Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) is all set to make history this year by hosting 10 international championships in the country this year. According to a PTF spokesperson on Thursday, Pakistan will hold four Asian Tennis Tour (ATT) Championships — two in Lahore and as many as in Islamabad. These ATT Championships have recently been introduced in the Asian Tennis Circuit. Each tournament for men’s professional players will carry $5,000 as prize money. Sponsorships for all the international events have been secured. The first ATT Championship will be organised in Lahore from November 16 to 21 which will be followed by Hassan Tariq Memorial Asian Tennis Tour. 3rd ATT event will be held in Islamabad as ‘Serena Hotels Asian Tennis Tour.’ The National Open Tennis Championships will run from December 12 to 18 and the last championship would be Benazir Shaheed Asian Tennis Tour.

The PTF spokesperson further said that players from 43 Asian countries, affiliated with the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), were eligible to participate in these Asian ranking championships. Four ITF Seniors World Ranking Tournaments will also be held in Pakistan this year during October and November. Two championships will be held in Karachi — Naveena ITF Seniors and Pakistan ITF Seniors — and two in Lahore, with title sponsors of Maple Leaf Cement namely ITF World Ranking and Long Beach Pakistan ITF Seniors. The PTF has also organised two Asian Tennis Federations Under-14 Championships earlier in the month of March in Islamabad. Negotiations are afoot for two more ITF Senior Championships – one to be held in Faisalabad and the other in Karachi. “The PTF hopes that these championships will also be added to the PTF calendar in due course of time,”he concluded.