With BOSM 2024 ten days away, the team Captain for Lawn Tennis (girls), Taneisha Guha, took a break from her hectic schedule and met with the BOSM English Press to discuss the squad’s preparation.
She clarified that the competition would start with a round-robin structure, and then proceed to a knockout stage, with teams being disqualified based on the number of points they had. Different teams from each college would play two singles and one doubles match. When asked how training had been going, Taneisha replied that it had been difficult because it had been raining daily during practice hours. She mentioned that training for BOSM is ‘gruelling’, as everyone had been making an effort to utilise the two hours of practice each day and not let the combined stress of BOSM and mid-semester examinations affect them. Another problem the team had was that the freshmen recruits were ‘rusty’ because they had not played much due to college entrance exams.
She said that for those interested in joining the team, a week-long recruitment process had been held, during which students were expected to attend practice every day. Taneisha added that they were evaluated on how well they played, how they responded to instructions, and their dedication to the sport. She added that the players would be officially recruited into the team after BOSM, until which they would be on probation. She admired the tenacity of the 2024 batch players on the team and believed that the team was strong this year since it consisted of national-level players as well.
In response to a question about how becoming team captain had affected her connection with her teammates, she said that she had noted a shift in the balance of power. She explained that she now had to mentor the players while still being friendly and that she was getting less practice as well.
The captain applauded the efforts made by the CoSSAc, the Sports Union Council, and the SFC to keep everyone on the same page via timely communication. As a message to the BITSians, Taneisha encouraged them to attend the sports matches because ‘no athlete wanted to perform in front of an empty audience’, and that now was the moment to recognise the teams’ efforts.