New Delhi: The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has announced the resumption of the Domestic Tennis Circuit from 16th November 2020.
Competitive tennis will make a return after a hiatus of eight months when the on-going COVID-19 pandemic halted the tennis-related activities from the week starting 16th March 2020, the AITA said in a statement.
The tournaments will initially begin in the age categories of U-12, U-14 and U-16 only.
The duration of the tournaments would remain restricted to three days, with a maximum draw of 32 allowed.
During the AITA’s Management Committee meeting, a decision was taken to communicate to the Secretaries of all the Affiliates of AITA to make all efforts to restart tennis tournaments by 16th November 2020 by keeping in mind all the safety precautions that may be required as per the existing government guidelines.
It was also decided that independent entities would not be allowed to conduct private tournaments outside the official AITA circuit without the prior permission of AITA or its affiliates and that players will be cautioned against participating in any tournament that is not formally sanctioned by AITA and its affiliated units. Such participation may attract disciplinary action.
The AITA aims to provide a secure environment to all the participating players, officials and other stakeholders involved during the tournaments and will be circulating an indicative set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), the statement added.