Indian players withdraw from seniors tennis event

KARACHI: Five Indian players have withdrawn from 3rd Maple Leaf Cement Pakistan ITF Seniors World Ranking Tennis Championships.

This international event is to be played from October 30 to November 6 at the grass courts of PLTA Tennis Academy in Lahore.

The entry deadline was October 12 and the withdrawal deadline was 21st. 

Dilip Mohanty withdrew his name from 35 plus singles category. Now Shehryar Salamat is top seed in this category.

In the 45 plus round robin category, Parasad Apte and Gurdarshan Singh Ramana withdrew their names.

Top seed in this event is Rashid Malik.

In the 55 plus singles category, Pawan Jain and Naresh Khatri withdrew their names. Now Mobin Malik is top seed in this category.

In 50 plus RR category, Malak Inamullah Khan is top seed.

In the 60 plus RR category, Gul Hamid Khan is top seed. In the 65 plus singles Mushtaq Ahmed is top seed. 

Besides, India’s Parth Aggarwal (national ranking 199) withdrew his name from the $5000 Federal Cup ATT Tennis Championship to be played from October 23-26 in Islamabad.

“India and Pakistan are not playing each other due to political tension,” said Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) secretary Khalid Rehmani. “The pullout of Indian players from this event was anticipated,” he added.

He said five Pakistani players, including himself, recently pulled out of an event scheduled in India from November 1. “This is happening. We both countries are not playing each other,” said Khalid.

Pakistan’s participation in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) is also doubtful because it’s scheduled in Delhi from November 11-12.

“I don’t know whether we will participate in it. We have not decided anything in this regard yet,” said Khalid.  

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan is to host four ITF Seniors international event this year.

The first of them was 25th Karachi Club Pakistan ITF Seniors World Ranking Tennis Championships in Karachi from September 30 to October 6.

Frank Talluto from Argentina in 55 plus category was the only foreign player in this event.

The second event is Maple Leaf in Lahore and the third is 1st Long Beach Pakistan ITF Seniors world Ranking Tennis Championship in Lahore from November 7-13.

The last event is 1st Karachi Gymkhana Pakistan ITF Seniors World Ranking Tennis Championships in Karachi from December 1-7.