JOIN US“My father loved all sport and given the chance he would have played them all. His first love, though, was always tennis....” said actor and Member of Parliament, Ramya, as she launched a tennis tournament in the memory of her father RT Narayan, at the KSLTA here on Wednesday.
The Tennis association will play host to the first ever AITA National Series Under-16 tennis championship from Dec 9-15. The tournament is being sponsored by the RT Narayan Memorial Trust.
Narayan had been one of the most active persons when it came to developing tennis in the state, especially the KSLTA and played a key role in bringing many internationally known tournaments to the city – The World Legends Tour, World Doubles Championship, WTA Championships and the Davis Cup to name a few.
National under-16 champion, BR Nikshep, who is also ranked No 1 in his category, will lead Karnataka’s charge in the tournament.
The other main Karnataka players in the draw are C Vasisht (AITA ranking 8), Vignesh Subramanyam (43) and Siddharth N Gowda (128).
CS Sunder Raju, Secretary of KSLTA , dedicated the tournament to Narayan. “RT Narayan was a great tennis lover and our mentor, providing us with the right foundation for the growth of KSLTA.
“He touched every one of us with his wit, humility and wisdom and stayed in the background while always guiding us. We dedicate this tournament to him,” said Sunder Raju.
The main draw will have 64 boys (56 direct entries and eight wild cards) and 32 girls (26 direct entries and eight wild cards).
While most of the matches will be played at the KSLTA, the girls’ preliminary round ties will be held at the Mahila Seva Samaja courts.
DH News Service