ISLAMABAD: The Gen­eral Council Meeting of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) has discussed various issues including the Davis Cup tie against India in Islamabad this September.

In a meeting held here at the PTF Complex with president Salim Saifullah Khan in the chair, the PTF management, representatives of provincial associations and affiliated units were in attendance.

For the first time, leading tennis clubs from all over the country were invited to attend the General Council meeting to discuss their affiliation with PTF with Nasser Jaffer of Karachi’s Modern Club being prominent.

The PTF chief apprised the participants about the Davis Cup tie against India and the SAF Games in December. He said that the squads for both events will be trained at the PTF National Training Centre, while stressing the importance of clubs in promotion the sport at the grassroots level.

The PTF president also welcomed Mohammad Saleem Marwat, the newly-elected head of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tennis Asso­ci­ation and Hamid Niaz, the newly-appointed National Coordinator — Junior Tennis Initiative (JTI).

Hamid, speaking on the occasion, briefed the participants about his vision of the way forward to ensure that the JTI programme covers all the districts nationwide so that players’ base can be increased.

The council also evaluated the performance of all the affiliated units and discussed ways to further enhancing their efforts for promotion of tennis, especially in areas where they are lacking.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2019