Pro League, boasting of top stars, hopes to get the right blend
It will be another week of action for the Indian tennis players as another edition of the Centena Pro Tennis League unfolds at the RK Khanna Stadium Complex here from Tuesday.
With leading men’s players like Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, Vishnu Vardhan, Arjun Kadhe, Niki Poonacha, Vijay Sundar Prashanth providing the thrust, the league hopes to get the right blend of men, women, youth and seniors.
Eight teams have been divided into two groups, and will play on a league-cum-knockout basis. Each tie will feature six matches, two men’s singles, one junior singles, men’s doubles, and two mixed doubles, one featuring a junior and another a over-35 player.
Every match will be played on a best of nine games format, with a regular tie-break at 4-4. Teams will be ranked on the basis of the games won and lost, and the top two will make it to the semifinals.
Briefing the teams about the rules, referee Puneet Gupta stressed that the code violation would warrant a penalty, after an initial warning, and could lead to deduction of a team’s games in the final tally.
Welcoming the second league of the season, after the one in Mumbai last week, the country’s No. 1 player Ramkumar Ramanathan said that it was very much needed for Indian tennis.
The league matches will be played in two sessions, from 10.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. keeping in mind the cold conditions in the Capital.
The groupings:
Pool A: Indian Aviators, Sankara, Sapphire Superstars, Pro Veri Super Smashers.
Pool B: Bangalore Challengers, Team Radiant, DMG-Delhi Crusaders, Stag Babolat Yoddhas.
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