NEW DELHI (AP) - Giant teenager Satnam Singh Bhamar idolizes Kobe Bryant, but hopes he can one day do for basketball in India what Houston Rockets star Yao Ming has done for China.

Standing 2.18-meters (7-foot-2) tall, the 15-year-old Bhamar is being touted as the player who can turn Indian basketball around. "It feels good to be compared to Yao Ming," says the shy boy from rural India, who adds he realizes he has a long way to go after an initial three-month stint at the IMG basketball academy in Florida.

Yao's move from Shanghai to the Houston Rockets made him an icon in China and Bhamar is seen as having the potential to someday hold the same status in India.

Bhamar was among eight players - four boys and four girls - chosen to attend the academy when the Basketball Federation of India recently joined sports management company IMG-Reliance in a 30-year strategy to promote the sport.

Bhamar's height has ensured he has stood out so far at the one-year training program. Watching the national championships back in New Delhi, he knows he has a long way to go before he's ready for the top level.

"I have to work very hard on my speed, power and agility to do well at the top level," Bhamar said. "The training methods are very different (in Florida) and I was initially worried whether I would be able to cope with the strenuous sessions."

Bhamar says there is a huge gap in the standard of players in India and the U.S. "I think players here need to forget their style of play," he said. "I was unable to match top (Indian) seniors before I left for my training, but I can already feel the difference when I play with them now in practice sessions."

Bhamar's father Balbir Singh Bhamar, who stands at 2.13 meters (7 feet), could not pursue Basketball due to a lack of opportunities.

"I am really lucky to have got the chance and I want to make my family, coaches and country proud by doing well," said Bhamar, who started playing basketball six years ago.

"The NBA officials I have met have also praised me and see a great prospect in me," he added. "I am going to give it my everything."

Coach Teja Singh Dhaliwal, who runs an academy at Ludhiana City in the northern state of Punjab, remembers the day Bhamar walked in with his father wanting to play basketball.

"He was five feet and nine inches tall when he came to our facility five or six years ago. We had invited players for trials and his height being exceptional for his age, we decided to train him," Dhaliwal said. Basketball Federation of India secretary, Harish Sharma, is particularly bullish about Bhamar's prospects.

"We are hoping he will be for India what Yao Ming was for China. Though we have quite a few players who we hope will help improve the image of the game in the country, he has an iconic status already," Sharma said.

"He is focussed, hardworking and has tremendous potential. One star player like this in NBA could mean a big boost for the game in India," feels Sharma, a former India player.

HONG KONG (AP) - Caroline Wozniacki says she is not setting any deadlines to win her first Grand Slam tournament as the top-ranked Dane gears up for the Australian Open later this month.

There are high hopes for a 20-year-old player who burst onto the scene in 2008 by winning three WTA Tour titles. A year later, she matched that feat and reached her first major final at the U.S. Open. In 2010, she bagged a tour-best six titles, a result that helped her overtake an injured Serena Williams as the top-ranked female player in October.

Now all eyes are on whether she can back up her No. 1 ranking with a win at the Australian Open, which starts on Jan. 17, especially given the open field missing Williams.

Speaking to reporters in Hong Kong, where she is competing in an exhibition tournament, Wozniacki said Monday she is trying not to let the pressure overwhelm her.

"Of course I would like to win a Grand Slam title. Is it going to be this year? No one knows if it's going to happen. But definitely I'm going to try. I'm going to be fighting hard for it. We're going to have to see," she said. "I'm not very picky. If I win a Grand Slam in my career, I'll be happy. I don't set any deadlines."

One thing that Wozniacki is certain about is that she deserves the No. 1 spot.

Unlike the men's game, where Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have controlled the top two spots in recent years, women's tennis has seen a series of new No. 1s since 2008, including Williams, Serbs Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, Belgium's Justine Henin, as well as Russians Maria Sharapova and Dinara Safina.

"I feel pressure is when you are put in a spot where you don't feel like you belong. I feel like I belong where I am. I've had a great year," she said.

Wozniacki added she has no plans to drastically change her defensive style of play to boost her chances of winning a Slam.

"Like they say in the U.S., don't repair something that is not broken. So if something is working for me, I think I can play an all-around game. I can play aggressively if I want to. I can run. I can serve, return. I can do pretty much what I have to do to win," Wozniacki said.

The Hong Kong team exhibition, which pairs active women's players with retired men's stars, also features Americans Venus Williams and Melanie Oudin, second-ranked Vera Zvonareva, fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, France's Aravane Rezai and China's Li Na.

After Hong Kong, Wozniacki, who lost to Belgian Kim Clijsters in an exhibition match in Thailand on Saturday, will compete in the WTA tournament in Sydney that starts next Monday.