Low on ranking but high on emotions and zeal, a talented bunch of spirited players from Togo, led by Thomas Setodji, exuded confidence that they will be able to surprise hosts India this weekend in their Davis Cup World Group I Play-off tie. (More Tennis News)
Steodji is the only ranked player from the tiny African nat🌠ion way down at number 1256 but in the Davis Cup he has a decent 9/3 win-loss record for his country.
On T🦩our, he is also a travelling coach of French player Calvin Hemery, who is ranke♈d 206.
Together with his teammates Liova Ayite Ajavon, Hod'abalo Isak Padio and M'lapa Tingou Akomlo, they have won 10 of their last Davis Cup ties since 💯2022.
They do not train in To𒁃go but in France and USA mostly where they get better
facilities💦 and coaching. At the time of Davis Cup fixtures, the🍌y come together and churn out some impressive results.
Punching way above their weight, they even stunned Latvia last year apar🃏t from winning against Indonesia (3-2) Benin (2-1), Algeria (2-1), Rwanada (3-0) and Congo (2-1).
The only bleꦗmish was 0-3 reversal against South Africa i𓆏n August 2023.
ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚIndia do not have their best singles player in Sumit Nagal but still the hosts will enter the tie as favourites. The gulf in rankings is huge but Steodji said anything ༺can happen in sport.
"It's one human against one human. We have two arms, two legs. So we will see. We already beat some players with high ranking as your players. So we'll see on Saturday. And one dayꦇ you can play very good. Another day you can play very bad," he said, reminding about the fickle nature of the sport.
"It just depends on the day. So when you enter in the court, if you t👍hink that you can win, you can win. But if you come on court and you're already lost, I mean, there's no way to win a match.
"So that's our mental🦩ity. And that's maybe why we are🀅 here now."
India's number two singles player Ramkumar Ramanathan also acknowledged that the To🏅golese were hitting the ball nicely.
"I just saw them the last couple of days. And, yeah, these guys are hitting the ball well. So we should just s𒐪tick to our strengths and we should play to our capabilities and not think much about them."
Togo s🍒kipper Alisama Abnamba also said that his players are out there t😼o pull off another shock result.
"It's a play-against-player. And you always h🃏ave to expect the players to play their best. And if you have that attitude, nothing is going to surprise you. So, I mean, these guys have proven, like I said, from 2022 that they can play against anybody.
And then the results show.
"So with that mindset, thꦰe spirit of the team, I mean, we are one group of players chasing the same dream. And I think the attitude is just going to be something that's going to carry us to the finish line," he said.
The visiꦅting captain is also liking the condition🧸s in Delhi.
"The weather, I was a little bit surpꦺrised. I thought it was going to be a lot 🍸hotter coming in. But it seems to be kind of warm but not too hot. The weather is not going to be a factor in what we do this weekend."
Abnamba was also✨ impressed with the fact that India had a group of eight players for ౠtraining.
"I saw that there were eight players or something. I think it's very good. You made good stuff. Because I never see a federation before Davis Cup bringing eight players and stuff all the time. It's four or𒀰 five maximum. So, congratulations for that," he said.
