The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) is pleased to announce its return to hosting international tournaments. The J30 ITF Junkanoo Bowl will see players from all over the world converging at the National Tennis Centre from June 24th to July 1st 2023. The qualifying rounds will occur on Saturday 24th-25th and the Main Draw starts on Monday, June 26th. We anticipate that some local players will have the opportunity to play in their first ITF on home soil.
Players are eligible to compete on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors in the year they turn 13 if they have reached their 13th birthday on or before the start of the Singles Main Draw of the tournament they are competing in, until the end of the year in which the player turns 18 years of age.
During COVID-19, the BLTA along with other countries were forced to suspend tournaments and to focus on local tennis matches for the juniors. A marked increase in local play was noted as many new persons started to compete in local tournaments.
President Perry Newton expressed his pleasure on the BLTA being able to put on this international tournament once again post-COVID and to offer this opportunity to locals as well as international juniors. Tournament travel is expensive and if we can host this tournament in our country this provides an avenue for our talented juniors to get exposure and matchplay.
The tournament normally features juniors from the United States, Canada, Europe, Italy, the Caribbean and Central and South America. We expect athletes from over 20 countries and this will be wonderful for the country and for Tennis in the Bahamas.
The tournament is expected to be a great one and is being sponsored by RMS Insurance Agents and Brokers.
Original Post Date: 5/24/2023
