President of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), member of the International Olympic Committee David Haggerty will pay a visit to Turkmenistan as part of the zonal Davis Cup tournament in Ashgabat. The relevant agreement was reached today during an online meeting of the head of the ITF with representatives of the National Olympic Committee, the tennis Federation of Turkmenistan, the Ministry of sports and youth policy, as well as the country's foreign Ministry.
Recall that the Davis Cup qualifiers in the 4th group of the Asia and Oceania zone were originally scheduled to take place with the participation of 17 men's teams in the period of June 8-15, 2020 in the tennis complex of the Olympic town of Ashgabat. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, they were postponed. New dates for the zonal tournament at the Davis Cup in Ashgabat will be agreed later.
The largest team tennis tournament for the Davis Cup is held annually in four groups, divided by the rating of national teams and continents. The strongest 16 teams in the World group compete for the trophy, which can be reached through the four lower divisions. In the fourth group of Asia/Oceania teams from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iraq, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates and others are competing for the right to qualify for the third group.
During the online meeting, they also discussed the development and implementation of a work plan for cooperation with the ITF in order to promote tennis among the population and train professional tennis players in the country.
