The city is set to host the inaugural edition of the All India T10 Tennis Ball Cricket Tournament, a first-of-its-kind national event catering to men, women, and Under-19 boys and girls. Organised jointly by the Vidarbha Tennis Ball Cricket Association (VTBCA) and the Nagpur District Tennis Ball Cricket Association, the tournament will commence on May 9 at the Railways Ground in Ajni under the aegis of the Tennis Ball Cricket Federation of India.
At a press conference held on Sunday, VTBCA President Ajay Hiwarkar announced that MLC Sandip Joshi will inaugurate the event at 4 PM on the opening day. The tournament will feature teams from across the country and will be contested in a league-cum-knockout format.
Rajkumar Kaithwas, Secretary of VTBCA, shared that around 36 to 40 teams are expected to participate, with 22 teams already confirming their entries. “Teams will be divided into eight groups, and the top two from each group will move on to the pre-quarterfinals,” he explained.
The inauguration ceremony will be attended by several dignitaries, including Imran Ahmed Lari, Secretary of the All India Tennis Ball Cricket Association, along with Priyanka Narnaware, Dr Piyush Ambulkar, Nitinchandra Rajkumar, and others.
Teams representing Western UP, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Central India, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Poorvanchal, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Orissa, All India Industrial, Jamshedpur, and Vidarbha have confirmed participation.
The tournament trophies will be awarded in memory of Mandatai Kowe, and preparations are in full swing. The organising committee includes Ashish Dangore, Viraj Kaithwas, Saurabh Rangari, Bulendra Khewale, Vaishnavi Kowe, Maheshwari Chaudhary, Rituja Vaidya, Bipin Yadav, Parvin Baradia, and Shreyash Rangari, who are working diligently to ensure the event’s success.
Also present at the press briefing were Dr Gangadhariya, President of the All India Tennis Ball Cricket Federation, Shammi Karosyia, Parth Hiwarkar, and Viraj Kaithwas.
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