Four Indians in fray in qualifying round

Chennai, Dec 30 (UNI) Only four Indians, as compared to atleast half a dozen in the last three years, figure in the draw for the singles qualifying matches in the ATP Tour Chennai Open 2007 to be held here from January 1 to 7.

According to the draw released here Vishal Punna, Pathanjali Ravishankar, Narayanaswamy Sribalaji and Ashutosh Sing are the three entries. While Punna and Ashutosh Singh have been given a wild card, Ravishankar and Narayanswamy are unseeded direct entries.

The Indian interest will also be reflected in Stephen Amritraj, the son of former Davis Cupper Anand Amritraj, the elder brother of Vijay, the former captain and Anand's doubles partner. However, Stephen is playing under the United States flag.

In the main draw of 32, Vijay's son Prakash and Karan Rastogi have been given wild cards.

Czechoslovakia's Vik Robin is the top seed Greece's Economidis the second seed, Dick Norman of Belgium is the third seed.

UNI VV AY DS1404