Pune (PTI): Somdev Devvarman, country's newly-crowned number one singles player, will spearhead the Indian challenge at USD 1,00,000 Asia Cup -- a team event restricted only for Asian players -- to be held here from December 27.

The event will see participation from eight countries -- Japan, Korea, China, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and hosts India -- at the Shiv Chhatrapathi Sport Complex at Balewadi.

It will be the first tournament of the Asian Tennis Tour, announced recently by Anil Khanna, president of the of the Asian Tennis Federation and secretary-general of the All India Tennis Association.

Khanna said India was chosen to host this year's event over Chinese Taipei and Thailand . The winning team will get USD 30,000, while the runners-up will get USD 15,000.

The matches will be played on a round-robin basis with teams divided into two groups of four each. The top two teams will play the finals. The women's team championship will be played at Indore from December 31.