Rohan Bopanna & Karan Rastogi get wild cards for main draw of Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open 2006

Company News

Mumbai, September 20

India's leading singles players Rohan Bopanna and Karan Rastogi have received wildcards for the main draw of the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open 2006, India's biggest international tennis extravaganza scheduled in Mumbai from September 25 –October 1.

The duo join six star players from the World Top 20, including three players currently amongst the Top 10, who along with former World No.1 and French Open champion Carlos Moya will blaze the courts at the CCI courts in the US $3,80,00 ATP event. Tommy Robredo from Spain, Mario Ancic of Croatia, Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic, Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, and Germany's Nicolas Kiefer make up the formidable line-up that will battle for the championship.

The Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open is being organized by Globosport , India's leading sports and entertainment management company headed by Indian tennis idol Mahesh Bhupathi.

Mahesh Bhupathi, Managing Director, Globosport said: "Globosport has always been at the forefront of encouraging sporting talent from India.We are pleased to announce that Rohan Bopanna and Karan Rastogi have accepted the wild cards for the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open 2006 main draw. This will provide them with an excellent opportunity to play alongside and against some of the world's best players."

Gaurav Natekar, Tournament Director, Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open 2006 said: "Both Rohan and Karan are very talented players and this event will give them a chance to showcase it. Karan has been one of the top juniors in the world and he will be keen to perform in front of a home crowd. We want to give Indianyoungsters as many opportunities as we can to play against quality international players on their home ground to help them on their way to the top of the Tennis rung."

Rohan, the top-ranked Indian singles player currently, was a finalistat the Bukhara Challenger and a quarterfinalist at Granbyand Winnetkaduring this season. He also reached the finals of the doubles at the Chennai Open early this year with Prakash Amritraj. Mumbai lad Karan Rastogi is currently the third-ranked Indian singles player and was the winner of the India F1 at Delhi and a quarter-finalist at the Chikmagalur Challenger in 2006. In the doubles he had semi-final appearances at the Dharvad Challenger and the Korea F1 at Andong.

With the rising popularity of tennis and the growing potential in India, the superb player field for the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open augurs well, not just for this prestigious tournament, but also for the sport of tennis in the country. The event is all geared to set the pace for high-voltage tennis action for Indian fans and emerge as a platform for building future champions from the country.

For further information, please contact:

Pooja Chaudhri / Neha Parab /Deepika Sinha

ZZEBRA – Mumbai

Mobile: +9820515445 / +9892194965 /+9820781001

E-mail: pooja@zzebra.net / neha@ zzebra.net / deepika@zzebra.net