By G Rajaraman

THE CURTAIN has gone up on the fortnightly festival of tennis that we know as the DSCL Open National championship. If you read the newspapers this morn-ing, you could not be blamed for wondering if the players who are conspi-cuous by their absence have taken up more space than those vying for honours.Much as we may speak up against the star system, there is no escaping the fact that we look up the draw of any sporting event, we invariably search for big names. For, we live in a world in which star value has been given pride of place. What are the reasons for the big names to give the blue riband tournament the miss? So, are some players recharging their batteries for the coming season? Is this the price for punctuating the Indian tennis calendar with so many international tournaments ¡V Chal-lengers, Futures and Satellites. Or, does it mean that the National championship has ceased to have any meaning to the top guns? Is there no value attached to the tag of National champion? Some observers say that a few players could be scared of losing. In these times when more and more players are exposed to ?and have accepted ?mind training techniques, the fear of losing to lesser ranked players may not quite be the best reason. It is not always a good reflection if players are talked or written about because of their absence. Nor is it right to ignore those who have made it a point to come over and make a game bid to leave their imprint on the National stage. It is time to celebrate the talent and commitment of the players who make this event so special.