Vignesh, Sheethal given top billing

Mumbai: PC Vignesh of Andhra Pradesh and Sheethal Goutham of Karnataka have been seeded number one among men and women in the Rs 10-lakh prize money 3rd Videocon All-India Open Tennis Championship, to be hosted by Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana, from January 29 to February 6.

Vignesh was the losing finalist last year while Sheethal is the defending champion in the touranment in which the prize fund has been increased by Rs 2 lakh from 2010, said joint secretary of the hosting club Anil Mahesh.The men`s and women`s winners would take home Rs one lakh and 60,000 respectively, while the runners-up in the two sections would be richer by Rs 50,000 and 30,000. There would be doubles competitions for men and women as well as mixed doubles too with the winners and runners-up pocketing Rs 25,000 and 15,000, a media release said.The seedings: Men: P C Vignesh (AP); Mithun Murali (TN); Aditya Madkekar (Mah); Nitten Kirrtane (Mah), Yanick Nedlord (Dli); Rohan Gide (Mah); Kunal Anand (Dli); Lakshit Sood (UP). Women: Sheethal Goutham (Kar); Shiviika Burman (WB); Shweta Rana (HP); Nehel Sahni (Dli); Ashvarya Shrivastava (Mah); Gopika Kapoor (Dli); Nupur Kaul (Mah); Smritia Joon (Har). PTI