Pakistan to face India in SA tennis opener

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will take on India in the opening South Asian 12 & Under Regional Qualifying Girls Team Championship match here at the PTF/Dilawar Abbas Complex today (Monday).

The draws for the boys and girls team event was conducted at the complex’s premises Sunday that saw Pakistan and India girls pitted against each other on the opening day. Nepal’s girls will play the Maldives while in the boys team competition, India will take on Nepal.

Boys and girls teams from Maldives, Nepal, India and Pakistan are participating in the event.

This is the first time in history that an ITF Junior Team event is being hosted by Pakistan. The event is being sponsored by Toyota-Indus Motors Company.

In preparation for the event, a virtual captains’ meeting was held Sunday, in which all the captains, Tournament Referee and Tournament Director, ITF Development Officer for South Asia Jonathan Stubbs and ATF Executive Director-Operations Puneet Gupta took part.

It is pertinent to mention that during the ITF event, besides proper security coverage to the foreign teams, Covid-19 SOPs will be strictly observed as per government and ITF protocols and guidelines, and no spectators or non-essential persons will be allowed inside the tournament venue.

Salim Saifullah Khan, President Pakistan Tennis Federation, welcomed the teams (through video link) and wished them best of luck for the matches. He reiterated that such events were a golden opportunity for our players to get international exposure at such a young age, and hoped that the Championship would go a long way in developing young talent.

He also hoped that sports diplomacy will further help in generating goodwill in the region.

The opening ceremony of the event will be held on Monday morning at 9-15 am, with the following matches starting at 10 am.

Islamabad Tennis Association President Tariq Murtaza will declare the championship open.