The city of Pune is all geared up to host the India-New Zealand Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group-I match at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi from February 3-5, 2017. The Davis Cup will be conducted by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) under the auspices of the AITA.
Amruta Fadnavis (right), the Chief Patron of the Davis Cup Tie, accepts the official Davis Cup jacket from Dr. Nitin Kareer, Chairman of the Organising Committee at the conclusion of the press conference on Monday at the MSLTA .
This was announced during a press conference in the presence of Amruta Fadnavis the Chief Patron of the Davis Cup Tie, Pravinsingh Pardeshi, Patron of the Davis Cup Organising Committee, Dr. Nitin Kareer, Chairman of the Organising Committee, MSLTA President, Bharat OZA, former MSLTA President, Sharad Kanamwar, Sunder Iyer, Hon. Secretary MSLTA and Prashant Sutar Organising Secretary of the Davis Cup tie, at the MSLTA, Mumbai on Monday afternoon.
“It’s a great honour for me to be associated with the Davis Cup, which is one of the largest sporting event in the world as over 135 countries participate in this annual tournament. Maharashtra has taken a big challenge to host the Davis Cup,” said Fadnavis.
“It’s great for our state and country and I’m thrilled and thank MSLTA for taking up this initiative by coming forward to host the Davis Cup tie in Pune after a gap of 43 years,” she further stated.
The last time Pune hosted a Davis Cup tie was in 1974 when India hosted Russia on grass at Deccan Gymkhana.
This will be the eighth Davis Cup tie to be hosted by MSLTA, with the first dating back to the India-Pakistan Eastern Zonal, first round encounter held between March 31 and April 2, 1963 at Pune which India won 4-1.
Kareer, a Senior IAS officer said that the courts and the stadium have been renovated as per the requirements of ITF Davis Cup organizers. “The playing surface, which is a hard-court one, has been re-laid and the stands have been refurbished. The seating capacity is almost 4000 spectators and we hope the people come in large numbers to witness the matches,” Kareer mentioned.
MSLTA Secretary Iyer informed that there would be no charge for tennis enthusiasts to come and watch the tie. “There will be no entry fee. But all fans who are interested to come and watch the action will have to first register with www.kyazoong.com and then they would get the passes to witness the matches.”
Iyer also told media persons that the matches would be played under floodlights. “Players were comfortable to play under the lights. Temperatures during the day in the city are high. So the conditions would be much better for all the players to play when the temperature is much cooler,” he said.
India will be led by Anand Amritraj as a non-playing captain and the team comprises Olympian Leander Paes, Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni, Ramkumar Ramnathan and Zeeshan Ali (coach).
New Zealand have Alistair Hunt (Capatin), Micheal Venus, Finn Tearney, Jose ‘Rubin’ Staham and Arthem Sitak.
The draw for the matches will be held on February 2 at the stadium in presence of Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, while state sports Minister Vinod Tawade will inaugurate the tie on February 3.
Chief Minister Devedra Fadnavis will be the guest of honour for the ‘historic doubles tie’ and will present a special memento to Olympian Leander Paes.
This tie is even more special to Paes as he will set the record for most ties played by any player for India.
The tennis ace, who is currently tied with Italy’s Nicola Pietrangeli, will break the record for most wins in Davis Cup. Currently, Paes and the Italian share a 42 wins-12 losses record on the all-time Davis Cup’s greats list.