Vishnu to lead India challenge in Mandya ITF

The first of the two ITF events to be held in the State will kick-off here from May 18.
The Mysore Minerals Ltd Men’s ITF $10,000 Mandya Open will be held at the Peoples Education Trust Mandya Sports Complex, which has freshly re-laid synthetic courts.
The qualifiers will be held on May 16 and 17.

Ranked 623 in the World, Antoine Escoffier from France has given the top billing, while Ranjeet Virali Murugesan, ranked 683, would be spearheading the Indian challenge. Suraj Prabodh will lead Karnataka’s challenge which will have 18 direct entries, two special exempts, eight qualifiers  and four wild cards.

The star attraction from India would be Olympian Vishnuvardhan. Ranked 783 in the world rankings, Vishnu is seeded No 3 in this competition.

The four foreign players are Escoffier, Jui-Chen Hung (Chinese Taipe), ranked 783, Shotaro Goto (Japan), ranked 908 and Bruce Strachan (Great Britain), ranked 1245. As many as 14 players from India have gained direct entry into the main draw and will vie for top honours in the event where the winner stands to gain 18 ATP points and $1440 in prize money.

The runner-up will earn 10 ATP points and $ 848 while each losing semifinalists will be awarded six points and $502.

The doubles main draw will be a contest of round of 16 with the winners gaining 18 ATP points and sharing $620. As curtains drop down on the Mandya Open on May 23, most players will head off to Mysore to contest another ITF event, the ITF $10,000 Mysore Open to be played at the Infosys Campus courts. The main draw commences on May 25.