Tennis

Players compete in the ITF - BT50-1 2024, an international beach tennis tournament, in Bình Định Province. Photos of VTF

BÌNH ĐỊNH -- Việt Nam's first international beach tennis tournament has officially opened in Bình Định Province.

The tournament, which began on August 20, features 36 local and international athletes from seven countries of Japan, Thailand, Latvia, Slovakia, the Philippines, Italia, and the hosts. They will be competing in men's, women's and mixed doubles events at the Chiến Thắng Square, next to the sandy beach of Xuân Diệu in Quy Nhơn City.

Among them are the world's high-ranking players such as Japanese male duo Sakata Kouhei and Yoshimura Ryo, Thai male duo Almufadhi Saleh and Harrison Leklamat and Japanese female pair Homma Eri and Otsuka Erina

After the August 19-20 Fleur De Lys Cup 2024, the ITF - BT50-2  2024 Vietravel Cup will be held on August 21-28.

A total of US$8,000 will be handed out to the highest-ranked players.

The first international beach tennís tournament in Việt Nam features 36 players in Bình Định Province.

 "The ITF - BT50 2024 international beach tennis tournaments aim to celebrate the national anniversaries and the tourism year 2024. We hope to introduce and promote the image of attractive culture, tourism and friendly people of the martial arts land of Bình Định to the world," said Nguyễn Hồng Sơn, Vice President and General Secretary of the Việt Nam Tennis Federation (VTF)

Beach tennis was first played in Europe in the 1970s and has been widely developed worldwide in more than 50 countries.

With its popular, safe, diverse and easily accessible nature for practice and competition, the sport is particularly suited to the 28 localities of Việt Nam which have beautiful beaches. In the last three years, VTF organised three national championships with an ever-increasing number of participants.

VTF plans to bring beach tennis to the wider community and help localities to promote their marine economies and tourism at the same time. VNS