Mr. Gurudutta Hegde, Dharwad District Commissioner and President of DDLTA taking out the draw. Indian Davis Cupper and Asian Games 2022 Silver Medallist Ramkumar Ramanathan looks on.

Draw-2: From left: Puneet Gupta, ITF Supervisor, Purav Raja, Digvijay Singh, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Mr. Gurudutta Hegde, Dharwad District Commissioner and President of DDLTA, Mr. Santosh Biradar, Commissioner HUDA, GR Amarnath – Tournament Director, Sandeep Banavi, Hon. Secy, DDLTA and KB Pujar, Treasurer, DDLTA.

Pls credit pics to Deepthi Indukuri, KSLTA

Dharwad, Oct 16: Dharwad, more known for its sweet delicacy Pedha, will host the ITF Dharwad Men’s World Tennis Tour event, the main rounds of which, will commence here at the Dharwad District Lawn Tennis Association courts here from Tuesday. The US $ 25,000 prize money event features a talented pool of players who are ready to battle it out for glory.

The event also marks the first of four international tennis events in Karnataka played under the aegis of Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, with the subsequent stop being the Men’s tournament in Davanagere. The Dharwad event also signifies a significant milestone in KSLTA’s journey to promote and grow tennis in smaller towns.

The draw ceremony was held where Mr. Gurudutta Hegde, Dharwad District Commissioner and President DDLTA was the chief guest along with Mr. Santosh Biradar, Chairman Hubli-Dharwad Urban Development Authority, Mr. Sandeep Banavi, Hon. Secretary DDLTA, Tournament Director GR Amarnath, ITF Supervisor Puneet Gupta, India’s leading players Ramkumar Ramanathan, Purav Raja and Digvijay Singh were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Hegde said: "We are delighted to be hosting an ITF 25K event in Dharwad, and it's an honour to be the starting point for this series of international tennis tournaments in Karnataka. We have not left any stone unturned to ensure that all our facilities are in place. We can't wait to see the players both the Indian and International players in action and fans from all over to experience the thrill of professional tennis."

“In addition to the sporting spectacle, these tournaments will provide a fantastic opportunity for young and aspiring tennis players in the region to witness top-class tennis, learn from the best, and be inspired to follow their dreams,” added Mr. Hegde.

Nick Chappell of the USA has been given the top billing while India’s Digvijay Singh and Asian Games 2022 Silver medallist and Indian Davis Cup team member Ramkumar Ramanathan are seeded third and fourth respectively. Bogdan Bobrov is seeded second.

As many as eight qualifiers will enter the main draw which begins on the morrow. While four of them were identified, bad light and rain forced the other four matches to be played on Tuesday.

The ITF 25K Dharwad Tournament promises to be a week full of intense rallies, impressive serves, and spectacular shots, making it an event no tennis enthusiast should miss.

Seedings

1-Nick Chappell (USA); 2-Bogdan Bobrov; 3-Digvijay Singh (IND); 4-Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND); 5-Kazuki Nishiwaki; 6-Florent Bax (FRA); 7-Sidharth Rawat (IND); 8-SD Prajwal Dev (IND).

Results

(All Indians except mentioned in brackets; Seedings in pre-fix)

Final qualifying round

1-Vishnu Vardhan Vs. 11-Madhwin Kamath 4-4 (unfinished); 2-Luke Sorensen (AUS) bt 13-Rohan Mehra 6-3, 7-5; 3-Faisal Qamar bt 12-Ha Minh Duc Vu (VIE) 6-3, 7-5; 9-Enrico Giacomini (ITA) bt 4-Jack Karlsson Wistrand (SWE) 6-4, 1-6, 10-6; 5-Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan Vs. 10-Kabir Hans (postponed); Suraj R Prabodh Vs. 14-Yash Yadav (Postponed); Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam Vs. Tushar Madan 1-1 (unfinished); 16-Jagmeet Singh bt Dharmil Shah 7-6 (9), 6-4.

Round-1 Qualifiers

14-Yash Yadav bt Mukil Ramanan 6-1, 6-3; 10-Kabir Hans bt Neeraj Yashpaul 6-2, 6-1; 16-Jagmeet Singh bt Thijmen Loof (NED) 6-4, 1-1 (retd); Dharmil Shah bt 8-Mattias Southcombe (GBR) 6-1, 6-2; Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam bt 7-Chirag Duhan 7-5, 6-4; Tushar Madan bt 15-Sandesh Dattatray Kurale 7-6 (4), 6-2; bt Anurag Agarwal 6-4, 6-2.