Thursday, March 5, 2009

ITF postpones tennis tournament in Pakistan

LONDON (AP) -A junior tennis tournament scheduled this month in Karachi, Pakistan, was called off by the International Tennis Federation because of security concerns in the wake of the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team.

Luca Santilli, the ITF manager of junior tennis, said Wednesday that the attack that killed six police officers and injured seven Sri Lankan players in Lahore was not the only factor in postponing the March 16-21 tournament.

"It was more the general atmosphere in the country, the general security in the country,'' said Santilli, adding that the decision was made Tuesday and no makeup date has been set.


Most of the players signed up for the nonprofessional tournament were between the ages of 13 and 18 and came from Pakistan, but also included others from the region, including Thailand, India, Hong Kong and Singapore, Santilli said.