Global conglomerate HCL will host the HCL Asian Junior Tennis Championship 2017, the most reputed tennis championship in the Asian circuit for the U/18 category in association with the Maharashtra State Lawn tennis Association here, from May 29.
The Championship, which is the only B1 category tournament in Asia will take place from May 29 to June 03, 2017 at MSLTA school of tennis courts at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune, a media release said here.
Players from 11 countries in the region (Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Hong-Kong, Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka, Iran and India) are participating in the Championship.
The Championship is the second highest tournament anywhere in the world after the junior grand slams, and provides top Indian players a chance to compete against their global counterparts as well as earn valuable ITF points to build on their overall international ranking, it said.
Held under the aegis of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), All India Tennis Association (AITA) and the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA), the six-day Championship will witness participation from over 100 Indian and international players in the Singles and Doubles categories for both boys and girls.
Each category draw of 32, will include the top 22 players (basis their ITF ranking) who will get direct entry into the main draw and the remaining players will be drawn from the qualifying matches and wild cards. Eleven girls and eight boys in the main draws are from India, it added.
Kaustubh Shah has been designated as the Tournament Director of the event, while ITF White Badge referee has been appointed as the ITF Supervisor for the event.
In 2016, Naoki Tajima from Japan (world ranking of 28) and Xiyu Wang from China (world ranking of 13) were the champions of the Asian Junior Tennis Champion, said the release.
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