Dubai-based tennis coach receives Mother Teresa International Award

Zeeshan Ali, a tennis coach in Dubai and former Davis Cup player for India, has been awarded for his contribution to the sport.

Tennis couch Zeeshan Ali (L) during a class with Sandip Roy and Adarsh Ramesh at the Dubai Modern High School tennis court. Jaime Puebla / The National

DUBAI // Zeeshan Ali, a tennis coach in Dubai and former Davis Cup player for India, has been awarded the Mother Teresa International Award for his contribution to the sport.

Mr Ali runs a tennis programme at the Emirates Tennis Academy in Dubai. He is also working on a sports programme for orphanages in India.

That Mr Ali's family is from Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, the site of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity organisation, makes the award that much more special to him.

He met the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner on one occasion in the city.

"It is quite an emotional thing for me to be associated with this award because I met her and went over to her orphanage," he said. "My family is from Calcutta, so it means a lot to receive this award."

The prize, in its 11th year, is given by India to individuals who have excelled in their field. Past recipients include the Dalai Lama; the veteran Bollywood actor Prem Chopra; the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton; the Indian singer Anuradha Podwal; and Rajiv Gandhi, the late Indian prime minister.

"It is an honour to be considered for this award," said Mr Ali, 41, who made Dubai his home 15 years ago. "It is extremely touching and it's something that I will remember and hold close to my heart always."

The award was given to Mr Ali in Kolkata this week by Shyamal Sen, the former chief justice of the Calcutta High Court.

Mr Ali won gold and bronze medals for India in the Asian Games and represented India in the Davis Cup international tennis competition for more than eight years. He also represented his homeland in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, where he reached the second round of the singles tournament.

After a back injury prematurely ended his career, he accepted an invitation from the Al Maktoum family to promote tennis in Dubai. He served as the UAE's Davis Cup coach four years ago.

The award is named in the memory of Mother Teresa, who died 14 years agoand who devoted her life to caring for the aged, the destitute and the dying who lived in India's slums.