Game. Set. Mismatch. No love lost for Archana Venkataraman
In the 1990’s, Archana Venkataraman was a star on the rise. Since she was four, her tennis-obsessed family shuttled her from one tournament to another, one coaching clinic to the next. At seventeen, she was crowned the National Champion. Her place did not go unchallenged. At the finals of the National Games in 2002, Archana came up against a younger, hungrier, grittier rival — 16-year-old Sania Mirza. Playing the newcomer on her home turf in Hyderabad and booed by a hostile crowd of spectators, Archana went down in a firestorm of deuces. It takes a lot to succeed in a sport as expensive and competitive as tennis, more so for an Indian woman. In over a century, only four have made it to a Grand Slam event. Viewed in that sobering light, Archana Venkataraman’s story is one worth telling. Listen to it on Almost Perfect.
Love is a racket emotion.
On the tennis court, it signifies emptiness, loss, humiliation.
And, yet, it is love for the game that keeps the most tenacious players going.
Not to forget, love keeps them going long after their glorious fifteen seconds on grass or clay have evaporated into the mists of history.
Archana Venkataraman basked in that spotlight. She was a rising star.
It takes a family wedded to tennis to raise a star, and hers was no different. From age four, between school days and holidays in Bengaluru, she and her sister Arthi were ferried from one tournament to another, one coaching clinic to the next.
It paid off. Archana won her maiden title at age seventeen. Soon, she was crowned national champion.
The decade turned. The 1990’s brought Liberalisation. The national economy opened up. Sponsor money began to pour into sporting events. Yet, in a nation besotted with cricket, facilities and infrastructure for tennis were scant. Promising players paid their own way for the most part. Only those undaunted by the expenses remained in the fray.
In 1998, Archana and Arthi won an International Tennis Federation grant of $2000 to play tournaments in Europe. The trip was a revelation: every match the sisters lost counted for lessons learned. They brought their experience back home to India and had a productive run for the next three years.
The competition was getting fierce, but Archana Venkataraman held fort. Until, at the finals of the National Games in 2002, she came up against a younger, hungrier, grittier rival — 16-year-old Sania Mirza. Playing the newcomer on her home turf in Hyderabad and booed by a hostile crowd of spectators, Archana went down in a firestorm of deuces.
And thus began Sania’s decade.
History celebrates victors but their thrones are held aloft by the bruised arms of the vanquished. When her fortunes in competitive tennis faded, Archana threw everything into rearing the next generation of stars at her coaching academy in Bengaluru.
In over a century of competitive tennis, only four Indian women have made it to a Grand Slam event. Viewed in that sobering light, Archana Venkataraman’s story is one of pride, guts, and raging against the odds, shortchanged only on glory.
No love lost there.
Credits:
This show is produced by Confluence Media for Radio Azim Premji University:
Achie Humtsoe, Anisa Draboo, Gautam Datt, Jasleen Bhalla, Josy Joseph, Omair Farooq, and Siddhartha Mishra
Radio Azim Premji University:
Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi, and Velu Shankar
Acknowledgements
Music
- Envato: Acoustic Folks by MusicAura
- Envato: Sacred India by Purpleplanet
- Envato: Hopeful by ARCHIMUSIC
- Envato: Melancholy by Gold-Tiger
- Envato: Hopeful For by OlexandrIgnatov
- Envato: Sadness by WildKittyTunes
- Envato: Suspense by Audiolibrary
- Envato: Acoustic Folks by MusicAura
Sound FX
- YouTube: Best tennis grunt ever (Volume up!)
- YouTube: Crowd Cheering in Sports Stadium — Royalty Free Sounds
- YouTube: India beats Denmark at the Davis Cup Tennis match in Delhi
- YouTube: Traffic Sound
- YouTube: Most Shocking Unforced Errors in WTA Tennis History
- YouTube: DavisCup in Delhi
- YouTube: Top 3 LOUDEST Match in WTA History (tennis grunts)
90’s Montage:
- YouTube: Bade Bade Deshon Mein | Dialogue | Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
- YouTube: Best Indian Ads from the 90s
- YouTube: Hero Honda desh ki dhadkan
- YouTube: Coke — Aamir Khan — Thanda Matlab
Cricket Montage:
Resources
- News coverage | Sania guides AP to tennis gold | Rediff,com, Dec 17, 2002
- News feature | My international career took off after National Games in 2002: Sania Mirza | The Print, September 25, 2022
- News coverage | Isha Lakhani topples Archana Venkataraman | Rediff.com, April 9, 2002
- Podcast | Winning Edge Talks by M N Vishwanath | Amazon Music
More episodes in this series
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200 Metres From Glory — Rita Gombu Marwah’s Story
In 1984, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to conquer Mount Everest. Rita Gombu Marwah, from a renowned mountaineering family, was part of the same expedition. Despite coming close to the summit, Rita was stopped by harsh weather conditions just 200 meters away. While Bachendri’s success brought joy, Rita and her teammates were haunted by missed opportunities, highlighting the bittersweet nature of sporting achievements. Listen to Rita’s story in the first episode of Almost Perfect
-
Why ace archer Chekrovolu Swuro bowed out
Chekrovolu Swuro, the talented archer from Nagaland, represented India at the 2012 London Olympics. Followers of the sport may remember that she had competed in the same team as Deepika Kumari, the teenage sensation who rose to great heights. Despite culminating in defeat, Swuro’s story of resilience continues to enthuse aspiring archers. Listen to ‘Missing The Mark’, the second episode of the Radio Azim Premji University series ‘Almost Perfect’, which unearths the stories of Indian women athletes who competed alongside the best but fell short of success.
