Pretoria, South Africa – Tennis South Africa (TSA) confirmed on Wednesday that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has awarded South Africa the rights to host the 2017 Young Seniors World Team and Individual Championships.
The tournament will be hosted in the city of Cape Town from 19 March – 1 April.
The ITF Young Seniors World Team Championships is the highest ranked event on the ITF Seniors Circuit for male and female players in the age categories of 35-45.
The tournament took place for the first time in 2015. Until this date, they had been catered for within the Seniors Championships.
This year the tournament will be played from Sunday 19 March – Friday 24 March 2017. There will be 86 teams from 26 countries represented in the Mother City at the event.
Following the Team Championships, the ITF Young Seniors World Individual Championships will be played. This tournament is the most coveted individual event on the ITF Seniors Circuit.
The Individual Championships will be played from Saturday 25 March – Saturday 1 April 2017.
Since the tournament’s inception in 1981, the number of competitors has continued to increase year on year.
There were originally just four age categories, but that number has now increased to 21 with more than 1,000 players competing in both singles and doubles.
In 1993, due to the tournament’s increasing popularity, the ITF took the decision to divide it into two separate events, Seniors for the younger veterans and Super-Seniors for the older veterans.
Due to the continued success, it was necessary in 2015 to divide it into three separate events, Young Seniors, Seniors and Super-Seniors.
For the hosts, the Young Seniors World Individual Championships provides a great opportunity to welcome 100s of veteran players to their country and region, and more specifically to the host clubs.
With the individual event following the team event by one week at the same venue, after representing their nation many players are expected to stay on in Cape Town to compete for individual honours.
The venues for both events will be ;
Kelvin Grove Club – Newlands (Headquarters)
Constantia Tennis Club – Constantia
Green Point Tennis Club – Green Point
Pinelands Tennis Club – Pinelands
The Glen Tennis Club – Bantry Bay
Western Province Cricket Club – Newlands
Western Province Tennis Centre – Rondebosch
Ronnie van t ‘Hof, TSA Board Member responsible for Seniors Tennis said “The awarding of this Young Seniors World Championship event by the ITF to us here in South Africa is an acknowledgement of the strength and organizational ability of Tennis South Africa’s Senior players and administrators. Worldwide the Seniors game is flourishing, and what better way to foster interest in the game as well as show case our country by hosting the Young Seniors World Championships in Cape Town.
What is especially exciting for us is the opportunity it gives our local officials international experience and our players to compete on the world stage. We’ve had a number of world champions over the years in various age groups, but we have never won a team event – we’re hoping to rectify that in the Mother City next month!”
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P2084953 : Tennis South Africa (TSA) CEO, Richard Glover addresses the media on Wednesday in Rosebank in a TSA briefing where Glover reported on progress he has made as CEO since his appointment in October 2016 and his vision for the Federation. Glover also announced that TSA would host the ITF Young Seniors World Championships in Cape Town in March and Marketing gurus Gugu Ntuli (Adidas Executive) and Geoff White (CEO Nando’s) have been appointed to the Board of TSA.
P2084978: Tennis South Africa (TSA) CEO, Richard Glover (far right) addresses the media on Wednesday in Rosebank in a TSA briefing where Glover reported on progress he has made as CEO since his appointment in October 2016 and his vision for the Federation. Glover also announced that TSA would host the ITF Young Seniors World Championships in Cape Town in March and Marketing gurus Gugu Ntuli (adidas Executive) and Geoff White (CEO Nando’s) have been appointed to the Board of TSA. To the left of Glover is TSA Board member responsible for Senior Tennis Ronnie Van t’Hof and Ridhwaan Dawood TSA Events and Financial Director.
Photo credit: BLD Communications
