LAHORE, Sept 16: As part of their effort to revamp the Pakistan Tennis Club, a Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) delegation will meet Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Syed Masood Kausar soon to get the required government support for refurbishing the historical club, presently in shambles.

The club, located at Shahi Bagh, Peshawar, has a historic background as it was inaugurated by no one but the founder of the country — Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1948. However, it is very unfortunate that presently the club is in a pitiable condition, and therefore remains inoperative.

Irshad Bhatti, Senior Vice President of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF), told Dawn that the three-member delegation comprised Pakistan’s tennis ace Aisam-ul-Haq, president PTF Kaleem Imam and he himself would meet the governor on Sept 19 to apprise him of the detailed programme for the renovation of the currently-idle club.

The official further said that Aisam, PTF and KP government would raise funds to refurbish the club to convert it into one of the best tennis facilities of the country.

Aisam had already shown his interest in this regard, promising to raise funds to bring the Pakistan Tennis Club in functioning condition, and hopefully KP governor would extend all the required cooperation and support to help us complete the project as early as possible, Irshad added.

He said the PTF had also prepared a plan to set up an academy named ‘Quaid-i-Azam Tennis Academy’ at the club which would also stage a competition ‘Quaid-i-Azam Open Challenge Cup’ annually.

Meanwhile, Irshad said Abdal Haider and Nofal Kaleem, latter the son of the PTF president Imam Kaleem, would take part in an under-14 event of Asia Tennis Series to be held in the last week of September in Bangladesh.

Moreover, M. Mudassar, another upcoming under-14 player, had left for Thailand to attend a coaching course there. Two more players, namely Mohammad Abid and Hasnain Manzoor, would feature in the Tajikistan National Junior Championship next month.

He further added the PTF would hold two training camps simultaneously, one each in Lahore and Peshawar, from Sept 20 to 30. Former Davis Cupper Mohammad Khalid would conduct the camp in Lahore, while Mahmood Khan and Jahanzaib would run the camp in Peshawar.