President ATF Anil Kumar Khanna arrived on special visit to Pakistan
By.Asghar Ali Mubarak
Islamabad–The newly unopposed elected President of the Asian Tennis Federation and VP of the ITF, Mr. Anil Khanna, has arrived Pakistan today 18th November 2015 on special visit through Wagha Border for a three day visit, to meet PTF top officials and discuss tennis development program in Asia and in Pakistan. President ATF Anil Kumar Khanna who has played a significant role for the promotion of tennis in Asia has earned much recognition in Asia for his services for tennis. President ATF Anil Kumar Khanna through his untiring hard work and dedication, he earned a tremendous amount of credibility among the tennis fraternity in Asia and beyond.He is also the member of the Board of International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Chairman of the Development Advisors Group. Senator Syed Dilawar Abbas, Patron PTF & Vice President ATF, has received him at the Wagah Border Lahore Pakistan, Mr. Khanna will stay in Lahore for two days attending various meeting / receptions with PLTA officials.He will arrive in Islamabad on 20th November by road,and will address media, along with Mr. Salim Saifullah Khan, President PTF, on Friday 20th November 2015, at 4 pm at S. Dilawar Abbas at PTF Tennis Complex, Islamabad.
Anil Khanna is unanimously nominated and hoped that he will be elected the President Asian Tennis Federation (2015 – 2019)for second time. With no other candidate claiming nomination for the Presidents post Mr. Khanna is set to regain the mantle of the next President of the Asian Tennis Federation unopposed on the 28th November 2015 in Colombo.
The unopposed mandate given to Mr. Anil Khanna is a strong message by the Asian Tennis community to take forward the Asian agenda of Good Governance and parity amongst world tennis playing nations. The next Annual General Meeting of the Asian Tennis Federation will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on the 28th November 2015. Final preparations to organize a successful AGM on the eve of Centenary celebrations of Sri Lankan Tennis Association are underway.Being the election year, the AGM would elect its new President for the term 2015 – 2019 and Twelve Board of Directors for the term 2015 – 2017. The Asian Tennis community seems to have unanimously given the mandate to its current President Mr. Anil Kumar Khanna for another term on the Presidents seat. No nominations for the election to the post of President were received till the deadline date of 29th Oct 2015. While seventeen nominations nominations have been received for the elections for the twelve Board of Directors seatselection:1 Mr. Igor Shepelev(UZB) CA-2 Mr. Adil Burlibayev(KAZ) CA-3 Mr. Nao Kawatei (JPN) EA-4 Mr. Won Hong Joo (KOR)EA-5 Mr. Philip Liu(TPE) EA-6 Senator Syed Dilawar Abbas(PAK) SA-7 Mr. Suresh Subramaniam(SRI) SA-8 HE Suwat Liptapanlop(THA) SEA-9 Mr. Randy Villanueva (PHI) SEA-10 Mr. Gilbert Ng (SIN) SEA-11 Mr. Wibowo Wirjawan(INA) SEA-12 Mr. Hazem Adas(JOR) WA-13 Sheikh Ahmad AlSabah(KUW) WA-14 Mr. Nasser Al Ghanim Al Khelaifi(QAT) WA-15 Mr. Majid Shayesteh (IRI) WA-16 Mr. Ernest Fleihan (LIB) WA-17 Ms. Sara Baker(UAE) WA. The President of Asian Tennis Federation. Anil Kumar Khanna was appointed as the Vice President of the world governing body of Tennis (ITF) in ITF AGM at Santiago; Chile.He had narrowly missed out on the chance of becoming the next ITF President in a strongly fought contest, by a margin of 8 votes.Mr. Khanna managed 192 votes to 200 by Haggerty in a close second round, while two other candidates Juan Margets Spain and Rene Stammbach Switzerland were eliminated in the first round. In the ensuing Board of Directors election, he was strongly returned to the Board by the Council.Haggerty will replace Francesco Ricci Bitti, who has decided to step down after 16 year. Mr. Anil Kumar Khanna was elected as the Vice President of the International Tennis Federation by the newly elected Board. He was first time elected for the term of 2013 – 2015 at the Annual General Meeting of the Asian Tennis Federation held at Milad Towers – Tehran on the 29th Sept 2013.As Vice President of the International Tennis Federation, Mr. Anil Khanna is looking the work for Asian region to develop the game of tennis. The Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) is a non-profit organization affiliated with the International Tennis Federation that is open to all national tennis associations in Asia.The ATF’s objectives are to increase participation in, facilitate development of and raise the standard of Asian tennis. There are currently 44 member associations dedicated to the promotion of tennis in their respective countries. The ATF works closely with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and supports its member associations through the implementation of a wide range of programs.The ATF’s main objectives are to raise the standard of Asian tennis and to popularize tennis sport among the people of Asia. There are currently 44 member associations who represent their respective nations. The ATF works closely with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and supports its member associations through the implementation of a wide range of programs.The Board of Director is the elected group of members from national tennis bodies of Asian nations, the current elected members are President Anil Kumar Khanna, Honorary Chairman Sheikh Ahmad Al – Jaber Al Sabah, Vice President Juniors & Development Martina Widjaja , Vice President South Asia Syed Dilawar Abbas, Vice-President East Asia Sun Jin-fang, Vice-President South-East Asia Suwat Liptapanlop, Vice-President West Asia Nasser Ghanim Al Khelaifi Vice President Central Asia Shomurad Shofayziev, Honorary Secretary General Surendran Subramaniam and members, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Ajay Pathak,Alizera Khorooshi, Naohiro Kawatei, Adil Burlibayev.The Asia is the most populous continent but tennis still remains a sport under development. Besides a couple of nations like India, China, Japan and Thailand who have produced some world class players, tennis does not have a very long and fruitful history. There are 289 futures and challengers in a year in Europe, while Asia in comparison only has 61 of these tournaments. Even South America has 81, where there are only ten states and where players from the other World rarely go due to remoteness.
