Dubai: Former UAE tennis coach Zeeshan Ali has expressed his happiness after being conferred with the Dhyan Chand Award for 2014.
The accolade, named after the legendary Indian hockey player, was first initiated in 2002 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
Zeeshan is one of three people to receive the award this year, it was announced earlier this week.
“This award has been a long time coming,” he told Gulf News during his brief visit to Dubai this weekend.
“It is a huge honour to be finally recognised for all my achievements in tennis,” he added.
The Dhyan Chand Award is India’s highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games. It carries a cash prize of Rs500,000 (Dh30,500), a plaque and a scroll of honour. The award will be handed over to the winners by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, at a special function to be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 29.
Zeeshan, who is the current India Davis Cup coach, is to be honoured along with 1980 Olympic hockey gold medallist Gurmail Singh and 1951 Asian Games men’s 3m springboard and 10m platform diving champion KP Thakkar.
“What makes me glad is that I am still connected with my sport, and I am now in a position to give back to tennis in my position as Davis Cup coach. I am glad that I am being of service to my country,” the veteran coach said.
Among his career highlights, Zeeshan reached the junior singles semi-final at Wimbledon in 1986 followed by the junior doubles finals at the 1987 US Open to ultimately reach a career-high World No. 2 in the juniors.
A five-time Indian national champion, he had his highest singles ranking at No. 126 in 1988, the same year he represented India at the Seoul Olympic Games.
Zeeshan moved to Dubai in 1995 and, during his stint here, he also served as the Davis Cup coach for the UAE. In 2011, he was bestowed with the Mother Teresa International Peace Award.
Last year, he moved back to India and set up his Zeeshan Ali Tennis Academy (ZATA) at Inventure on the outskirts of Bengaluru. With the All India Tennis Association (AITA) opting for a revamp of the Davis Cup squad, he was appointed as coach while another former Davis Cup star Anand Amritraj took over as captain.
Last year, the AITA forwarded his nomination for the Arjuna Award. But he could not be considered as rules stipulate that the player needs to be active to receive the honour. “Maybe I should have got that [Arjuna] award 20 years ago,” Zeeshan Ali said.
“But it’s better that I have been recognised for what I have given to Indian tennis.”
Last year, four individuals were presented with the Dhyan Chand Award — Syed Ali (hockey), Mary D’Souza (athletics), Anil Maan (wrestling) and Giriraj Singh (para-sports).
