Top juniors for junior tennis nationals from May 14-19

Mumbai, May 7 (UNI) Top ranked juniors of the country, including Ronak Manuja, Mansingh Athare and Tanvi Shah, would participate in the Ramesh Desai Memorial Junior Tennis Nationals for under-12 and under-16 boys and girls here from May 14-19.

This is the first time that nationals for under-12 are being held, with Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association the first to conduct it, the host association's secretary Sharad Kannamwar said at a media briefing today.

The qualifying rounds of this six-day tournament will be played during the weekend.

Drawing tremendous response, the tournament - to be held annually - has attracted 418 entries from all over the country, Kannamwar said.

While the boys under-12 and under-16 main draw will be of 64 players, the girls under-12 and under-16 main draw would comprise 48 players.

The tournament organisers expect more than 200 entries for the qualifying rounds.

Kannamwar added that MSLTA had organised a qualifying event in Pune last month to provide an equal opportunity for players from all over the state to gain a wild card rather than giving it to a pre-decided individual.

Sanaa Sohoni, Sahil Deshmukh and Sanskruti Jangle, the winners of the event, were awarded wild cards for the junior nationals, while the remaining wild cards will be given as per the guidelines of the AITA, it was informed at the conference.

UNI