The Gujarat State Tennis Association (GSTA) has started a collaboration with Tennis Premier League (TPL), which is in its sixth season, as both pledged their support to the grassroots development programmes in the State. The TPL announced this move as part of the nationwide Race to Gold (RTG) initiative, which is aimed at unearthing India’s tennis gems and providing them with scholarships to help further their careers.

This ground-breaking programme aims not just to discover talent but to nurture it, year after year, creating a legacy of excellence in Indian tennis, it was announced in a release on Saturday.

The TPL and GSTA will work together and support young aspiring tennis players, along with helping organise tennis tournaments for various age groups. The year-long programmes of the GSTA have produced some fantastic players, and this drive aligns perfectly with the TPL’s ideology, which aims to ensure that there is no disruption in the pipeline.

The tournaments, which will be organised by TPL and GSTA together, will also benefit young players in their district rankings and it will also eventually lead up to the RTG scholarship.

Tournaments will be held across all the cities of Gujarat and top players from each of these cities will participate in the masters’ event which will be held in Ahmedabad. A total of 9 players from Boys & Girls U10, U12, U14 and Men’s & Women’s will be a part of the special group who will be awarded the scholarship.

The young players will go through intense district-level tournaments throughout the year, before forming a batch of 72 players nationwide. These players will be awarded a scholarship worth INR 75,000. The scholarship includes an advanced tennis racquet, a professional kit bag, a pair of shoes amongst other tennis equipment and a live TPL experience.

Chintan Parikh, President of Gujarat State Tennis Association said, “In the last half-decade, we have seen plenty of interest and good young players in Gujarat, and it gives us great joy to be in a position to help them, and hopefully open a few doors for them through this collaboration.”

Kunal Thakkur, Co-Founder, Tennis Premier League was elated about this partnership, and said, “At TPL, nurturing talent and providing opportunities for upcoming players is high on the agenda and through this partnership, we want to see the best of the best make it to the top.”

Highlighting the transformative nature of the initiative, Mrunal Jain Co-Founder, Tennis Premier League, added, “This partnership with the GSTA will go a long way in bolstering the grassroots structures in tennis in Gujarat, and we are confident sooner than later, there’ll be players graduating to the TPL as well.”