Some good news coming in on the Indian Tennis front – All India Tennis Association (AITA) has made a press release announcing the resumption of Tennis in India, starting with junior tennis events at the state level.
The press release note is shared below
The All India Tennis Association announces the resumption of the Domestic Tennis Circuit from 16th November 2020.
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Competitive tennis will make a return after a hiatus of eight months when the on-going COVID-19 pandemic halted the tennis related activities from the week starting 16th March 2020.
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The tournaments will initially begin in the age categories of U-12, U-14 and U-16 only. The duration of the tournaments would remain restricted to three days, with a maximum draw of 32 allowed.
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During the AITA’s Management Committee meeting, a decision was taken to communicate to the Secretaries of all the Affiliates of AITA to make all efforts to restart tennis tournaments by 16th November 2020 by keeping in mind all the safety precautions that may be required as per the existing Govt. guidelines. It was also decided that independent entities would not be allowed to conduct private tournaments outside the official AITA circuit without the prior permission of AITA or its affiliates and that players will be cautioned against participating in any tournament that is not formally sanctioned by AITA and its affiliated units. Such participation may attract disciplinary action.
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The AITA aims to provide a secure environment to all the participating players, officials and other stakeholders involved during the tournaments and will be circulating an indicative set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
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Keeping in view the pandemic situation, the participation in the tournaments will be restricted to within the states and the decision on Inter-district movement will be taken by the respective State Associations’ Presidents/Secretaries, so as to conform to the State Govt. specific guidelines on movement by individuals.
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The Secretaries of each State Affiliate will be requested to issue state-specific customised safety instruction guidelines and SOPs for a safe and secure return to tennis in India.
Anil Dhupar, Hon. Secretary General, All India Tennis Association (AITA)
Read: “The idea is to restart Tennis at a local level as traveling is going to be tough” – Mr Sunder Iyer
