KARACHI, Jan 23 The Karachi-leg of the Junior Tennis Initiative (JTI) programme, which suffered an inordinate delay of over one-and-a-half year, finally begins at the PECHS Girls College courts on Monday under the aegis of Sindh Tennis Association (STA).

The STA has selected three venues in the city to run six months basic coaching clinic for boys and girls. Besides PECHS Girls College, other venues are DHA Girls College and PNS Karsaz. Sportswomen studying in adjoining schools and colleges of the two venues will also utilise the facilities.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has provided sports gear for the proposed programme to the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) in the middle of 2007. The equipment remained in Islamabad-based PTF headquarters for well over a year before it could reach Karachi in the second half of last year only to remain unutilised for another six months or so.

The STA has appointed ITF qualified coach, Ejaz Sarhadi, as coordinator who will impart basic coaching to the players. According to arrangement, he will visit every venue twice a week for four hours and gets remuneration of Rs200 per hour. The STA will foot the coordinator's expenses through sponsorship.

Meanwhile, the STA has also chalked out programme to send some equipment in the interior of Sindh namely Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Tando Allahyar.