The best day in platform tennis got even better. The APTA Board recently approved the suggestions made by the Players Committees earlier this year. Although these changes will be implemented on a trial basis, they most likely become permanent:
- Regional teams will consist of a minimum of ten players and a maximum of thirteen players.
- Each team should consist of players who reside in that region. Cases where someone plays regularly in one region and lives in another will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the President’s Cup Committee.
- If all seven regions enter a team, a team consisting of players who did not qualify for their regional team will form an eighth independent team.
- The field of teams will be divided into two balanced pools and each team will play every team in its pool to determine seeding.
- The top two teams from each pool will advance to a championship round with the remaining teams moving into a consolation round.
- The Men’s Players Committee has determined that all players will be eligible to compete no matter what their national ranking. The Women’s Players Committee will continue to prohibit players ranked in the top eight nationally from participating.
- The President’s Cup Committee, consisting of the current APTA President, the most recent past APTA President and the APTA Executive Director, will act as the sole group to interpret the guidelines as approved by the APTA Board and Players Committees, including the roster of the potential eighth independent team.
- The format of match play will be forwarded to the Regional Presidents and their appointed President’s Cup captains by January 1st.
Rob Coster, APTA President, commented:
“I think it’s great that they have taken the initiative to take an already great event and make it potentially even better.”
