Silchar Goes Global! ITF World Tennis Masters to Bring International Players to Town

Silchar is set to host two major tennis tournaments this November, including an International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Masters MT200 tournament from 10 to 15 November and an All Assam Junior Ranking Tennis Tournament from 16 to 19 November. Both events will be organised by The Tennis Club, Silchar, at its club premises.

The ITF World Tennis Masters MT200 tournament will feature a prize pool of over Rs 5 lakh. Players from across India, along with international participants from Bhutan, South Korea and Bangladesh, are expected to take part. Participation from Bhutan and South Korea has been confirmed, while players from Bangladesh are awaiting their visas.

The Masters tournament will be conducted in a staggered format. The 30+, 35+, 40+, 45+ and 50+ age categories for men, women and mixed doubles will be held from 10 to 14 November. Meanwhile, the men’s 55+, 60+, 65+ and 70+ categories will take place from 12 to 15 November.

According to the organisers, the tournament has received 128 official singles entries through the World Masters portal, along with three wild card entries. The doubles category has received 145 official entries, in addition to three wild card entries. Dunlop AO has been selected as the official ball for the tournament.

Shibashis Dutta Gupta, popularly known as Guddu, will serve as the Tournament Director, while Lavleena Raizada from Gwalior will be the Chief Referee.

Following the Masters event, The Tennis Club, Silchar, will organise the All Assam Junior Ranking Tennis Tournament from 16 to 19 November under the aegis of the All Assam Tennis Association (AATA). The tournament will feature boys’ and girls’ singles events in the under-10, under-12, under-14 and under-18 categories. Doubles events will be held exclusively in the under-18 category for both boys and girls.

The junior tournament will offer prize money of Rs 50,000 and above, depending on the number of entries. The organisers expect participation from more than 50 players this year, compared to over 40 participants from different districts and clubs of Assam last year. Dunlop AO will also be the official ball for this event.

Arup Kumar Deb will serve as the Tournament Director of the junior event, while Arnab Dutta will be its Chief Referee.

The announcements were made in the presence of Tennis Club officials and members, including President Mahavir Prasad Jain, General Secretary Debasish Swami, Treasurer Ashish Jain, Assistant General Secretaries Avishek Jain (Administration) and Shibashis Dutta Gupta (Sports), along with executive members Dr Siddhartha Bhattacharjee, Dr Pradip Kr Das, Shyamal Ghosh and Amrit Mazumder. Other members present included Arup Kr Deb, Debojyoti Swami, Debananda Chakraborty, Arnab Dutta, Vishal Shand.