Date:13/09/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/09/13/stories/2004091307921800.htm

Sport - Tennis

Balaji, Supriya top list

BANGALORE, SEPT. 12. Shriram Balaji of Tamil Nadu and Supriya Mallya of Mahrashtra lead the list of eight boys and eight girls for the Nike Junior Masters Tour final, scheduled to be held at Nike Bhupathi Tennis Village here from September 29.

The race to fill up four more slots each in the boys and girls' under-12 sections is still on and the zonals to be held from Sept. 13 to 18 in Kolkata will decide the qualifiers in that section.

The four winners in the Nike Masters event travel to France, to participate in the NJT International Masters, at Club Med, Pompadour on October 28.

The best of international talent in the under-12 and under-14 sections from 25 countries will take part in the NJT International Masters.

The qualifiers for the Nike Masters Tour finals would be flown to Bangalore and receive five star hospitality here.

"This is just to give a taste of what is in store for them, if they make it big at international level," said Mr. G. Krishna Bhupathi, Director of the Nike Bhupathi Tennis Village and the championship.

Players invited for under-14 event based on AITA rankings:

Boys: Shriram Balaji (T.N.), Akash Wagh (Mah), Vinay Kamineni (A.P.), Vijayant Malik (Chd), Yuki Bhambri (Del), Debendra Das (Mah), Sudharshan (T.N.) and Mikhail Shetty (Mah). Girls: Supriya Mallya (Mah), Sweta Kumari Solanki (Del), Janani Suresh (T.N.), Prerna Mythri, Deepra Vazirani (Mah), Daniella Jones (W.B.) and Prachi Nadkarni (Mah).