DD, PTV to telecast live Indo-Pak Tennis Series

Chandigarh, Sep 19 (UNI) The four-match home-and- away Indo-Pak Tennis Challenge Series to be played from November 6 to 12 will be telecast live in India and Pakistan.

This was disclosed by Steering Committee (Indian Leg) Chairman Rajan Kashyap here today.

Pakistan will conduct matches at Islamabad on November 6 and at Lahore on November 8 before the teams cross over to India for the third and fourth Tests at Chandigarh on November 10 and Delhi on November 12, respectively.

Mr Kashyap and All India Tennis Association secretary Anil Khanna met Information and Broadcasting Secretary S K Arora and Delhi Doordarshan Director Leela Dhar Mandloi to chalk out details of live coverage of the series in both the countries.

Pakistan Television (PTV) will provide feed of the Islamabad and Lahore matches to Doordarshan (DD) for live telecast in India. On the reciprocal basis, Doordarshan will generate pictures of the Chandigarh and New Delhi matches for the Pakistani Television viewers.

Two singles and one doubles matches will be played to determine the winners in a Test match. Mr Kashyap said ''draw of lots will decide who will play whom. As both countries are fielding their best ranked players, firework is expected in all four Test matches.'' A 19-member team from Pakistan, including four top players, will visit India for the series. Pakistan Tennis Federation president and secretary will be part of the Pakistan team. A few senior players will also accompany the Pakistan team.

Besides the Test matches, separate competitions are being organised at the CLTA complex for the senior players of both countries.

The AITA will also be sending a 19-member Indian squad on the Pakistani leg. Among the Indian officials will be AITA secretary Anil Khanna and Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) Chairman Rajan Kashyap.

Mr Kashyap said that ''a lot of interest has already been generated for the India-Pakistan tennis duel in both countries. He said a steering committee for the Indian leg had been formed for the smooth conduct of the Indo-Pak Tennis Challenge Series. Besides, the CLTA and Delhi Lawn Tennis Association have also formed their separate organizing committees.

AITA secretary Anil Khanna, DLTA secretary Kapil Dutta, CLTA secretary Rameshekhar and AITA Director Operations Col Amarbir Singh are other important members of the Steering Committee. Gajender Singh has been made convener of the Technical Committee.

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