Gerald

For the first time an international tennis tournament is being held in Calcutta. It is called the Sunkissed Tennis Challenge and is open to boys below 21 years of age. The venue is the Nataz Indoor Stadium which is centrally located. Just two courts have been laid for the competition which have been named outer court and centre court. Boys from all over eastern India and beyond are taking part. A total of 64 boys have been selected through a tough screening process. The tournament director is former Davis Cupper Joydip Mukerji. Most of the participants are from Calcutta city itself. They come from rich, well-heeled families for whom tennis is merely a hobby or a pastime. These boys visit elite clubs every evening where they are coached by award-winning experts. They have access to the best playing gear and great courts that are directly imported. That these people are great tennis players is only natural and expected. Most of the boys in the tournament belong to this category. The player who is being tipped to win the cup is Joydip Mukerji's own son Hesh. He studies in South Point School in the tenth grade. He is a great student and a magnificent player of tennis. Most of his classmates are playing in the competition and Hesh's chief opponent is expected to be Leam Paes.
However, there are players from North Bengal specially Darjeeling who might do well too. Take, for instance, Gerald Batter. He comes from a very ordinary family. He has only attended one six month tennis coaching clinic. But the boy has prodigious talent. For the past three months he has been practising in the tennis court of Darjeeling Club. Incidentally, Gerald's father is a clerk in the accounts department of Darjeeling Club. In view of his talent and obvious potential, the club authorities have allowed the boy to use their only court after eight thirty every evening. Indeed, Gerald has been improving in leaps and bounds.
The competition is a great success. Every match is a sellout. Hesh plays like a true champion. He doesn't drop a single set on his way to the final. Following him is Leam whose power game is a great hit with the crowds. In the semis Leam is face to face with Gerald. Gerald has had to fight really hard in each match. Its his first ever tournament and he has had great difficulty in doing almost anything. He has been making double faults all the time. Even when he serves right the shots are weak. He plays nearly all the time from the baseline. As a result he has to depend solely on his strength. But he is slowly picking up the virtues of going to the net and the beauty of touch tennis. His match with Leam is watched up by the chief minister of the state. His excellency is a great tennis fan and after Gerald wins 6-1, 6-0 the chief minister has a word with him. Gerald enters the final, so does Hesh.
The tickets for the final are highly-priced. Despite this they are sold out within forty five minutes. The final happens on a Sunday. It's a well-fought match. Everyone is shocked as Gerald wins the first set 6-4. Hesh fights back to win the second set 7-6 in tie-breaker. The third set witnesses the best tennis played in the tournament. Gerald plays shots to every corner of the court. His service returns are lethal both in forehand and backhand. The amount of spin that Gerald is able to generate in the tennis ball is unbelievable. He plays great power tennis from the baseline and shows his deft touch at the net. There are some unbelievable rallies and each time a rally ends the capacity crowd breaks into thunderous applause. At the end of the match the score reads 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. In favour of the poor boy from Darjeeling called Gerald Batter