Balasore all set to host Natl tennis event

Balasore is all set to host the AITA Championship Series Tournament for under-16 boys and girls at Modern Public School and Officers Club courts from tomorrow. About 80 players from seven states - Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamilnadu, Maharastra and Delhi — are expected to vie for titles and ranking points in the six-day event, being organised by Balasore Tennis Association (BTA) under the auspices of the Orissa Tennis Association. According to BTA secretary S D Bhanj, the winner of each event will get 20 points followed by finalist 15, semifinalist 10, quarterfinalist five and pre-quarter-finalist three. Meanwhile, 20 seeded players have been given direct entry into the main draw. They include Niranjan R Ram (Tamil Nadu), Pradeep Deswal, C Sisir, Y Akhil Reddy, A K Partha Sarathi, Rahul Somani, Y Anutej, Ramani MMK (all from Andhra Pradesh): Satwik Sinha, Sridhar Gaggar, Udhab Gupta, Harsha Gurunani, Nikunj Poddar (all from West Bengal): Sakti Ray, Adwitya Pattnaik, Purusottam Das, Abhisek Rath (all from Orissa): Manraj Singh Jhandu and MD Sreyas Salim (both from Jharkhand).