The inclement weather did not relent, and consistent spells of rain washed out the second day’s play in the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Sunday.
With a heavy backlog of the entire qualifying event, referee Supreeth Kadavigere announced that the main draw matches would only start on Tuesday.
The referee also reduced the format of the qualifying event to best of 13 games, in consultation with the All India Tennis Association (AITA). He did not rule out any further reduction in format, should rain continue to play havoc with the schedule.
Anxious moments
The delay may give anxious moments for the hundreds of players in the qualifying event, in four sections of men, women, under-18 boys and girls. But it also provides additional rest for the players who have had a hectic schedule in the recent National Games in Gujarat.
Most of the men’s players in the main draw compete regularly in the international circuit. The seeded players Manish Sureshkumar, Digvijay Pratap Singh, S.D. Prajwal Dev, Nitin Kumar Sinha, Ishaque Eqbal and former national champion Siddharth Vishwakarma are all capable of going all the way to the title.
It will be a great chance for the leading players in women’s draw, Vaidehi Chaudhari, Sai Samhitha, Yubarani Banerjee and Akanksha Nitture to name a few, to win the title in the absence of top six players and other former champions.
For the exciting contests to happen, the weather has to clear first and that is the hope of the organisers, who have kept a total prize purse of ₹21,56,000 for the men and women.
The seedings:
Men: 1. Manish Sureshkumar, 2. Digvijay Pratap Singh, 3. S.D. Prajwal Dev, 4. Nitin Kumar Sinha, 5. Ishaque Eqbal, 6. Karan Singh, 7. Siddharth Vishwakarma and 8. Oges Theyo.
Women: 1. Vaidehi Chaudhari, 2. Sai Samhitha, 3. Yubarani Banerjee, 4. Akanksha Nitture, 5. Farhat Aleen Qamar, 6. Kashish Bhatia, 7. Himaanshika Singh and 8. Sahira Singh.
