Chennai: With a view to ensuring the continuity of the prestigious ATP tournament in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to form a consortium of sponsors to fund the event for the next five years.

The state government will also be a sponsor and make a contribution of Rs 1 crore to the event every year, an official press release said here on Tuesday.

The state government will also help in setting up a consortium of sponsors to fund the meet which will be rechristened as the Chennai Open from 2005.

The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association and former Indian ace Vijay Amritraj had requested chief minister J. Jayalalithaa for her support to ensure that Chennai did not lose out on the event due to lack of sponsors.

The tournament, one of three which kicks off every season in January, has been held at the Nungambakkam Stadium here for eight years beginning 1997.

Gold Flake were the title sponsors for the first five years, Tata the next three.

The Hyderabad factor

Our Staff Reporter in Calcutta adds: With Tata deciding not to extend the three-year contract, the event owners IMG had to search for a new title sponsor. That was turning out to be a tough task. And with Hyderabad expressing a strong desire to take ‘charge’, Chennai was under severe threat.

It was Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu who had taken the lead in trying to get India’s lone ATP meet shifted to Hyderabad. He had promised everything that was needed to run an event of that stature successfully, citing the conduct of the Afro-Asian Games.

“The IMG was, at one stage, quite seriously considering Naidu’s proposal,” a source told The Telegraph.

“Too much delay on the Chennai front would have clinched Hyderabad the deal.”

Amritraj, like a true patriot, went all out to save his home-town tournament. His oratorial skills came in handy as the ex-Davis Cupper approached Jayalalithaa with an SoS.

It didn’t take long for Naidu’s counterpart to ‘fall in line’. The fact that she announced the formation of a sponsors’ consortium besides committing a Rs 1 crore yearly contribution from the government proves how serious she was about denying Naidu some tennis ‘glory.’