Chennai Open live on ESPN STAR Sports

Media Release

New Delhi, December 30

ESPN STAR Sports, Asia's number one sports broadcaster, will telecast LIVE & e exclusive the Chennai Open 2006, South Asia's only ATP International Series from the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium, Chennai from Januray 2 – 8.

Chennai Open will boast of a strong line-up that includes the defending champion Carlos Moya from Spain, Croatia's Davis Cup hero and World No. 9 Ivan Ljubicic and Asia's top-ranking player and 2003 champion Paradorn Srichaphan from Thailand. Other well-known players with career wins over some of the best players

in the world include Rainer Schuettler, Jonas Bjorkman, Jan-Michael Gambill and Justin Gimelstob. India's Prakash Amritraj has received a wild card for the main draw of India's only ATP series. The Chennai Open will have 32 players taking part in the weeklong tournament starting on January 2, 2006.

ESPN STAR Sports have also roped in former Wimbledon Champion and Australia's No.1 player, Pat Cash as a commentator for the tournament. Pat Cash had played the tournament in 1997 and will be sharing his expert views and analysis of the games played during the tournament.

The Chennai Open is owned and organised by IMG, the world's premier sports, leisure and lifestyle management and marketing agency. Rechristened the Chennai Open in 2005, the event will be held for its 11 th consecutive year in January 2006. The tournament is conducted in Chennai under the aegis of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and is organised with the active collaboration of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA). The event has been honoured with the ATP Award for Excellence twice and the award for the Best Promoted Tournament in the International Group over the past few years.

Chennai has long been christened the Mecca of Indian tennis with players of high stature such as Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Anand Amritraj and Leander Paes all spending significant parts of their careers in the great city. Players and officials have rated the world-class SDAT Tennis Stadium as one of the best in Asia.

ESPN STAR Sports will also be showcasing the first grand slam of the year, Australian Open in mid January adding to their bouquet offering top tournaments and series in the world of international sports.

Catch all the action LIVE & Exclusive on ESPN STAR Sports.

For further information, contact :

ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd

011-51544444-51

Bhaskar Majumdar

Manager - Corporate Communications

Email: bhaskarm@espnstar.co.in

Tarundeep Singh

IPAN

Ph : 52492100

Email: tarundeep.singh@ipan.com

For the latest schedules and programme information visit www.espnstar.com