The K.S. Narayanan memorial ITF women’s tournament begins here on Monday. The total prize money is $10,000.
Prarthana G. Thombare, Natasha Palha, Rishika Sunkara, and Xi-Yao Wang (China) – ranked between 400 and 650 — lead the field. Also in the draw are Sharrmadaa Baluu and Nidhi Chilumula, ranked 687 and 725 respectively.
Ankita Raina, who won the competition last year, has withdrawn from the event. Apart from Wang, Hirono Watanabe (Japan), Varunya Wongteanchai (Thailand), and Chun-Yan He (China) are the other foreigners in the 20-women direct-entry list.
The results (final qualifying round): Ashmitha Easwaramurthi bt Rishika Ravindran 6-1, 6-3; Swetha Sree Hari bt Neharika Rana 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2; Bhavani Balakumar bt Shamika Dhar 6-3, 7-5; Efriliya Herlina (Ina) bt Pragati Natraj 6-2, 7-5; Preethi Ujjini bt Sansriti Ranjan 6-2, 6-1; Yui Saikai (Jpn) bt Srishti Slaria 6-3, 6-4; Manya Nagpal bt Stuti Singh Tomar 6-1, 6-1; Reshma Ganapathy bt Thanyarat Karnjanapong (Tha) 6-2, 7-6(5).
The organiser has issued a correction of a first-round qualifying result it sent on Saturday. It should be Preethi Ujjini bt Sanya Madan 6-1, 7-6(1) and not as published in these columns.