Salim stresses more representation of Asia in ITF

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) Officiating and Tournament Committee Salim Saifullah Khan wants broader representation of Asian countries in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) technical matters and has asked member countries to put extra stress on acquiring modern knowledge of the game.

He was chairing a virtual meeting of the committee on Saturday. The committee includes Saad Saleh Al Mohannadi (vice-chairman, Qatar), members Ali Katebi (Iran), Noori Okamura (Japan), Amorn Duamgpinkum (Thailand), Dmitriy Savchuk (Uzbekistan) and Susan Soebakti (Indonesia).

Later talking to ‘The News’, Salim Saifullah Khan said that different issues confronting the game were discussed, especially those created by the COVID-19 pandemic. “More coordination among the member countries was stressed for taking effective measures to counter the threats the game of tennis generally faces these days,” he added.

Salim, who is also president of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF), called on the member countries to make efforts for the systematic development of their technical officials so that the continent could have better representation at the world level. “Currently the ATF representation in the ITF technical matters is around 10 percent which is far less than the popularity of the game in this most populous continent,” the PTF president said.

He said that Asian countries must start investing in giving better knowledge and understanding of the game to their technical officials.