<p> India’s Prarthana Thombare has been given the top billing in the Zuari Garden City Open, a $10,000 ITF women’s features tournament, to be held at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Assiociation courts from Saturday. <br /><br />Fatma Nabhani of Oman is seeded second in a draw of 32 which consists of 24 direct entries, four wild cards and four qualifiers. <br /><br />The qualifiers will be held over the weekend with the main draw commencing on Monday. The final will be held on Saturday.<br /><br />With Bangalore set to host a Davis Cup tie against Serbia in a little over a month’s time, the event has come as an appetiser for the tennis buffs in the City. </p>.<p><br />A strong show is expected from the likes of Hsu Ching-Wien (Chinese Taipei) and Wang Xi-Yao and He Chun-Yan (China) while Pakistan’s Ushna Suhail has been given a wild card entry.</p>.<p><br />The singles winner will be richer by $1568 besides earning 12 WTA points. The runner-up will pocket $980 and seven points, doubles winners would earn $637 while the losing finalists will be get $343. Sheetal Iyer from India would be the referee for the event.<br /><br />Sharmada Balu, meanwhile, will lead Karnataka challenge. The 701-ranked Sharmada and another local girl Sansriti Ranjan, a top State junior player and a wild card entrant, will test their skills against some strong names. </p>
<p> India’s Prarthana Thombare has been given the top billing in the Zuari Garden City Open, a $10,000 ITF women’s features tournament, to be held at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Assiociation courts from Saturday. <br /><br />Fatma Nabhani of Oman is seeded second in a draw of 32 which consists of 24 direct entries, four wild cards and four qualifiers. <br /><br />The qualifiers will be held over the weekend with the main draw commencing on Monday. The final will be held on Saturday.<br /><br />With Bangalore set to host a Davis Cup tie against Serbia in a little over a month’s time, the event has come as an appetiser for the tennis buffs in the City. </p>.<p><br />A strong show is expected from the likes of Hsu Ching-Wien (Chinese Taipei) and Wang Xi-Yao and He Chun-Yan (China) while Pakistan’s Ushna Suhail has been given a wild card entry.</p>.<p><br />The singles winner will be richer by $1568 besides earning 12 WTA points. The runner-up will pocket $980 and seven points, doubles winners would earn $637 while the losing finalists will be get $343. Sheetal Iyer from India would be the referee for the event.<br /><br />Sharmada Balu, meanwhile, will lead Karnataka challenge. The 701-ranked Sharmada and another local girl Sansriti Ranjan, a top State junior player and a wild card entrant, will test their skills against some strong names. </p>
