Pak tennis champs miffed with govt's refusal to award them prize money

Islamabad, Apr.7 (ANI): The Pakistan Tennis Federation's (PTF) request to honour players who won the Davis Cup tie against Hong Kong last month and helped the country qualify for the semi final in Group II of the tournament has reportedly been rejected by the government.

"The PTF had written a letter to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani requesting him to host a reception in the honour of national tennis players and awarding them 10 million rupees as prize money. But this request has been rejected," The Daily Times quoted sources privy to the issue, as saying.

A senior PTF official, who refused to be named, said the government's step motherly treatment would only disappoint players, and force young hopefuls desist from taking tennis seriously.

"We have received a letter from the ministry today in which they said that they are not in a position to award tennis players. This is an action that would surely disturb our players," the official said.

He said the monetary help from the government would have helped players meet their expenditures.

"Our demand of 10 million rupees was not only to get cash awards for our players but also to meet other expenditures because lack of international tournaments in Pakistan has forced the PTF to ace financial crunch. We are in a dire need of government assistance to get out of these crisis," the official said. (ANI)