Hyderabad to host CTL summit clash

Hyderabad: Here is some good news for tennis fans in the city. The grand finale of the ambitiously carvedChampions Tennis League (CTL), will be held here on December 6.

This was announced by CLT Chairman, Vijay Amritraj, after unveiling the jersey of the city-based franchise, Hyderabad Aces on Tuesday. Two new teams, Nagpur Oranges and Raipur Rangers, have been added to the ensuing edition, which will be held from November across various centres and will feature six teams.

Later, speaking to reporters, the former Indian Davis Cup captain said he foresaw the country winning at least two medals at Rio. “The situation is very bright. My own reading is that India can have podium finishes in both men and mixed doubles,” the leading television commentator said.

In the same breadth he points out that by and large tennis players are not too obsessed with Olympic medals because the professionals are keen on improving their rankings than wait for a medal in a championship that comes once in four years.

Meanwhile, he lauded the resurgence of Swiss Miss Martina Hingis who has enjoyed a phenomenal season this year. He went to the extent of giving credit to CTL for her rise. Hingis has been retained by Hyderabad Aces, whose co-owner Rajesh Dandu oozed with confidence that they will be the team to beat this time around.

Teams: Group ‘A’-Punjab Marshalls: Greg Rusedski, Marcos Baghdatis, Elina Svitolina, Saketh Myneni, Sivadeep Kosaraju, Zeel Desai;

Mumbai Tennis Masters: Richard Krajicek, Andreas Seppi, Flavia Penneta, Sriram Balaji, Dhruv Sunish, Mihika Yadav;

Raipur Rangers: Thomas Muster, Roberto Bautista Agut, Alize Cornet, Rajkumar Ramanathan, Parikshit Somani, Vaidehi Chaudhari;

Group ‘ B’-Hyderabad Aces: Thomas Johansson, Ivo Karlovic, Martina Hingis, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Adil Kalyanpur, Sama Sathwika;

Nagpur Oranges: Alex Corretja, Feliciano Lopez, Jelena Jankovic, Divij Sharan, Nitin Kumar Sinha, Harshasai Challa;

Chennai Worriers: Rainer Schuettler, Fernando Verdasco, Heather Watson, Vishnu Vardhan, Dhakshineswar Suresh, Sabhyata Nihalani.