Tennis Fed to award points at tourneys

A school boy lines up a return during a practice game at the official opening of the TFC’s National Training Centre, where the Cham Prasidh Cup championship will be played from this Saturday. Photo Supplied by TFC

via Khmer NZ

Monday, 12 July 2010 15:00 H S Manjunath

THE Tennis Federation of Cambodia will introduce a performance-linked points system to nationally rank men, women and juniors, beginning with the week-long Cham Prasidh Cup championship, to be held at the National Training centre from Saturday.

“This is our first big step towards an organised approach to tennis development and tournament play,” TFC Technical Director Braen Aneiros revealed to the Post Saturday.

“For the first time in Cambodia, we will rank players so that they know exactly where they stand. The ranking list also reflects the depth of talent and records the ups and downs in a player’s career. This data is as important to individuals as it is to the federation.

“Based on the performances, we will allot points which in turn will determine the rankings,” said Aneiros, who doubles up as the national coach and is on the organising committee of the upcoming tournament. “We will update these rankings after every tournament.

“By the end of the season we will have two more events, the Cambodian Open in September and the Tep Khunnah Commemoration Cup in December. Leading up to a new season next year, we would have put a viable system in place.”

The Cham Prasidh Cup, which offers “cash and kind” prizes totalling US$2,000, is an open competition involving men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and junior U14 and U18 events.

In the men’s event, winners of first-round matches move up to the next round, while losers get another chance to play in what is known as the back draw.

“This way players get a chance to play more matches,” said Aneiros. “Every win no matter in which section will earn them points.”

The organisers are planning a round-robin format for the women’s event, but will revert to a group setup if there are more than eight entrees.

The draw for all the events will be made following the close of entries at 11:00am Friday. The entry fee for expats has been fixed at $10, while Cambodians will pay $2 per event. Entries can be sent to Khith Sipin at tfc@online.com.kh or made by phone on 012889001.