Senior tennis stars earn their stripes
Two of the South Coast's senior stars have some exciting tennis ahead of them.
IT’S a chilly morning and it’s dark. And early, 5am to be exact. The pre-dawn winter air is punctuated by a rhythmic ‘thip-thip’ sound every few moments.
It’s the sound of a tennis ball being fired across the net by Raj Naganna, now aged 70, out on his own, training.
Like the loneliness of the long distance runner, Raj’s hours of practice, away from public view, have paid off.
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He has finally realised his goal of being chosen to represent Tennis South Africa, and along with Gules Salottolo (75) of Margate, will compete at the ITF Super Seniors World Championships in Orlando, Florida in October.
In fact, the training came pretty easy for Raj. This is, after all, a man who has run 20 Comrades and he only stopped when his knee started acting up.
“I figured 20 was enough, time to try something new,” he said. “Strangely enough the knee holds up on the tennis court, but on the road, after about 10km I start to experience some discomfort. After 20km it starts to swell,” he said.
The trip to the States is two-part, with separate team and individual events. It all takes place between October 8 and 21.
The lithe athlete, nicknamed ‘Panther’ by Dan Dimitru, could do with some financial support to get there, considering the woeful state of our beleaguered rand.
Raj played some tennis at high school, on a court built by his late father and brother. “Prior to that we played a game called tennisette,” he said.
He also played football in his time, playing as a speedy centre forward. “I’ve been sporty my whole life, it’s one way of avoiding doing work,” he laughed.
His message is clear. “If you can put your mind to it, you can do it,” he said, urging others to take up the game, even if they think they are too old.
“I’m currently the number three seed in my age group in the country. Five years ago, whoever would have thought that?”
He thanked his coach Julia Christiansen and hitting partners, Dan Dimitriu, Tap Kruger, Colin Barker and Ralph Burls.
Gules will be winging his way to Brussels this Friday (21st) to represent Tennis South Africa (TSA) at the Jeugo de Peloto (the ball game), to be held as part of Royal Leopold’s 70th anniversary celebrations.
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He’ll be playing in the 75+ age group at the five-day tournament, which will include eight countries.
When he gets back, he’ll rest a bit and then like Raj, set his sights on playing for TSA at the ITF Super Seniors World Championships in Orlando, Florida in October.
Gules started playing the game at the age of 13. He stopped when he was 32.
“I thought I was too old after being beaten by a 16-year-old in our club championships,” he laughed.
He went off and did other things, like sailing yachts.
When he was 62 he retired from Johannesburg to the family holiday cottage in Leisure Bay.
“I saw these old fellas knocking the ball around and couldn’t believe it. I grabbed my wooden racket and joined them,” he said.
He duly entered a few provincial tournaments, beat some of the better players and before he knew it was in the KwaZulu-Natal team.
Gules has represented KZN in his age group at South African Interprovincial tournaments on 11 occasions.
In 2012, he was chosen for the TSA Super Seniors to play in Croatia.
He has since moved to Margate and has joined Douglas Mitchell, where he usually plays up to four times a week.
He’s currently the number two seed in his age group. The secret to his success in his 70s? “Probably laying off for 30 years hence no knee problems!”
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