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National level tennis event in Balochistan planned Back To Main

The News

Waqar Hamza

KARACHI: A national level tennis event has been planned by Pakistan Senior Tennis Association (PSTA) for Balochistan, where not a single event of such stature has been held for more than 15 years.

Secretary General PSTA Khalid Rehmani told ‘The News’ that they have decided to hold a national level tennis event in Quetta after Eid. “In order to revive tennis in the province, we have come forward to hold an event at Brown Gymkhana after Eid,” he added.

He said that this tournament would be held in collaboration with Balochistan Tennis Association (BTA). “Our aim is to revive tennis in Balochistan because no national level event has been held there in the past 15 years. We will have all the categories in this tournament, both for seniors and juniors,” said the secretary.

He said that initially PSTA was funding this tournament but they would look for financial support. Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF), since its last annual general meeting, has been asking its units to hold tennis activities.

Recently, the tennis association of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held a national level event after around 15 years’ gap. The success of that event prompted them to announce another event of the same level after Eid.

Sources said that poor security and lack of funds were the reasons cited by the BTA for not holding tennis activities. On the other hand, Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) is feeling compelled to induct new units from the private sector because its existing units have been dormant for years.

Almost 80 percent units of PTF have been inactive for quite a long time. The units are bound to hold at least one national level event in two years. A number of organisations from the corporate sector have approached PTF for holding tennis activities in the country. These include Habib Bank, National Bank, Zarai Tarraqiati Bank Limited and Pak Arab Refinery (PARCO), which this year held an international squash event in Karachi.

Out of total 14 units of PTF, only Punjab (but partially) and Sindh have been seeing tennis activities. The most ironic thing is that Balochistan has not organised a single tennis event for almost 15 years although PTF Secretary Mumtaz Yousuf is from Balochistan.

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/