The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Make WTA Bangalore Open an annual event: CM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 13, 2006

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Make WTA Bangalore Open an annual event: CM

Kalyan Ashok

BANGALORE: Whatever the misgivings that a few might have had about the commitment of the new Karnataka Government to sports, was dispelled by the Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy who asked the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association to make the WTA Banglaore Open championship an annual event in the City.

Mr. Kumaraswamy picked the lots for the main draw of the WTA Open championship at the KSLTA Stadium here on Sunday.

In his address prior to the draw, Mr. Kumarswamy stressed the need to develop sports and said that tennis had a rich tradition in Karnataka and the State had a world-class player in Mahesh Bhupathi. He said that the new government would do its best to promote young talent.

"I am pleased to note that an international event such as the WTA Open is being conducted in Bangalore and I want this event to be annually conducted here and we would extend all support. I wish the organisers all success and the players the best of luck", said the CM.

Earlier the KSLTA Secretary C.S. Sunder Raju said that WTA Open was a momentous event for the KSLTA after the conduct of the World Doubles championship, which it had organised in 2000 and 2001. "In terms of the task, this is far more challenging in the sense that we had entertained a big field of 60 players where as in the WDC, we had to handle to 16 player . But then when we organised World Doubles, we had to do everything from scratch, like building the right infrastructure . With lot more support from the government and sponsors, we can surely play host to more such events `, said Mr. Raju.

The presence of Sania Mirza has fuelled the interest of fans and the ticket sale has been satisfactory, according to the KSLTA official. Besides the official outlet at the stadium, tickets can be had from select branches of the Canara Bank and also through net (www.celltix.in, www.mtix.in) and each ticket holder is also entitled to one pizza and a soft drink at the Stadium,.

The Association has planned few promo events like organising celebrity matches, a Pro-Am auction meet to be graced by Sania for an extra hype. A quality telecast by ESPN, which plans live coverage of the championship, should provide an extra impetus to the first WTA Tour event ever to be held in Bangalore.

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