad: In a major game-changing morale-booster, city-headquartered Sports Village Academia has hit a Scandinavian tennis high.

Academia CEO, Mohd Shamsuddin, who is on a European tour looking for collaborations to promote tennis in India, has finalised a tie-up with Stockholm-based Good to Great Tennis Academy (GGTA) that is promoted by former top-notch Swedish international players.

The principal promoter is former World No 2 singles player, Magnus Norman, whose proteges are players of the calibre of Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils with Grigor Dimitrov being a former trainee.

Norman's co-partners in the venture include equally big names, and fellow-coaches, Nicklas Kulti and Mikael Tillstrom.

A member of the 1998 Davis Cup winning team and winner of 12 titles, Norman has also coached Thomas Johansson and Robin Soderling.

The deal between the two, which was formalised in the Academy headquarters at Catella Arena on Wednesday, will translate into a win-win situation for both, according to Shamsuddin in Stockholm.

GGTA will send a couple of their proven coaches to Hyderabad for a training camp that Sports Village Academia will conduct on mutually-agreed upon dates.

After making a first-hand assessment of the potentialities of the trainees at the camp, the foreign coaches will pick the talented youngsters and invite them for advanced residential training in Stockholm.

The two collaborators will endeavor to tap the talent that exists in India. Logistics are to be worked in due course, he said.