Yuki chooses playing in Japan over Bengaluru

Bengaluru, October 23 

India’s top two singles players, Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan, will not be seen in action at the $150,000 Bengaluru Open — one of the biggest Challenger tournaments in the country — due to different reasons. Surprisingly, Bhambri has preferred a smaller ($50,000) Challenger tournament in Kobe, Japan, in the same week, while Ramanathan  has to attend a mandatory ATP educative programme in London, which talks about several issues including anti-doping.

“I like playing in Japan,” was a terse reply from Bhambri when asked about his choice. With both of them missing, in-form Prajnesh Gunneswaran will be India’s biggest hope and the only one to make it to the singles main draw of the tournament, scheduled to be held from November 12 to 17.  The Indian players have always demanded home tournaments to cut down on travel cost and had expressed concerns about vanishing international tournaments from the country. 

Prajnesh makes winning start; Ramkumar, Nagal exit

New Delhi: Prajnesh Gunneswaran made a winning start at the Liuzhou Challenger tournament in China, but it was curtains for Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal.

Gunneswaran downed Frenchman Johan Tatlot 6-4 7-5 in the opening round of the $50,000 hardcourt event. Ramanathan lost to Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7(3) 3-6. Qualifier Nagal lost 2-6 3-6 to Japanese eighth seed Tatsuma Ito. In the doubles, Arjun Kadhe and Yaraslav Shyla moved to the quarterfinals with a 6-4 6-3 win. — Agencies