THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Around 120 boys and girls from across the state gathered at the Ramanathan Krishnan Tennis Complex, Kumarapuram here, to take part in a unique week-long junior tennis tournament which concluded at the facility the other day.
The RKTA - All Kerala Junior Tennis Tournament organised by the Trivandrum Tennis Promotion Committee (TTPC) saw the youngsters competing in under-16, under-14, under-12 and under-10 age groups. “Numbers were overwhelming and all the kids had a great experience,” said TTPC convener M R Ramesh.
Kerala State Sports Council president T P Dasan gave away the prizes to the winners and runners-up at a function which was also attended by District Collector S Venkatesapathy and TTPC secretary Thomas Jacob among others.
“To give more exposure to youngsters playing tennis in Kerala, we plan to conduct such tournaments every two months in 2017. This will give ample opportunity for kids who want to take up the sport as a career,” said Ramesh.
Twenty children who have been undergoing free training at the academy under the community tennis scheme and participated in the tournament were presented kits by the Sports Council president.
The TTPC now plans to select 10 to 15 youngsters from their community training programme to provide them with elite training. “We will see their performances and pick top players and give them elite training which will be the next step in their career,” said Ramesh.
Bhadra S of Thiruvananthapuram won the girls’ under-16 singles title. Bhadra went on to win a double as she overcame the same opponent in the girls’ under-14 singles final also. Sooraj S won the boys’ under-16 singles title overcoming Raj Maneesh in the final while Krithin Krishna won the boys’ under-14 title defeating Manu Gautham in the final. Abhiram Anoop won the boys’ under-10 singles while Ephinoah Oommen emerged as the runner-up. Priyanka Nair, Adarsh S and Mohammed Tahir were selected as the best performers of the tournament held from January 21 to 28.