Courts are being re-laid, training intensified and much more happening as the Nadal Education & Tennis School (NETS) braces for a tennis extravaganza in the New Year. The beginning of January 2016 is all set to witness the NETS hosting the 8th AITA (All India Tennis Association) Talent Series (TS) tournament.
The year-opening tournament has been dedicated to the late founder of the Rural Development Trust, and been named Father Vincent Ferrer Memorial AITA Talent Series Tennis Tournament 2016 in his honour.
The tournament has been upscaled to host the singles and doubles competitions for both boys and girls in the U14 and U16 age categories.
The 2016 AITA TS is going to be bigger compared to the previously hosted Talent Series at NETS in August 2014, which only had U16 competitions with about 75 athletes.
This year, the tournament has already received about 200 registrations and more are expected to register during the qualifying rounds, along with 10 NETS’ athletes that will be participating in the competition.
Athletes should begin arriving for the qualifying round on New Years’ day as their signs-ins would happen then, after which the qualifying rounds are scheduled between the 2nd and 3rd January, with close to 150 or more matches expected to be played over the course of the entire tournament.
2015 has been a good year for the children at NETS, as they had the AITA Championship Series (CS) to look up to in July and would have learnt a lot from it. It has also been encouraging to have the reigning Moto GP Champion Jorge Lorenzo visit the children in November and then meet with their idol, Rafael Nadal, this month in Delhi during the India leg of the IPTL.
This should keep them motivated enough to play at their best.
Among the NETS’ children participating in the tournament will be 13 year old Venkatesh and 14 year old Pallavi, who have both been performing well. Pallavi already has set high stakes for herself after winning the AITA CS U16 Women’s Doubles competition and will be looking to better this time, hopefully performing better in her singles competition.
Tennis Coordinator Xisco Mercadal Pons says “I am thrilled to be part of this tournament as it is my first time hosting such a major tournament in India and I am looking forward to seeing more Indian talent during this tournament. I want the children to learn from the tournament, and interact with the many participants and their supporters. If they win, it will be an added bonus for all of us.
