By IANS
Kolkata : The National Grass Court Championship returns to South Club here in December, but there are no sponsors for the tournament with the Sunfeast Open having bagged all the major sponsors.
The tournament will be held Dec 17-22.
“A tournament like the National Grass Court is close to the heart of South Club authorities. It is here that it was born. But we have to raise around Rs.1.5 million and there are no real takers,” South Club secretary I.N.Chaturvedi said Friday.
“With the Sunfeast Open happening here, all the major sponsors have focused on that tournament. So it is real tough to get a major sponsor. But this is the tournament that throws up players for the future, and those who want to do something for tennis should be looking at these tournaments to build champions of tomorrow,” he said.
The South Club is already looking swanky with seven grass courts. With the renewal of the 10 acres of land in place with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, they are also looking to raise a double-storey club house, keeping in sync with its heritage status.
“The South Club is in good health, but when it comes to organising major tournaments we feel the pinch which often blows a hole in our pocket. So we need some sponsors,” he added.
The nationals this time could see the next generation stars like Karan Rastogi in action. Though Prakash Amritraj may not play the grass here, Rohan Bopanna still has an outside chance.
The Inaugural Grass Court National Championship was held at the South Club, the cradle of the game in the country, in 1946. The big serving Sumant Misra became the first champion beating Man Mohan Lal. Till 1955, only three Indians – S. Misra (1946,1952), Dilip Bose (1948) and Ramanathan Krishnan (1953) had won the championship.