SOME of emerging women tennis players will be seen in action when the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s World Tennis Tour Tournament begins at MSLTA Tennis Centre, Ramnagar from March 23 to 29. The tournament is being held under the auspices of ITF, AITA and MSLTA and is organised by NDHTA. The winner will get USD 2352 while the runner-up will receive USD 1470. All other players of the main draw will receive a share of the prize money. Sheetal Iyer, Gold Badge referee, will be the tournament supervisor. Chair umpires will be coming from around India. The prestigious tournament (W15 Nagpur), which carries a prize money of USD 15,000, will be played over eight days starting with qualifying draw on Sunday.

 

The main draw will begin on Tuesday and the final will be held on March 29. Players from Kazakhstan, Russia, Denmark, Netherlands, Uzbekistan, Great Britain, Malaysia, Nepal, Canada and India will be seen in action during the competition. Kazakhstan’s Zhibek Kulambayeva (WTA Rank 388) has been seeded top. In the top five, there are two Indians -- Srivalli and Zeel Desai (WTA Rank 520 and 627 respectively) -- along with two Russian participants. Dr Sudhir Bhiwapurkar is the Tournament Director while Vijay Naidu is Tournament Secretary and Vikram Naidu is Tournament Joint Secretary.