Latest news with #TNTA
The Hindu
22-07-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Rethin and Maaya win the T.K. Ramanathan award in TNTA annual day function
Rethin Pranav and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi were the winners of the T.K. Ramanathan award for the best player of the 2024-25 season (₹30,000 each) in the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) annual day function at the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) here on Tuesday. TNTA president Vijay Amritraj said that there has been significant interest among the players to participate in the second edition of the Chennai Open, a WTA 250 event, set to take place from October 27 to November 2. 'I think it will be a good (player) field because the previous week is in Tokyo in Japan (Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis - WTA 500). So, they will be on their way here. There are two other tournaments (Jiangxi Open, Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open) as well in China at the same time (as the Chennai Open). But again, there has been a lot of interest (among the players) in coming to our own city,' Vijay Amritraj said. He added that there's a plan to set up video screens (for streaming the Chennai Open matches) across the city to enhance public engagement. 'We hope to have LED video screens across the city, so that people can sit on the Marina Beach or in T. Nagar or wherever and have snacks and watch the matches, which I think will be a great boost for our sport and create even more interest in the State,' he added. The award-winners: T.K. Ramanathan award (Best player of the 2024-25 season): Rethin Pranav, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi. President award for the most promising youngster: Ishaan Sudharshan, Hemdev Mahesh, Deepthi Venkatesan, Diya Ravikumar Janaki Justice P.S. Kailasam Memorial award for performance in junior Nationals: Boys: Singles: u-18: Winner: Kandhavel Mahalingam; Runner-up: Varun Verma. Doubles: u-12: Runner-up: Ronnie Vijay Kumar. Girls: Singles: u-18: Winner: Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi; Runner-up: Diya Ramesh. Doubles: u-14: Runners-up: Deepshika Vinayagamurthy and A.S.R. Bawyasri; u-16:Runners-up: Sanmitha Harini Lokesh and Savitha Bhuvaneswaran; u-18: Doubles: Winner: Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi. Performance in National c'ships: Men: Singles: Winner: Rethin Pranav. Women: Singles: Runner-up: Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi; Doubles: Runner-up: Sai Samhitha Chamarthi. Performance in National Games (Dehradun): Men: Manish Suresh Kumar (singles and doubles bronze, team gold); V.M. Ranjeet (team gold); Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (doubles bronze, team gold); Lohith Aksha Bathrinath (mixed doubles and team gold); K.S. Dheeraj (team gold) Women: Lakshmiprabha Arunkumar (mixed doubles gold, team bronze); Janani Ramesh (team bronze); Mirudhula Palanivel (team bronze); Diya Ramesh (team bronze) Performance in Deaf & Hard Hearing c'ship: Men: Prithvi Shekar (Australian Open singles champion and doubles runner-up). Performance in Wheelchair Tennis Nationals: Karthik Karunakaran (singles winner, doubles runner-up); Mariappan Durai (doubles runner-up); Balachandar Subramanian (doubles winner). Representing India: Davis Cup / Fed Cup / u-12, u-14, u-16 / Wheelchair: Ramkumar Ramanthan, Sriram Balaji; BNP Paribas World Cup Asia Qualifying: Karthik Karunakaran, Mariappan Durai, K. Sathasivam; Billie Jean King Cup u-14 & u-16: Diya Ramesh (Junior Billie Jean King Cup Asia Oceania Final Qualifying, Kazakhstan). Muthukrishnan Memorial award for most promising and performing player (Boy): Varun Verma. Nagamani Mahadevan award for most promising and performing player (Girl): Diya Ramesh. 32nd Sanmar TNTA Chennai City club tennis league: Veterans (60+): Winner: MGC; Runner-up: Cosmopolitan Club-A. 45+: Zone-A: Winner: MCC-A; Runner-up: Besant Nagar Club-B; Zone-B: Winner: BNC-B; Runner-up: Nungambakkam Tennis Club-A; Zone-C: Winner: Anna Nagar Club; Runner-up: Madras Race Club. Regular: Zone-A: Winner: MCC-A; Runner-up: NTC-C; Zone-B: Winner: GNC-A; Runner-up: Anna Nagar K Block-A; Zone-C: Winner: Presidency Club-A; Runner-up: BNC-B; Zone-D: Winner: MCC-M; Runner-up: Gandhi Nagar Club-C; Zone-E: Winner: Besant Nagar Club-C; Runner-up: Madras Club-B; Zone-F: Winner: Presidency Club-B; Runner-up: YMCA Kilpauk. 16th UCAL-TNTA Chennai inter-club league-cum-knockout c'ship: Winner: MCC; Runner-up: BNC
NDTV
18-07-2025
- Sport
- NDTV
"Proud Chennai Open Is Back In TNTA's Centenary Year," Says Tennis Legend Vijay Amritraj
Indian tennis legend and Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) President Vijay Amritraj has announced the return of the Chennai Open International Women's Tennis Championship after a three-year hiatus. In an exclusive interview to NDTV's Tamil Nadu Brief weekend edition, Amritraj called it a proud moment as the tournament coincides with the centenary year of TNTA. With a budget of Rs 12 crore and a prize purse of Rs 2.4 crore, the upcoming WTA 250 event is expected to host around 60 players from the world's top 100 rankings. "The support from the Tamil Nadu government has been huge," Amritraj said, while acknowledging challenges in attracting top players due to overlapping tournaments. A tie-up with global sports agency Octagon, which holds a three-year licence for the event, is expected to help. Reflecting on Indian tennis, the 1987 Davis Cup finalist admitted that India has lost its dominance in singles, urging a renewed focus on nurturing young talent. "You don't start tennis wanting to be the best doubles player; you start dreaming of being the next Federer or Nadal," he noted, underlining the importance of early commitment and passion. Amritraj also highlighted the inspirational power of home tournaments. "Just like the ATP 250 inspired many boys, the Chennai Open will encourage young girls across India to take up tennis," he said. Several state-wide tournaments are being planned as part of TNTA's 100-year celebrations. Speaking personally, Amritraj credited his parents for his success, saying, "98% of what I achieved was their effort, especially my mother's. My tennis was entirely theirs." He encouraged young parents to introduce their children to sport and support their passion. "Tennis gave me things I never dreamt of and shaped my life in ways business never could." He also praised rising Indian player Maya Rajeshwaran Revathy, who made her debut at Wimbledon at 16, saying she has a bright future if she continues to fuel her passion and stays the course.
The Hindu
17-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Chennai Open WTA tournament from Oct 27
The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) and the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) announced on Thursday that the SDAT tennis stadium in Nungambakkam will host the second edition of the Chennai Open, a WTA 250 event, from October 27 to November 2, marking TNTA's 100th anniversary. The first edition was held in 2022. The total prize money is 275094 USD. The singles qualifying and main draws will feature 24 and 32 players respectively, and the doubles main draw 16. Top-100 players are expected to participate, said TNTA president Vijay Amritraj, speaking after the event. The Tamil Nadu government has allocated ₹12 crore for the conduct of the tournament. Amritraj said that the money will be distributed across various needs - payment of the license fee to the license-holder Octagon (a global sports management and marketing agency), stadium refurbishment, rain preparedness (rains are forecast for October), and hospitality for the players and spectators. The tournament takes place just before the WTA Finals (Nov. 1 to 8) and also clashes with the Jiangxi Open in China and the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, which are to be held on the same dates. Asked if a top-10 player can be expected to participate, he said: 'There are WTA rules that are guided by the size of the tournament. So in a 250 (tournament), you could have one player from the top-10, (and that) depends on the appearance money. 'I think Octagon is a good avenue for us as well, because they also represent a lot of players. So, hopefully, I'm expecting some help from them as well.' On the chances of Indian players getting main draw wild cards, he said: 'I think Maaya (Rajeshwaran Revathi) might be the only one who has a real good chance of getting a wild card.' On whether Chennai will continue to host the tournament every year, he said: 'The current arrangement in the contract with Octagon is three years, with the caveat that the government is happy to support it for the next two years. But WTA has only granted us operation for one year, mainly because of the rain issue.'
New Indian Express
17-07-2025
- Climate
- New Indian Express
WTA Chennai Open may not be an one-off event
CHENNAI: When October comes around, Vijay Amritraj, president of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), will look towards to the heavens to see if the rain Gods will be kind. At some level, the quantum of rainfall in and around the second edition of the WTA Chennai Open may decide whether the event returns to the city in 2026. As it stands, the 250 event for 2025 will be held at the SDAT Stadium at Nungambakkam from the week beginning October 27. They do have the option of conducting the event for two more years, at least that's according to TNTA's contract with Octagon, the company who owns the license for the event. Octagon's only condition is for the TN government to support the event for at least two years (there's not expected to be many problems with this). However, the permission granted by WTA for this particular event is currently for 2025 only. "One of the main reasons for that is the rain," said Amritraj on the sidelines of the official announcement of the tournament. For the record, the Northeast monsoon is scheduled to begin around that time. "We have already been in communication with the MET (Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai) department and they have let us know that they are expecting nine days of rain in October," Amritraj added.
New Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Sport
- New Indian Express
Pooja gets top billing at AITA event in Chennai
Indium Software-3rd Edition of the AITA Rs 7 lakhs tennis championship for men, women both regular and wheelchair events in association with the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association will be from July 19 to July 26th 2025 at the SDAT Tennis Stadium Nungambakkam Chennai. Indium Software is committed to nurturing promising young adults in various fields and has supported multiple events in Tamil Nadu across the fields of sports and arts. This edition of the tournament will feature over 300 players from 21 Indian states like National Games gold medallist VM Ranjeet and Oges Theyjo from Tamil Nadu, Udit Kamboj and Ajay Malik from Haryana, Suraj Prabodh and G Manish from Karnataka. India's number three junior tennis players, Rethin Pranav, Varun Verma and Khandavel Mahalingam from Tamil Nadu will be taking part in the qualifying draw. In the women's draw, Pooja Ingale from Maharashtra who is ranked number 13 in the country will be the top seed followed by Aditi Rawat from Haryana No 2 and Amodini Naik from Karnataka at No 3, Saira Singh from Punjab. The top Tamil Nadu player is talented Joell Nichole. Also India's number five junior tennis player, Diya Ramesh from Tamil Nadu will be taking part in the qualifying draw. A record number of 26 entries have been received for the Wheelchair men's singles event and seven entries for the women's wheelchair event. Top players of the country K Karthik, K Sathasivam, D Mariappan and S Balachander all from Tamil Nadu and Shekar Veeraswamy from Karnataka will take part in the men's event, while KP Shilpa and Prathima Rao from Karnataka will vie for top honours. Marking the occasion, Vijay Amritraj, President, TNTA, said, "The 4th edition of the Indium AITA tennis tournament with prize money of Rs 7 lakhs is a premier event in the AITA national calendar and the only one in the country where the men'sw Women's and Wheelchair events are held together in the same week. The tournament has been growing in stature each year and we will once again witness quality tennis and intense competition. TNTA is grateful to Indium Software - an international Digital Engineering Company for sponsoring it. Our collective vision is to build a thriving ecosystem that nurtures young tennis enthusiasts and develops world-class talent. With the right guidance, resources, and opportunities, Indian tennis players have the ability to reach new heights and compete on the global stage."
