Actress and MP Ramya, announces tournament in
memory of her father
The Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, who have in the
past had the honor to host international events such as the World Legends Tour,
World Doubles Championship, WTA Championship and Davis Cup and ITF Tournaments,
will now play host to its first ever AITA National Series Under-16 tennis
championship for Junior boys and girls at the McDowell Kingfisher-KSLTA Stadium
here between December 9th and 15th.
The tournament is in memory of Sri. R.T.Narayan, a veteran player
and well-wisher of the game and is being sponsored by the R.T. Narayan Memorial
Trust, initiated by his daughter Ms. Ramya, the newly elected MP of Mandya and
a leading Star of the Kannada Film Industry, along with the MD of Universal
Sportsbiz Pvt. Ltd Ms. Anjana Reddy. Ramya through The inception of this
tournament hopes to perpetuate her father's memory.
"My father loved all sport and given the chance he would have
played them all. His first love though always remained Tennis, a sport
that he was extremely passionate about and to the development of which he
contributed to vastly. From never missing his Sunday games, to
personally knowing the upcoming talent on the courts of the KSLTA and the
country, my father was always at the forefront of lending his support to the
game and I believe that it is wonderful that we now have a national series in
his honour on his home ground," said Ramya on the occasion. Continuing on,
Ramya added that the RT Narayan Memorial Trust shall also extend their support
to the careers of young upcoming talent identified the KSLTA with monetary
benefits. As a first step, Ramya will support the career development of
National under-16 champion B.R.Nikshep of Karnataka.
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Mr. Narayan was also mentor to the KSLTA's executive committee
and stood by the Association in times of triumph and trouble. He was always
around with his sagacious advice and guidance and played a great role in
KSLTA achieving several of its' objectives and goals in the past decade.
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From Left To Right:
Mr BNS Reddy, Mr. CS Sunder Raju, Ms. Ramya, Mr. Radhakrishna and Mr. PR
Ramaswamy
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"R.T..Narayan was a great tennis lover and our mentor,
providing us with the right foundation for the growth of KSLTA. He
touched every one of us with his wit, humility and wisdom and stayed in the
background while always guiding us. We dedicate this tournament to him'', said
Mr. C.S. Sunder Raju, Secretary KSLTA at the announcement of the tournament on
Wednesday.
Mr. P. R, Ramaswamy, joint secretary of the KSLTA added "Sri
R,T,Narayan made an immense contribution to the cause of tennis in
Karnataka and was instrumental in the KSLTA hosting top notch international
events. He played a major role in our infrastructural development as well, such
as the renovation of the Stadium to international standards and establishing
the Club House here. We, at KSLTA, consider it our duty and privilege to
conduct this tournament in his memory."
The National Series is the second highest-level tournament for
junior players after the National championship. The winners collect 75 points
and runner-up earns 50 points while semi-finalists and quarter-finalists
receive 40 and 30 points respectively. The preliminary rounds carry points from
5 to 20. The tournament trophies have been designed by Michael Foley, designer
of the Indian Grand Prix Trophy, The Commonwealth Baton for 2010, amongst his
many other design accomplishments. The players will also be paid Rs.800 per day
as TA & DA.
The boy's main draw has a field of 64 with 48 direct entries, 8
qualifiers and 8 wild cards. The girl's main draw consists of 48 players, which
include 34 direct entries, 8 qualifiers and 6 wild cards.
The qualifying round for boys will be a draw of 64 with 56 direct
entries and eight wild cards while for Girls qualifying will be of 32 with 26
direct entries and six wild cards.
The tournament has received a huge response, with 128 entries in
the boys' section and 70 in the girls category. National under-16 champion
B.R.Nikshep, who is also ranked No.1 in his category, will lead Karnataka's
challenge in the boy's singles. Besides Nikshep, the other key Karnataka
players in the main draw include C Vasisht (AITA ranking: 8), Vignesh
Subramanyan (43) and Siddharth N.Gowda (128). The top challengers from other
States are Sanil Jagitani of West Bengal, Parikshit Somani of Assam and Gokul
Suresh of Tamil Nadu.
In the girl's singles, Soha.S. (34) ,Rashmika Rajan (45),Muskan
Rajan(62),Nisha Shenoy (67) Nikiha Pinto (71),Shivani Manjanna (103) form the
Karnataka challenge. R.Abbinnika who is ranked No.11 in the country, heads the
girl's singles list followed by her team-mate Sai Avanthika,, Sama
Sathvika of Andhra Pradesh and Priyanka Kalita of Assam.
The matches will be played at the KSLTA Stadium and at the Mahila
Seva Samaja, the latter being used for the girls preliminary round ties.
Mr. P.R.Ramaswamy and Niranjan Ramesh are the tournament directors
while Mr. Sagar Kashyap is the AITA Referee for the tournament.
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