Vilasier Khate: Nagaland’s ace tennis player

Vilasier Khate: Nagaland’s ace tennis player

Vilasier Khate: Nagaland’s ace tennis player

Vilasier Khate with his father and mentor Asa Khate. (Morung Photo)

 

Y Merina Chishi 
Dimapur | January 3


As a little boy playing tennis in the lawns of Greenwood School, Vilasier Khate would hardly have imagined that he would one day become an ace tennis player and attain success in the sport that barely has any footing in Nagaland. 


Vilasier was 6 years old when he first held the racket. His father and avid tennis player, Asa Khate was his first coach. Though not professionally trained at that time, Asa introduced his son to tennis at an early age and remained his coach until Vilasier was selected by the All India tennis Association (AITA) in 2005 to undergo training at Gurugram and Delhi. 


Vilasier’s love for tennis is not accidental though. His father and mentor Asa Khate has been playing tennis for over four decades and is now a certified Indian Tennis Federation coach. His brother Thejaser and sister Thejanino have also been state level tennis players.  But it is Vilasier who has taken the family gift to great heights.   


Vilasier started playing professional tennis at the age of 14. He was one of the five boys selected from Nagaland by the AITA to undergo training in 2005. There has been no looking back since then. He has numerous other titles to his credit. He won the Junior National Level doubles and the ITF Junior Level in 2011. Vilasier represented India in the under -16 Juniors where he reached the finals at the event. At the international level, he has won the ‘Champeon Junior Masculino’, a junior level tournament in Madrid, Spain in May 2012. He also brought laurels to India and Nagaland in particular by winning both the singles and doubles titles at the 5th Indo-Bhutan Friendship Tennis Tournament in July last year. He defeated Ivan Islanovic of Russia to win the title.  


Vilasier, whose forte is hard court, plays two tournaments a month on average during the tournament seasons. He trains at the Tennis Unlimited Academy in Delhi. His training sessions include six hours of practice comprising two sessions every day. When not practicing, he plays other sports like football and badminton. 


Vilasier is currently ranked the number one tennis player in the North East and number 47 in the national ranking. His highest ranking has been at number 30. At 25, he has plans to play more international tournaments in coming years. 


With literally no sponsorship from any agency throughout his entire career, Vilasier’s family has been his only support. There were times when he felt discouraged but his father was always there to steer him. “He has been my driving force,” Vilasier says. In spite of not getting any support from the government or other agencies, he has managed to make a mark in the world of tennis. 


“Most Naga players stop trying beyond a certain point…mainly due to lack of family support,” he says. His family’s love for tennis has been a boon for him. Also with tennis being an expensive game, many players give up at the junior level. 


Vilasier points out that in Nagaland tennis still has a long way to go. “It is a game of mental and physical strength. Nagas just need to work a little harder and never give up. We will slowly get there,” the young sportsman says. He also expressed happiness that more people are playing tennis than when he started out.  


Asa Kathe: the driving force 


Asa Khate is not one of those to take the slightest credit for his son’s accomplishments. “Whatever he has achieved is due to his own belief and hard work,” he says of Vilasier; adding that his son has always put God before anyone else. 


Coming from the old brigade of tennis players in Nagaland, Asa Kathe has seen tennis struggle to get a footing in Nagaland. “I started playing tennis only in my forties...no coach; simply through trial and error,” he says. Asa, now in his seventies, adds that he feels disheartened by the fact that most Naga children give up due too easily. “We need to encourage our children more,” he says. 


While in other North East states like Manipur and Mizoram, the top five tennis players are fully sponsored by their governments; in Nagaland it is considered an ‘individual game’ and sponsorship from the government is still unavailable for tennis.


Tennis infrastructure is also still at its nascent stages. Nagaland currently has only four tennis courts—one indoor tennis court in Kohima, one indoor and two outdoor courts in Dimapur. 


The Nagaland Tennis Association (NTA) has vigorously been trying to boost tennis in the State. Lobbying hard through various means, the Indian Army has finally stepped in to help. The Army has surveyed area in Dimapur for construction of two synthetic courts and one building which will serve as a tennis academy. 


For Asa Khate, it is his cherished dream to see more people in Nagaland take up tennis as a career. He points out that the mindset is slowly changing and many parents are now sending their children for coaching at an early age. 


“These days there are several qualified coaches. When we started playing tennis, it was just through trial and error. I think a lot can be done if we try harder” Asa says.