Rastogi gets wild card, Somdev in top draw of Singapore ATP

Singapore, Jan 17 (PTI) Asian Games gold medallist SomdevDevvarman and wild card entrant Karan Rastogi will leadIndia''s charge in this year''s Singapore ATP Challengerstarting here Sunday.

Apart from Somdev, world ranked 95th Jan Hajek of CzechRepublic, South African Davis Cup star Rik De Voest, ItalianPaolo Lovenzi, Thiago Alves of Brazil, Ivo Minar of CzechRepublic and Japanese tennis star Go Soeda will be the topdraw at the event.

Asian Games bronze medallist Rastogi has been awarded awildcard in the main draw of the men''s singles event of theATP Challenger Tour tournament which returns to Singaporeafter a hiatus of a decade, Tournament Director, UthrapathyShunmugam said.

Organised jointly by event promoter Sports ManagementGroup (SMG), Singapore Tennis Association (STA) and supportedby the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), the Singapore ATPChallenger offers a total prize money of USD 50,000 and willbe held at Kallang Tennis Centre from January 23 to 30.

The tournament will feature both men''s singles as well asdoubles event with ATP world ranked players from over 32countries participating in the tournament.

"We are looking to use the Singapore ATP Challenger 2011as a launch pad to bring in more professional tennis events toSingapore. There are a lot of tennis enthusiasts in ourcountry and I am sure that they will all enjoy having bignames in the professional tennis circuit play live inSingapore," said Kenneth Low, managing director of SMG.

STA general manager, Gilbert Ng said: "We are veryexcited that Singapore is able to host the ATP Challenger Tourevent. This is a great platform for our players to be exposedto professional tennis events and be inspired by theexcitement and adrenaline that they bring. This event will goa long way in transforming and developing the sport inSingapore." PTI SSC