Rising Odisha tennis star Sohini Mohanty is all set to represent a four-member Indian team in the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge Asia/Oceania Regional Tournament, which is scheduled to take place at Ariake Tennis Park Indoor Courts in Tokyo, Japan from 26 to 29 June 2023.

Asmi Adkar, Rethin Pranav and Rushil Khosla are other three players of the Indian team. India will take on Pakistan and two sides from Japan in the regional tournament, with the winner moving on to the World Wide Finals. Japan as host would field two teams in the Regional event.

International Lawn Tennis Club (IC), one of the most prominent tennis clubs in the world, has been organising the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge Tournament across the globe, starting with Regional Round, followed by Worldwide Finals, billed to be staged later this year at La Jolla, San Diego, USA.

The IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge is open to all ICs, for two girls and two boys at the age of 16 and under, with an adult captain. In one calendar year, a regional event is played on each of the five continents and the winners of the regional events go through to play the Worldwide Finals the following year, together with the host country.

Each team comprises two boys U16 and two girls U16. A match comprises two boys singles, two girls singles, one boys double and one girls double. A match tie-break in mixed doubles will be played as a decisive match if required.

Up to eight teams accepted on a first come first served basis. Two groups playing Round Robin matches over three days. The Final takes place on Day-4 with the winner of Group-1 playing the winner of Group-2, runner-up of Group-1 facing runner-up of Group-2.
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PHOTO: Sohini Mohanty (2nd from left) and other members of the Indian team pose in Tokyo before the start of the tournament.