2004 Cigna tennis tournament begins Sunday in Jakarta

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The fifth Cigna Open tennis tournament will be held at the Executive Club Jakarta Hilton International from Feb. 22 to Feb. 29, with 155 players competing for a total cash prize of Rp 100 million (US$11,800).

Steven Lee Novkov, president director of PT Asuransi Cigna, the title sponsor of the event, said that besides cash prizes, this year's event would also provide trophies in the men's and women's singles events, on which the names of previous champions would be etched.

Novkov said the tournament aimed to provide local tennis players with competition.

As of Tuesday, 112 players have registered for the men's singles and 43 for the women's singles.

Defending men's champion Febi Widhiyanto and women's champion Sandy Gumulya have not registered and will not be taking part in this year's tournament.

Novkov said the event had attracted so many competitors because players wanted to collect points and raise their national rankings. The national rankings will decide the seedings at the 16th National Games in Palembang in September.

The Cigna tournament qualifying round is scheduled to begin on Feb. 22, while the main draw will start on Feb. 24. The doubles finals will be on Feb. 28 and the singles finals will take place on Feb. 29.

Angelique Widjaja, ranked 106th in the world, is a former Cigna winner. Other past champions include Liza Andriani and Wukirasih Sawondari, both regular national team members.