With the main draw scheduled to feature 64 players each in the boys and girls singles events, there was no need for a qualifying event in the Asian junior tennis championship to be played at the DLTA Complex here from Monday.
The test event for the Commonwealth Games, offering five-star accommodation for the players, failed to attract sufficient entries for a qualifying event.
Following the withdrawal of some of the players originally entered in the tournament, 10 boys who had signed for the qualifying event were drafted straight into the main draw.
It was a similar story in the girls' event, as 15 girls who signed for qualifying got absorbed directly into the main draw.
Actually, the boys draw will have a bye for the top seed following 63 entries, while the girls draw will give a bye to the top three seeds following an entry list of 61.
Most of the players had competed in the last tournament at the same venue and had stayed at the same official hotel, and thus would be familiar with the conditions. Only the full fledged security forces would be a new feature.
The inauguration of the complex, restructured with an additional show court and a facility block, was cancelled on Saturday morning, with the sports minister Dr. M. S. Gill communicating his grief on the aircraft tragedy in Mangalore.
In fact, a minute's silence was observed before the secretary general of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), Anil Khanna, addressed the gathering to announce that the formal inauguration would be done at a later date.
“It is a great boon for the players of the country,'' said Anil Khanna, as he highlighted the advantage of the renovated complex that sports 14 synthetic courts and enhanced accommodation.
He also recalled the history of the venue, with the acquisition of land dating back to 1973 and the intervention in 1994 of the then Prime Minister, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao during the Davis Cup tie against the U.S., towards the construction of a full-fledged stadium.
The R.K. Khanna Stadium was built in a record time, and hosted the maiden ATP Tour event in the country in 1996.
The tournament will be played in two sessions from Monday and the matches will be played only from 4 p.m., from the quarterfinals stage, on Thursday.
