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.
Fatma Nabhani of Oman is seeded second in a draw of 32 which consists of 24 direct entries, four wild cards and four qualifiers.
The qualifiers will be held over the weekend with the main draw commencing on Monday. The final will be held on Saturday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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