Junior National Clay Court C`ship from Aug 29

Chennai: Promising talent from across the country would vie for top honours in the Adidas National Junior Clay court Tennis Championship for U-18 boys and girls slated to be held at the Madras Cricket Club from August 29.

The event has become a permanent one in AITA calendar and the MCC is hosting the Junior National for the 19th time without break. Maharashtra`s Vishwesh Sinha, a likely top seed for the event and Mohit Mayur (TN) and Vinod Gowda (Karnataka) and Delhi`s Sourabh Singh are the contenders for the title in the boys` section, while defending champion, Ramkumar Ramanathan of Tamil Nadu will not compete since undergoing training at Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona as a TNTA trainee.Tamil Nadu Tennis Association secretary C B N Reddy told reporters that Maharashtra`s Rutuja Bhosale who had won the Asian Junior title recently would start as favourite for the girls title, while Prarthana Thombre, also from Maharashtra, TN`s Sansitha Nandakumar and Sai Samhitha are the other prominent players to have confirmed their entries. "TNTA is planning to organise 12 international events (6 ITF juniors and 6 women?s tournament) in the city next year. By conducting more ITF events, we can help the local players improve their rankings," Reddy said. Reddy said that the Under-14 National championship will be held prior to the Under-18 nationals, at the Triangle Tennis Academy.Punjab`s Fahdeep Singh, in boys` section and Maharashtra`s Rutuja Bhosale are the defending champions in U-14 categories. PTI