01 October 2025

Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Team Championship Tennis Excitement

The "Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Team Championship," organized by the Turkish Tennis Federation with the aim of popularizing tennis in our country, making it more accessible, and bringing more young people and women together with the sport, has begun in Gaziantep.

The Championship, which creates an opportunity for tennis to be played in every province and district in the region, and is seen as one of the important steps toward the Federation's goal of establishing a competitive, high-brand-value league that will cover all age categories and every region of our country, is being held with the support of Türkiye İş Bankası between October 1-5.

A total of 64 teams from 42 clubs in the 13-30 age group from Ardahan, Batman, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Hakkâri, Iğdır, Malatya, Mardin, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak, Tunceli, and Van are participating in the "Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Team Championship." A total of 230 athletes, including 140 male athletes from 38 men's teams and 90 female athletes from 26 women's teams, are taking to the courts. The opening ceremony of the organization was held with the participation of Turkish Tennis Federation President Ms. Şafak Müderrisgil, İş Bankası Deputy General Manager Suat Sözen, Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Halil Uğur, Gaziantep Provincial Director of Youth and Sports Numan Nafiz Şahin, Gaziantep Education Youth and Sports Department Head Prof. Dr. Mustafa Özdal, Gaziantep Amateur Sports Clubs Federation President Ömer Alper Köroğlu, and the teams that will compete in the championship.

In his speech at the press conference on the first day of the championship, İş Bankası Deputy General Manager Suat Sözen said that developed countries attach great importance to sports, in addition to science, technology, and education, and that children who are involved in sports are more disciplined, hardworking, determined, and patient. Sözen stated that they have seen the change in children who play sports at an early age and how sports transform a person's life in chess, and continued his speech as follows:

"It's the same in tennis... Although at first glance it may seem like a sport that can only be played by those living in big cities, we felt it could be widespread. The efforts of the Tennis Federation, in particular, inspired us, and its vision impressed us. It is important to try to ensure that tennis, which is a good sport for the development of young people and children, becomes widespread in our country, and to create and support projects related to this. This is why we have cooperated with the Federation in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Team Championship. Instead of just supporting a tournament like this, we are eager and willing to turn this into a long-term collaboration. Therefore, we look at the issue with the understanding of 'What more can we do, how can we make tennis a widespread sport? How can we popularize it among young people and children, how can we plan this?' This may take some time, but I don't see it as something far away. The intention is what's important. At least we see and understand that the intentions are the same. We can consider the championship as a step in this long-term collaboration."

"Role models who can be a source of inspiration remove mental barriers"

Sözen stated that popularization in sports is also the most important key to success. "When we don't make a sport a mass activity and don't make it widespread, successes happen by chance. You only taste success if a talented child comes out and shines, and when their success fades, unfortunately, you wait for another talent to emerge. When you popularize it, when you bring as many people, children, and young people as possible together with sports and strengthen the infrastructure of that sport, you also create a foundation for success," he said. Suat Sözen also stated that role models who can be a source of inspiration at a societal level are important for a nation to achieve success in the field of sports, and that in this way, seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome and mental barriers can be removed.

"Dreams, courage, and a struggle for the future"

Turkish Tennis Federation President Ms. Şafak Müderrisgil also emphasized that the championship is not just a sports organization but also a source of hope for young people and children, and said the following:

"This tournament, which covers our Eastern and Southeastern provinces, is the first step of the restructured Türkiye Tennis League that we plan to implement as of 2026. Our ultimate goal is to establish a competitive, sustainable, and high-brand-value league that will cover all age categories and every region of our country. In line with the vision of our Ministry of Youth and Sports, we are working to make tennis an accessible sport not only in big cities but in every province and every district. In this championship, 42 clubs and 230 athletes from 15 different provinces are competing on the courts. But we know that this struggle is not just for points or scores; it is for dreams, courage, and the future. Every athlete who is sweating on the courts today, in addition to their own success, will give thousands of our children and young people the courage to say, 'I can do it too.'

The fact that Türkiye İş Bankası is with us, sharing this vision, and that the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality is being an exemplary host makes this organization even more valuable. We, as the federation, believe that lasting success in sports is possible not only with talent but with the public, private sector, and local governments coming together with a common vision. We believe that the success stories we will create in tennis will be exactly the product of this common vision."

01 October 2025