PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tennis Club (PTC) Peshawar, founded by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, now serves as a cattle pen and parking lot for handcarts, showing how grim the future of tennis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is.
Situated in the historic Shahi Bagh, the father of the nation inaugurated this sprawling facility in 1948, which is now in awful condition and without facilities.
Unlike the PTC, other tennis clubs in the provincial capital, where the so-called elite class plays, are fully equipped with facilities and properly maintained.
Instead of using the club for recreational activities and promotion of the game in Peshawar, this historic venue is currently misused as vendors park their handcarts, while a corner has been turned into a stable.
It is also learnt that the owners of the handcarts pay parking fees for using the facility.
The club’s property belongs to the city district government, but its management remains absent most of the time.
A marker has been provided, who manages overall affairs of the club that looks more like a grazing field than a tennis court.
Officials say the club has 25 members and each pays Rs300 fee per month from which the marker’s salary is paid. The members do not visit the club regularly because of its pathetic condition.
The absence of lighting system and telephone connection at the small building, adjacent to the Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium, which is also in shambles, speaks volumes of the inefficiency of the quarters concerned, including the provincial sports board.
Office-bearers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tennis Association, an honorary body, say that they have taken up the matter with local government secretary and requested him to chalk out renovation and rehabilitation plan for the club.
The association president, Dr Mohammad Tahir, says that the association pooled Rs250,000 and purchased nets and curtains for the club.
He states that he has proposed to the local government secretary to approve annual grant for the club and provide renovation cost which could be around Rs1.5 million.
As without staff and resources the club cannot be maintained, the association president says that “they are exploring different options to collect funds to properly renovate the club.”
The association wants to develop three grass courts and one concrete court at the club, but cannot do so because of dearth of financial resources, Tahir adds.
He says that the association has recently developed tennis courts in the Ladies Club, University Town and will organise coaching camp at the Qayyum Stadium for children in coming days.
Mentioning that 60 children have become members of the association, who will join the camp, Tahir is of the view that the game cannot be promoted in the province without active government support.
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.