Wismilak event to give chance to region's young players
Wismilak event to give chance to region's young players
Musthofid, Jakarta
The Wismilak International Women's Tennis Tournament is back
in Bali in September with the organizers looking to give
Southeast Asia's up-and-coming young players an opportunity to
show their mettle in the US$225,000 tournament.
Tournament director Kevin Livesey announced that in
cooperation with the Volvo Open organizers, two pre-qualifying
tournaments would be held in Bangkok, Thailand, and Surabaya,
Indonesia.
The top three would then be awarded entries to the Bali
tournament and Volvo Open at the end of this year.
"We want to give an opportunity to players with potential in
the Southeast Asian region to participate in the tournaments.
This has been agreed on by the Women's Tour Association,"
Livesey told a media conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel here on
Thursday.
The Bangkok event will be staged from Aug. 4 to Aug. 8 while
the Surabaya event will run from Aug. 11 to Aug. 15.
The winner, which will be whoever collects the most points
from both tournaments, will advance to the main draw. The second
and third finishers will be given entries to the qualifying
stage.
The Bali tennis tournament, whose qualifying stage will only
consist of 16 players instead of last year's 32, will run from
Sept. 13 to Sept. 19 at the Grand Hyatt tennis center in Nusa
Dua.
Livesey confirmed a strong lineup of participants comprising
Ai Sugiyama (Japan), Chanda Rubin (United States), Nadia Petrova,
Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia), Jelena Dokic (Serbia and
Montenegro) and Conchita Martinez. These players are among the
top 25 in the WTA rankings.
He said that he was still negotiating the possible
participation of Emilie Mauresmo, the world's No. 3 from France
and defending champion Elena Dementieva, the world's No. 10 from
Russia.
Indonesia's best player Angelique Widjaja, who is ranked
120th, is expected to play.
"We have yet to discuss it with her manager and Angie herself,
but I hope she will be coming," Livesey said.
Angie was the 2001 champion. Last year, she won the doubles
title with Venezuelan Maria Vento-Kabchi.