Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM draws the lots for the Davis Cup tie with Sweden

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh took out the draw of lots for World Group Play Off tennis match between India and Sweden, here today. Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Singh said:

"I am delighted to host here the Draw Ceremony for the World Group Play Off Tie between India and Sweden. I am proud to see that both teams are represented by the best on both sides. Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Prakash Amritraj and Harsh Mankad have all done India proud and I wish them well. I also wish our guests from Sweden well. May the best side win.

Each of you is a household name. You inspire thousands of young people to strive for excellence. I am delighted that in recent years interest in tennis has increased among the youth of our country. I am sure the lovers of tennis are thrilled by the storm that the young lady Sania Mirza is creating all over the country. She is inspiring young girls to take to sport and to fight for their due place in the brave new world they must all enter.

Sport is an important part of our processes of intellectual, physical and moral development. It teaches us to strive for perfection. It also teaches us to take both victory and defeat in our stride. Above all, sport teaches us to play fair, and to learn to observe the rules of the game. These are extremely important lessons we must all learn in dealing with life.

I hope that in years to come we will be able to further develop our infrastructure and our training facilities so that Indian sport can match the very best in the world. I hope our plans to host the Asian Games will prepare us to take on the challenge and opportunity of hosting the Olympics one day. I am aware that we need to improve our physical infrastructure and our sporting facilities. But I also believe we must do more to motivate our youth to take to sport in a big way. I hope young men like you will inspire millions of others to greater effort.

I hope you will all enjoy playing the match this week. May the best side win. I wish you well in your endeavours."