Top 150 juniors participate in Tennis Premier League talent day

Top players of the city lined up at the Panchshila Club here to grab a chance to feature in the Delhi franchise of the second Tennis Premier League (TPL) to be held at the Celebration Sports Club in Mumbai from December 12-15.

Farhat Aleen Quamar and Sanvi Ahluwalia were declared winners of the U18 category and will now represent Punjab Bulls and Binny's Delhi of TPL respectively.

The talent day was conducted for the girls U18 and boys U14 categories and played in a knockout format. The winners and runners-up from both categories will get a chance to play for the Delhi Binny's Brigade and rub shoulders with top stars like Saket Myneni and Ankita Raina, who are a part of the Delhi outfit.

The winners and runners-up of girls U18 were awarded a cash prize of Rs 20,000 while the boys U14 were awarded Rs 10,000 each for their efforts.

Prominent film producer and director Divya Khosla Kumar has now ventured into the sports arena where she has bought a team in the TPL. She has announced to have partnered with businessman Sneh Patel and now co-owns the Delhi Binny's Brigade.

Divya who was born and raised in Delhi is super excited about this initiative. "I'm happy to venture into Tennis Premier League. I try to involve myself in such initiatives, which are for the larger good. TPL is not only promoting and encouraging Tennis as a sport but is also giving a boost to all our talented wheelchair players, which I think is a great thing to do," she said.

When asked about the talent day, Kunal Thakkur, co-founder, TPL, said: "We are really happy to see the response for the Delhi Talent day. Tennis is very popular in this region. Delhi has been a pioneer in terms of players and world-class academies. Hence we decided this would be a perfect place to find the best junior talent".

Founded by ex-national player Thakkur and actor-entrepreneur Mrunal Jain, the second edition of the TPL is scheduled to be bigger and better with top sporting personality Leander Paes and movie stars like Sonali Bendre, Rakul Preet, and Aditi Rao Hydari getting involved as co-owners.