ISLAMABAD: The week-long US $15,000 Fourth Shaheed Benazir Bhutto ITF Future Tennis Tournament will begin at Islamabad Tennis Complex from Monday, December 17.
This was announced by Senator Taj Haider, chief patron of the Benazir Bhutto International Future event in a press conference here Saturday.
He said Shaheed BB was a representative of the federation therefore it was decided to organize the Championship in Islamabad.
“We believe that the efforts to organize the event would go a long way in popularizing the game of tennis in the country”, he said.
Taj Haider said that tennis players from 26 countries will be participating in the championship, adding that the event has already been recognized as the people are eagerly awaiting for having leading tennis players in the country among them.
Speaking on the occasion, Saleem Saifullah said that 210 countries across the globe were playing tennis and urged the media to help promote tennis in the country.
The annual budget for sports was approximately Rs 1 billion in our country while India spends more than 500 billion on sports, he said adding that Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) has not received the allocated funds by Pakistan Sports Board so far.
He said maximum number of international players now want to participate in tournaments in Pakistan.
Senator Farhatullah Babar said there was a dire need in our country to promote sports and we can utilize sports as a weapon to counter terrorism.
Every province should play its role for the promotion of sports activities, he said, adding that Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be the chief guest at the concluding ceremony of the event.