Rushmi to lead Indian challenge

Rushmi Chakravarthi, ranked 371 in the world, will lead the Indian challenge in the US $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at the Practennis School of Tennis in Andheri, Mumbai.

Third seeded Chakravarthi is the highest ranked Indian in the main draw and will face tough challenge from top seed Chin-Wei Chan of Chinese Taipei, ranked 283 in the world, and second seed Montinee Tangphong of Thailand, who is ranked 359th.

The other strong contenders in the April 2 to 9 tournament are fourth seed Natsumi Hamamura of Japan and Russian fifth seed Julia Vorobieva.

Apart from Chakravarthi, the other formidable Indians in the main draw are Ankita Bhambri, Sanaa Bhambri, Sai-Jayalakshmy Jayaram, Punam Reddy and Archana Venkataraman.

The qualifying rounds will be held on April 2 and 3, followed by the main draw from April 4.

The Indians taking part in the qualifying rounds are Geeta Manohar, Megha Vakharia, Isha Lakhani, Sonal Phadke, Shruti Dhawan and Liza Pereira.

The singles winner will receive US$1568 and six points, while the runner-up will get US$980 and four points. The winning doubles pair will earn US$637 and the runner-up US$343.

The 20 direct entries in the singles main draw will be joined by eight qualifiers and four wild cards to complete the draw of 32.