National youth tennis event kicks off in Guiyang

Young tennis players pose for a photo at the Jinyang Tennis Center in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo/WeChat account of Guiyang bureau of sports]

The 2023 National Youth Tennis Ranking Match and China Youth Tennis Tour (Guiyang) kicked off on April 22 at the Jinyang Tennis Center in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province. This event was hosted by the Tennis Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and the Chinese Tennis Association and organized by the Guiyang Sports Bureau, local media reported.

Guiyang is the second leg of this year's tournament, following the first one in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan province.

Guiyang will host four A-level events, including U12/CTJ-A1600 and U16/CTJ-A1600. Each event will include four categories: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and women's doubles. The competition will last for a total of 28 days and is open to young tennis players nationwide.

According to statistics, more than 500 young tennis players from more than 20 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country will participate in the competitions.

The CTJ ranking of the Chinese Tennis Association is the only official ranking of young tennis players in China, and it is also the basis for selecting athletes for national youth tennis teams. Athletes who accumulate points and improve their ranking will have more opportunities to represent their province or their country in other competitions.

In recent years, tennis has been developing rapidly in Guiyang with the strong support of the General Administration of Sport of China, China Tennis Association and relevant departments at all levels in Guizhou province. It has introduced a series of national or international large-scale tennis events, such as the ITF World Women's Tennis Tour, Davis Cup Tennis Tournament, China Tennis Tour CTA1000 and China Public Tennis League.