KARACHI: Pakistan Tennis Welfare Trust (PTWT), a body to help past and present needy players of the game, was formally launched in the city on Tuesday.

The body, which was registered recently, will help the deserving players with both cash and kind, Davis Cupper Aqeel Khan who is the motivating force behind its formation said on Tuesday.

A six-member Board of Trustees has been initially formed to run its affairs which include Aqeel, Ali Hasan Bhagat, Sultan Maqsood, Usman Shafi, Adil Sattar and Ms. Seema Manghee.

Besides, a six-member regional committee that include five former Davis Cuppers have also been constituted.

The members of the committee are M. Khalid and Rashid Malik (Lahore), Mushaf Zia and Hameed-ul-Haq (Islamabad), Jalil Khan (Karachi), Jahangzeb Khan and Mahmood Khan (Peshawar).

Aqeel said tennis players who are in need of financial help will have to apply through regional member of their province who, after verification, forwards the case to the Board of Trustees for necessary action.

The country’s top player said he was elated after receiving overwhelming support from former senior players and the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) with whom he had spoken and shared the idea.

PTF president, Syed Kaleem Imam, while congratulating Aqeel and others, offered his blessings besides assuring to put the case in the PTF meeting for granting affiliation to PTWT.

The Davis Cupper said a beginning has been made in the right direction and hoped reputed players of other games in the country will follow suit by repaying the debt.

“Inflation has made the lives of scores of sportspersons including footballers and boxers miserable who are finding it difficult to make ends meet,” he concluded.