Organizing a press conference in the capital on Wednesday, ANLTA President Manoj Rana said the tennis courts will be constructed with the fund received from the International Tennis Federation (ITF). [break]"We have received US$ 15,000 through the Grand Slam Development Fund of ITF and the amount will be used for the construction of two new tennis courts at the complex," said Rana.
"Two new courts are currently under construction, and we will have eight courts at the complex once the construction of two more courts is over. Once we have eight courts, we will also fulfill the requirements for hosting international tournaments at Satdobato," said Rana, adding that the deadline for completing the construction works is two years. "But we will try to finish it within six months and host a South Asian level tournament by 2014."
President Rana, Prithivi Bahadur Pandey of Nepal Investment Bank, Dinesh Tuladhar of Himalayan Hotel and Bikash Rana of Shikhar Insurance have made a personal contribution of Rs 500,000 each for the two courts currently under construction.
"After fulfilling international requirements we could host Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup. We are planning to organize an international tournament by 2014," stated Rana, adding that Little Angels´ School was planning to host an international level school tournament.
After completion of all the construction works, the tennis complex will have two doubles courts and six singles courts. ANLTA Generan Secretary Manohar Das Mool said they have been receiving funds for the last few years. "This is the first time that we have received such big funds from ITF for construction works. This is the faith put by ITF in ANLTA," said Mool.
"The fund will be used to upgrade the office and parapet, build a hostel for players, host IOC solidarity course and ultimately host international tournaments," said Rana, adding that it was the first funding from ITF during his tenure.
According to Rana, construction of the two new courts will cost Rs 1.5 million to Rs 2 million and they will raise the remaining amount through donors within the country. "National Sports Council has assured to provide Rs 2.5 million for the construction of physical infrastructure."
"We are also running a training program for juniors three days a week with the slogan Tennis Children for Tomorrow. With support from ITF, we hope we can send our best junior players abroad for high-performance training camp every year," said Rana.
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