KARACHI, June 7: The KC Tennis championship 2005, Pakistan’s richest national ranking tournament, begins at the Karachi Club from June 20, it was announced on Tuesday at a press conference by Alamgir A. Shaikh. The last date of entry for the tournament is June 17 at 5.00p.m., followed by the draw for the qualifying rounds to be held at 7.00p.m. on the same day.

The qualifying draw will be played on June 19 from 9.00a.m. onwards, with the main round draws to be held on June 19 at 7.00p.m., at the tournament site.

The men’s singles will consist of 32 players, with a wild card entry of four players.

The total prize money for the tournament will be Rs.3,44000 along with a beautiful crystal specially designed running trophy.

The men’s singles winner will receive Rs.60,000 with the runner-up taking home Rs.28,000. The winner of the ladies singles will receive Rs.30,000 with the runner-up getting Rs.12,000. The winner of the junior under-17 boys singles will get Rs.24,000 and the runner-up Rs.10,000. The boys under-15 singles champion will receive Rs.5000 and the runner-up Rs.3000. The same amount will be awarded to the winner and runner-up in the boys under-13 event.

The winners in the men’s doubles will each receive Rs.7000 and the runners-up will each get Rs.3500. The juniors under-17 doubles winner will each receive Rs.5000 and the runners-up Rs.3000 apiece. The boys under-15 doubles, an event to be held for the first time will see the winners receive Rs.2000 each with the runners-up content to take home 2500 apiece.

The winners in the men’s senior 45 plus doubles event, will each get Rs.5000 and the runners-up Rs.2500.00.

Many male and female players from upcountry are expected to participate in this tournament and daily allowance of Rs.400 will be provided for each outstation player until elimination.

In the age limit events, the Technical Committee will carry our wrist tests to ascertain the age of the contestant where there is a cause of doubt. The decision of the Technical Committee will be final.

All top ranked players of the country including Aqeel Khan, Asim Shafiq, Nomi Qamar, Jalil Khan, Nida Waseem, Sana Bhagat, Sara Mehboob and Seher Khawaja will be contesting in this prestigious tournament.

The one week tournament will end on June 26.