New Delhi, December 30, 2005: *ESPN STAR Sports, Asia's number one sports broadcaster, will telecast LIVE & exclusive the Chennai Open 2006, South Asia's only ATP International Series from the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium, Chennai from Januray 2 – 8.
Chennai Open will boast of a strong line-up that includes the defending champion Carlos Moya from Spain, Croatia's Davis Cup hero and World No. 9
Ivan Ljubicic and Asia's top-ranking player and 2003 champion Paradorn Srichaphan from Thailand. Other well-known players with career wins over
some of the best players in the world include Rainer Schuettler, Jonas Bjorkman, Jan-Michael Gambill
and Justin Gimelstob. India's Prakash Amritraj has received a wild card for the main draw of India's only ATP series. The Chennai Open will have 32
players taking part in the weeklong tournament starting on January 2, 2006.
ESPN STAR Sports have also roped in former Wimbledon Champion and Australia's No.1 player, Pat Cash as a commentator for the tournament. Pat
Cash had played the tournament in 1997 and will be sharing his expert views and analysis of the games played during the tournament.
The Chennai Open is owned and organised by IMG, the world's premier sports, leisure and lifestyle management and marketing agency. Rechristened the
Chennai Open in 2005, the event will be held for its 11 th consecutive year in January 2006. The tournament is conducted in Chennai under the aegis of
the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and is organised with the active collaboration of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and
Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA). The event has been honoured with the ATP Award for Excellence twice and the award for the Best Promoted Tournament in the International Group over the past few years.
Chennai has long been christened the Mecca of Indian tennis with players of high stature such as Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Anand Amritraj and Leander Paes all spending significant parts of their careers in the great city. Players and officials have rated the world-class
SDAT Tennis Stadium as one of the best in Asia.
ESPN STAR Sports will also be showcasing the first grand slam of the year, Australian Open in mid January adding to their bouquet offering top
tournaments and series in the world of international sports.
Date | Fixture | Time | Channel |
2nd-8th Jan 2006 | Chennai Open- ATP Series (L) | 17:00 | STAR Sports |
India Time. Schedule subject to change; L: LIVE. S: Same day delayed.
For further information, contact ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd at 011-51544444-51
Bhaskar Majumdar, Manager - Corporate Communications, 9811194244, Email:
bhaskarm@espnstar.co.in
Tarundeep Singh, IPAN, 9811017310, 52492100, Email: tarundeep.singh@ipan.com
For the latest schedules and programme information visit www.espnstar.com