Nine-year-old banned from playing tennis - for grunting too loudly!

Melbourne, Feb 26 : A nine-year-old girl in Australia has been banned from playing tennis - because of her loud grunting.

Lauryn Edwards was told by her local club that she could no longer play her favourite sport after a complaint was lodged by an opposition player.

The Mt Carmel Tennis Club, in Sunbury, told Lauryn's stunned parents, Duncan and Ruth, that the grunting had become too much.

Lauryn's dad described the ban as pathetic and has contacted Tennis Australia and Tennis Victoria for advice.

Lauryn's favourite player is Russian star and notorious grunter Maria Sharapova but his father said that his daughter's grunting was nowhere near Sharapova's level and had been exaggerated.

"It's pretty slight and now and again she hits it hard and makes a loud noise and that's it," News.com.au quoted him, as saying.

"From just one comment, this has all blown up stupidly. There's no rule against it, so they've made a rule against it," he added.

He said that the club had asked him for an assurance Lauryn would remain silent on the court.

"They told me to guarantee she won't grunt or she can't play," he said.

"How can I guarantee that? She's been doing it since she was really little. She's her own person. What do they want me to do? Put Band-Aids over her mouth? They made her cry on the court when they told her.

"She was in such a state that I had to bring her home mid-match," he added.

ANI