By IANS
Kolkata : The clashing of dates of the $175,000 WTA tournament with Bengal’s biggest festival of Durga Puja is worrying the organisers, tennis star and Globosport managing director Mahesh Bhupathi said Thursday.
“We don’t have any sponsorship problems for we still have a three years’ contract left with ITC. The problem is the dates are clashing with the festival. People will be busy with the Durga Puja. And we have to keep this in mind,” Bhupathi told reporters here.
As per the WTA calendar, the fourth edition of the Sunfeast Open is scheduled to commence Oct 6, which also happens to be Mahasaptami, the first of the four-day Durga Puja carnival.
“As of now, the WTA Open is on. But we will be discussing with the people concerned about the pros and cons of the date,” said Bhupathi, who was here to renew his contract with Peerless as its brand ambassador.
The ace doubles player is likely to hold meetings with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the state’s Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya on the issue.
However, he denied media reports that Globosport was reluctant to hold the tournament in the city and could even shift it as it had faced dearth of sponsors in the third edition.
“Such issues are not there. Sponsorship is not a problem. We are looking at the clashing with the Puja dates,” he said.