Calcutta, Feb. 1 :
Calcutta, Feb. 1:
Amanjyot Singh and Megha Vakharia of India have been given top billing in the boys' and girls' sections, respectively, in the Bharat Petroleum ITF junior meet to be played at the DKS courts from Monday to February 9.
The meet has gained in prominence with a Group IV status after being rated a notch lower earlier. The singles events will have 32 entries each with half the number completing the field in the doubles competitions.
Four boys and girls each have been given wild cards and an equal number of players will come through the qualifiers in each category. City youngster Rupesh Roy is the only Indian boy to clinch a wild card while all four girls to enjoy the privilege are Indians.
Among foreign teams, China have sent in seven entries, Indonesia six, Bangladesh five and Israel four. There are also participants from Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and France.
Amanjyot is ranked 53rd in the world among juniors and second seed Rohan Gajjar is 85th. Among girls, Megha is ranked 88th, second seed Isha Lakhani 159th and No. 3 Sana Bhambri 204th.
The singles winners will get 40 ranking points and the losing finalists 30 each. The doubles champions gain 30 each with those coming second sharing 40 points.
The qualifiers begin tomorrow. Incidentally, Narahenpitage Udanthi of France, the winner of the girls' title in the Sri Lanka leg of the meet, will also have to play the qualifiers. According to organisers, she expressed keenness to participate after entries were closed.
THE SEEDINGS
BOYS: 1. Amanjyot Singh 2. Rohan Gajjar 3. Jaco T. Matthew 4. Rishi Behl 5. Saurabh Singh 6. Al Imron (Ina) 7. Somdev Varman 8. Divij Sharan.
GIRLS: 1. Megha Vakaria 2. Isha Lakhani 3. Sana Bhambri 4. Ariana Stefanie Maya Rosa (Ina) 5. Nandita Chandrasekhar 6. Krushmi Chedda 7. Samrita Sekhar 8. Hsuan Hwang (Chi Tpe).