Some of the leading players of the world including, Sania Mirza, are expected to take part in the $170,000 WTA Tour Sunfeast Open tennis tournament.
KOLKATA: Some of the leading players of the world including, Indian star Sania Mirza, are expected to take part in the $ 170,000 WTA Tour Sunfeast Open tennis tournament, scheduled to be held here from September 18-24.
The second edition of the Tier III WTA event, that had its maiden run last year, would be staged at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, Indian doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi announced on Wednesday.
“I’m confident that this edition of the tourney will attract some of the leading players in the world. While it is too early to announce the names, one can be sure that India is in for a special surprise this year and we can expect one of the true giants of women’s tennis to tour India for the event,” Bhupathi said at a media conference.
Bhupathi’s sports management company Globosport is organising the tournament, which is sponsored by ITC Limited - Foods Business. The ITC group company will bring the tournament - the biggest women’s tennis event in South Asia - here for the next four years till 2009.
Bhupathi said the names of the participants will be known six weeks prior to the event. “May be, after Wimbledon, we will be able to confirm something,” he said.
Asked how his company planned to bill the coming event as crowd support had waned last year after Sania - around whom the tourney had been promoted - lost in the second round to Hungarian Melinda Czink, Bhupathi said “we cannot always bank on our local stars doing well. But Sania won the doubles in Bangalore, before a crowd of 7,000. The Uberoi sisters - Shikha and Neha - had also reached the doubles here last year,” he said.
The Uberoi siblings went down to the Russian duo of Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva in the title round last year. Myskina had finished with a double crown as she made short work of Croatia’s Karolina Sprem in the singles final.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}