Pune: MSLTA Deccan Gymkhana to host prestigious Asia Oceania B1 Junior Tennis Championships in the city

Pune, 16th April 2026: Asia Oceania B1 Junior Tennis Championships will return to India after 5 years and Pune has been selected to host the event which will be played at the Deccan Gymkhana tennis courts from April 20 to April 25 and organised by Maharashtra State Lawn tennis Association along with Deccan Gymkhana .

“The tournament is being organised in Pune for the sixth time and for the second time at the Deccan Gymkhana, we would like to thank the Asian Tennis Federation and the All India Tennis Association for allotting this prestigious tennis championships which is a closed B1 category tournament in Asia only open for players from Asia and Oceania Region.tournament to India and Maharashtra in spite of stiff competition from other Asian countries ” said Mr. Sunder Iyer, Hon Sec of MSLTA and Tournament Director and Dr.Vikrant Sane, Jt Tournament Director and Tennis Secretary of Deccan Gymkhana.

The tournament is a closed event for players from Asia and Oceania region, Players from 15 countries (Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam , Singapore, Hong-Kong, Malaysia, China, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and India) are participating in the Championship. The Championship which offers 300 ITF points will provide top Indian players a chance to compete against their global counterparts as well as earn valuable ITF points to build on their overall international ranking and is considered an important landmark in the career of any junior player.

The winners of the Asian Championships are eligible to get an entry into any Grand Slam Junior event in the coming year., Iyer informed Each category draw will be of 32, will include the top 22 players (basis their ITF ranking) who will get direct entry into the main draw and the remaining players will be drawn from the qualifying matches and wild cards. The winner of the championship will get 300 points while the runner up will get 210 points. On entry in Round of 32 players will get 30 points.

Held under the aegis of the International Tennis Federation (ITF); Asian Tennis Federation (ATF); All India Tennis Association (AITA) and the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA), the six-day Championship will witness participation from over 120 Indian and international players in the Singles and Doubles categories for both boys and girls.

Nirupama Mankad , Sandeep Kirtane, Isha Lakhani, Rutuja Bhosale, Mihika Yadav, Siddanth Bhantia and Manas Dhamne from Maharashtra are amongst the elite list of former Asian Juniors winners .

ITF White Badge referee Leena Nageshkar has been appointed as the ITF Supervisor for the event.

Following are the probable top players:
Boys 1.Hyu Kawanishi(JPN, 37), 2. Arnav Paparkar(Ind, 45), 3. Kunanan Pantaratorn(THA, 58), 4. Jake Dembo(Aus, 72),
5. Min Hyuk Cho(Kor, 77), 6. Cooper Kose(Aus, 92), 7. Nikolas Baker(Aus, 106), 8. Aradhya Khistij (Ind, 109)

Girls : 1 Riyo Yoshida(Jpn, 77), 2. Mailuodi Lei(Chn, 101), 3. Jizelle Sibai(Aus, 121), 4. Miku Kitaoka(Jpn, 127),
5. Sakino Miyazawa(Jpn, 128), 6. Siyoen Sim(Kor, 131), 7. Diya Ramesh Ramesh(Ind, 170), 8. Albina Kakenova(Kaz,203)