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.