Leading players to figure in All-India tourney

The country's leading players will battle it out for supremacy in the AITA ranking Rs 13 lakh prize-money JVPG Anirudh Desai All-India Open men's and women's tennis tournament here from January 23 to 31.
"Vishnu Vardhan, ranked No. 9 in the country, will be the top ranked player among the men, followed by Mohit Mayur, Karunuday Singh and V M Ranjeet," said tournament director Dr Uday Vora at a media conference today.
"The women's top seed will be India No.4 Rishika Sunkara of Delhi, followed by defending champion and India No.5 Natasha Palha, Sharmadaa Balu and C Sai Samhitha," he added.

The event, to be hosted by the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana at their floodlit synthetic tennis courts, has received in excess of 250 entries and the singles main draws for men and women will include 32 players.
While 24 of the top players will get a direct entry into the main draw, there will be eight qualifiers. Qualifying rounds for the same will be played on January 23 and 24 at Practennis, Andheri and the JVPG Club courts.
The men's winner will stand to gain Rs 1.35 lakh, with the runner-up taking home Rs 80,000 and the losing semi-finalists Rs 35,000 each.

The women's winner will be richer by Rs 80,000, with the runner-up gaining by Rs 50,000. Prize money in the singles will be offered from the first round itself, with the first round losers also gaining Rs 7,000 each.

The winners will also stand to earn 60 AITA ranking points and the runners-up will get 30 ranking points.
The qualifying rounds will be held on January 23 and 24 and the main draw will start from January 25.
This is also the only tournament in the country to conduct a mixed doubles event, along with the singles and doubles competitions for men and women.

Following are the leading players:
Men's top 8: Vishnu Vardhan (AP); Mohit Mayur (TN); Karunuday Singh (Del); V M Ranjeet (TN); Sidharth Rawat (UP); Anvit Bendra (Mah); Suraj Prabodh (Ktk); Siddharth Vishwakarma (UP).
Women's top 8: Rishika Sunkara (Del); Natasha Palha (Goa); Sharmadaa Balu (ktk); C Sai Samhitha (TN); Amrita Mukherjee (WB); Arathi Muniyan (TN); Sneha Padmata (AP); Rashmi Teltumbde (Mah).