MAIN draw of the Aryan Pumps-MSLTA Women’s 15K ITF world Tennis Tour Event, being organised by Nagpur District Hard Court Tennis Association (NDHTA), will get under way at Ramnagar courts on Tuesday. With eight qualifiers spotted on Day Two of the qualifying rounds, the main draw of 32, that also includes four wildcards, is complete. Following eight players recorded wins to make it to the main draw — Avishka Gupta, Shreya Tatavarthy, Jagmeet Kaur Grewal, Kashish Bhatia, Vanshita Pathania, Niditra Rajmohan, Sharmada Balu and Smriti Bhasin. On the opening day, 12 matches — eight singles and four doubles will be played at the three courts.

 

Players from seven countries including Russia, Germany, Thailand, Denmark, USA, Italy and Austria will be seen in action during the week-long event. Fourth seed Punnin Kovapitukted of Thailand and Denmark’s Elena Jamshidi would be the two foreigners in action. All the four doubles matches will see Indian pairs fighting it out. The players have been busy playing the ITF circuit in Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra and most of the foreign players have been in the country for almost a month. Some of the seeded players have already arrived and were seen in action during practice sessions at the MSLTA Tennis Academy courts.

 

The inaugural function will be held on Tuesday at 10.00 am. Sunil Kedar, Minister of Sports, Government of Maharashtra will be present as the chief guest. Dr Parinita Fuke, Corporator from Bajiprabhu Nagar will be present on the occasion. Sharad Kannamwar, Life President, MSLTA will be the guest of honour. Results (final qualifying round): Avishka Gupta bt Priyanka Rodricks 6-2, 6-3; Shreya Tatavarthy bt Paavanii Paathak 6-1, 6-1; Smriti Bhasin bt Laalitya Kalluri 6-2, 6-7 (8), 12-10; Vanshita Pathania bt Sai Dedeepya Yeddula 2-6, 6-2, 10-3; Jagmeet Kaur Grewal bt Anjali Rathi 7-6 (3), 2-6, 11-9; Kashish Bhatia bt Shria Atturu (USA) 6-2, 6-2; Niditra Rajmohan bt Ilaria Sposetti (Italy) 7-5, 6-2; Sharmada Balu bt Prathiba Narayanprasad 6-1, 6-3.