KARACHI, May 26 The inaugural Maroof tennis trophy, a Sindh ranking event, begins at the DHA Beach View Club on June 3 with local players vying for honours in different categories.

The events to be contested in the Rs10,000 prize money competition are men's singles, ladies' singles, juniors' under-17 singles, boys' under-15 singles, girls under-17 singles, boys under-13 singles, boys' under-11 and under-9 singles and juniors' doubles.

The prize money, though meagre initially, will be disbursed among men's singles finalists with winners getting Rs6,000 and runner up Rs4,000.

The details of the event were unfolded by Hamid Maroof, son of late Sheikh Mohammad Maroof, an Aligarh colour-holder in tennis in pre-partition days. He excelled in chess and table tennis as well.

He said it was his desire to dedicate a trophy in memory of his illustrious father. Though it took him almost a decade but it's better late than never, he added.

He assured to upgrade the event to national level with a purse of Rs0.5 million in coming years.

Speaking on the occasion veteran Khawaja Saeed Hai recalled his memories about the player of yore who was incidentally his (Saeed's) maternal uncle.

Secretary, Sindh Tennis Association, Khalid Rehmani, also spoke on the occasion.