Mahesh Bhupathi

Calcutta: Five synthetic indoor courts will be imported from Europe for the WTA Tour event, Sunfeast Open 2005, the formal announcement of which was made at a city hotel on Wednesday by Mahesh Bhupathi.

The tennis ace, whose sports management company Globoport is organising the event in association with the state government, said players ranked within 110 will take part in the September 19-25 event, which will also feature upcoming Indian youngsters such as Sania Mirza and Shikha and Neha Uberoi.

The Tier-III tournament, to be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, will have 32 players in the main draw. Matches will start from 9.30 am and continue till 10.00 pm.

Bhupathi is keen to make it an annual event. Though he refused to divulge the names, the tennis ace indicated that talks are on at an advanced stage to rope in at least one of the top three women players.

The Davis Cup star appeared excited at the prospect of partnering doubles ace Todd Woodbridge.

?I?m looking forward to the coming season. More so because Woodbrigde, who is a legendary figure, will be my partner,? he said.

?Our first task will be to develop a good chemistry,? Bhupathi remarked.

Speaking on the occasion, minister for sports and transport Subhas Chakraborty said the Netaji Indoor Stadium will be totally upgraded and special care will be taken to ensure the safety, security and ease of travel of the international players.

An organising committee headed by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been formed to look after the nitty-gritties of the event.