Nepal to host South Asian Qualifying for ITF Asia 12 & Under Team Competition
Six South Asian teams, except Bangladesh, will participate in the qualifying event from April 13 to 17. Officials of Nepal Tennis Association during a press conference at NSJF in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu, on Thursday. Photo: NSJF
Nepal is hosting the South Asia Regional Qualifying event for the ITF Asia 12 & Under Team Competition in Satdobato, Lalitpur, from April 13 to 17.
The Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) started the tournament in 2017. It is now being organised directly under the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Nepal Tennis Association (NTA) announced the qualifying event, which will see the participation of six South Asian teams, through a press conference at the Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu, on Thursday.
“And it is the fifth time Nepal is hosting the South Asian Qualifying event,” said Manohar Das Mool, president at the NTA. “Nepal hosted the event in 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2024.”
Except for Bangladesh, five other South Asian teams will be arriving in Nepal for the tournament.
“It will be a team event. There will be two singles and a doubles event,” read a press statement by the NTA.
Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Bhutan will each have three players in the boys’ category. However, Bhutan does not have a team in the girls’ category.
“With six teams, the boys’ category will see the teams divided into two groups of three each. The top teams from each group will compete against the runner-ups of the other group in the semi-finals. The two finalists will qualify for the Asian event,” said Mool. “Regarding the girls’ category, the five teams will compete in a single round-robin format, and the top two teams will qualify.”
Aarit Malla, Sabhya Jung Karki and Sahansh Basnet will represent Nepal in the boys’ category and will be coached by Surya Bhushan Bajracharya. In the girls’ category, coach Kanchha Khadge is preparing Sara Panta, Aarya Paudel and Nayara C Ghale.
Ajay Bista will be the tournament director for the South Asian qualifier. Meanwhile, Jonathan Stubbs, ITF Development Officer for East, West and South Asian Region, and Supreeth Kadavigere, ITF Silver Badge Referee, will also be arriving in Nepal for the tournament.
Though Nepal is preparing to host the event for the fifth time, Nepali players have not qualified for the Asian tournament since 2018.
“Nepal’s boys and girls teams qualified in 2017. In 2018, the boys’ team qualified. We have not qualified since then,” said Pool. “However, we are aiming to qualify in both girls and boys categories this time.”
The Asian event is taking place in Singapore from September 15-20.
Nayak Paudel covers sports for The Kathmandu Post. He previously worked at the Post (2018–19) and spent over five years at The Rising Nepal. His reporting spans crime, health, education, and social issues.
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