AITA demands more money for players

The All India Tennis Association has urged the government to increase the financial help being given to its players from Rs three crore to five crore, and also demanded that the benefit be extended to juniors as well.

AITA president Anil Khanna said the body has drafted a proposal, which will be submitted to the Sports Ministry soon.

Khanna said the AITA needed help from the government to bring more tournaments to the country.

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"We need the Government of India's support. Currently Rs 3 crore benefit is for 10 players, but it should be increased to five crore. The help should be extended to more players and a group having 30-40 players, including juniors, should get the benefit.

"Out of three Cs in tennis, we have courts, coaches but not enough competitions. The government needs to understand that ITF Futures tournaments are basically developmental tournaments. Players do not make much money out of it," he said during the draw ceremony for the Davis Cup tie against New Zealand.

Indian players get only a few tournaments at home. For want of money they are unable to travel to Europe, where most of the events are scheduled. The lower-ranked players from India do not get the chance to improve their ranking by competing in more tournaments since travel expenses are immense.

The AITA president also informed that four ATP Challenger tournaments with prize-money of US $125,000, will be played in India in the 2013 season.

"We will conduct two men's challengers and two women's Challengers in 2013. The focus is on Challengers now."