Bengaluru, June 19 (IANS) In a historic first, Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) will host Group G ties of the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup Playoffs at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru on 14, 15 and 16. This will be the first time ever that the Billie Jean King Cup Playoffs will be held on Indian soil.

The Playoffs will feature 21 nations split into seven groups of three teams each. In a unique format, every group tie will be hosted by a nation, and the venues were formally announced following a draw held on Thursday in London.

India recently qualified for the Playoffs, only for the second time in its history, following a spectacular performance in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie held in Pune. India qualified along with New Zealand for the playoff, following its 2-1 win over Korea.

Both New Zealand and India had four wins each in the six-team competition. The only other time India qualified for the playoffs was in April 2021 when they played in Latvia which saw Jelena Ostapenko lead her team to a 3-1 victory over India.

India are in Group G along with Slovenia and the Netherlands and the five-member Indian team will feature Ankita Raina (rank 292), a top singles player from the country along with Sahaja Yamalapalli (rank 301), Shrivalli Bhamidipaty (rank 313), Vaidehi Chaudhari (rank 405) and Prarthana Thombare, the top-ranked Indian doubles player ranked No.136, the KSLTA informed in a release on Thursday.

In other groups, Canada, Mexico, and Denmark will feature in Group A, and Group B includes Poland, New Zealand, and Romania while Group C features Slovakia, Switzerland, and Argentina. Group D will have Czechia, Colombia, and Croatia, and Group E will have Australia, Portugal, and Brazil. Germany, Belgium, and Turkiye are in Group F.

The KSLTA has been at the forefront of hosting international tennis events and have been a host to Davis Cup ties, ATP World Doubles Championships, WTA Tour Events, ITF Women’s $100K, ATP Challengers, ITF World Tennis Tour events, and this would also be a first for KSLTA to host the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup.

In their endeavour to provide invaluable exposure to young players and fans across the country, the leadership at KSLTA bid to host the Billie Jean King Cup play-offs when India qualified last month.

“Hosting the prestigious BJK Cup playoffs at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium will be a historic moment for us at KSLTA and we believe it will elevate India’s profile in the global women’s tennis. It has always been our endeavour to host top international tennis events in Bengaluru, and we have world-class facilities here which equip us to host an event of this repute,” expressed Priyank Kharge, Senior Vice President of KSLTA and Minister of IT & BT & RDPR, Govt of Karnataka.

Sunil Yajaman, Joint Secretary of KSLTA and Tournament Director of the event said, “We were absolutely thrilled when India qualified for the playoffs and their performance was outstanding. There is a lot of promise with young tennis players performing exceptionally well and a home playoff tie can be a huge fillip in boosting the growth of the sport particularly at the grassroots and also inspire potential talent.

“We are very delighted to be chosen as one of the host countries for the playoffs and we look forward to welcoming the players and officials to Bengaluru. I believe this would be a rare opportunity for sports-loving citizens of Bengaluru to witness this prestigious event happening for the first time in India. We also feel this would be a great opportunity for the Indian team to perform at its best as all the players are well-adapted to the conditions here. We thank the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for choosing Bengaluru to host this exciting event,” he added.

–IANS

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