Cindy Burger of The Netherlands, ranked 227th, leads the singles seedings at the NECC-ITF women's USD 25,000 tennis tournament to be held on the hard courts of Deccan Gymkhana here from December 22.
Burger, who won a USD 25,000 event in Perigueux, France, earlier this year, starts as the favourite to clinch the singles title in the 14th edition of the longest-running women's tennis tournament in the country.
Sofia Shapatava of Georgia is the second-best ranked player at 249, while Ankita Raina, who is 298 on the WTA list, is the only Indian to get a direct entry in the 6-day tournament.
Katy Dunne of Britain is the only other top 300 ranked player in the world figuring in the list.
Ukraine's Anastasiya Vasylyeva, ranked 175 in the world, had sent in her entry for both the ongoing USD 25,000 ITF event in Vashi and for this tournament, but has pulled out of her scheduled tour of India.
"This is the oldest women's tournament in India and also longest running event. We are proud to be hosting it once again, and we are delighted with the field that we have got," said tournament director Mukund Joshi today.
The qualifying rounds would be played on December 20 and 21. Main draw matches would get underway on December 22, with the finals to be played on December 27.
Top entries (World rankings):
The other ranked players are: 5. Manon Arcangioli (Fra) 312, 6. Polina Leykina (Rus) 321, 7. Natela Dzalamidze (Rus) 330, 8. Kamila Kerimbayeva (Kaz) 335, 9. Jia-Jing Lu (Chn) 336, 10. Veronika Kapshay (Ukr) 345, 11. Margarita Lazareva (Rus) 346, 12. Miyabi Inoue (Jpn) 349, 13. Alyona Sotnikova (Ukr) 351, 14. Despina Papamichail (Gre) 363, 15. Ayaka Okuno (Jpn) 395, 16. Sviatlana Pirazhenka (Blr) 396, 17. Anna Morgina (Rus) 413.
Wild cards: From AITA: Prathana Thombare, Natasha Palha and Sharmada Balu.
From organisers: Mihika Yadav, world junior no.173 from Mumbai.
