Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Tennis Federation of Uzbekistan under the auspices of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) launches a series of new tournaments for players at the age of up to 14 years. The first youth tournament will be held in Samarkand from 24 to 31 August. Samarkand ATF14 & Under is already officially included in the ATF calendar.

“The first ATF tournament was held in Uzbekistan in 2014 in Tashkent. In subsequent years, youth tournaments were held in other major cities of the country, but it was decided to exclude these competitions from the calendar in 2018. The new leadership of the Federation, after analyzing the situation with junior tennis, decided to return the ATF tournaments and expand their geography in the country,” Shukhrat Kayumov, chief specialist of the tennis development department, said.

ATF tournaments are conducted in a circular system, when all the places are played and there are no losers. Consolation games are an important moment for the youth competitions, because for many juniors these will be the first international games and a big leap for their future professional career.

“Today the Tennis Federation is entering a new stage in the development of junior tennis, we are focusing on young players. Our task is to grow a new, strong group of tennis players, to support young athletes in the regions, so that they have experience of participating in international competitions. The future of our tennis is for those kids who are now only taking their first steps towards professionalism. Also, within the framework of supporting junior tennis, there are currently qualifying tournaments for children under 12 years old at the RTSOR courts. Following the results of the competition, the best players will represent Uzbekistan at the Asian Championship, which will be held in August in the city of Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan),” Iroda Tulyaganova, Secretary General of the Tennis Federation, said.

The Federation plans to introduce into the calendar ATF tournaments in Andijan, Ferghana, Namangan and Tashkent.