The Third National Junior Tennis Tournament will be held at the National Training Centre from July 25 to 27, with players from Battambang province making their first tournament appearances.

Tennis Cambodia brought Battambang into its grassroots development network in October last year, but within that short span the program has blossomed well enough to produce players fit for tournament play.

In a happy coincidence, Tennis Cambodia will be introducing a second flight of competition involving modified sets and green dot balls for the boys’ and girls’ 12s to help players who are still raw get a better footing.

The rationale behind this two-tier idea is that age should not be a reason to move a player up a stage to the bouncier yellow ball that is the standard norm in competition.

The three-day event, which is expected to draw 60 players, will be run in three different age categories: under-12, 14 and 18, for both the boys and girls.

This is the third National event in a chain of six planned for the year and the series is supported by Ezecom, Coca-Cola and Hagar Restaurants.