About 200 players will be participating in the KL Open Championships 2011 which will be held for four days starting today.
KL LTA vice president Mirzan Tun Dr Mahathir said the tournament, which was last held in 2005, would be held at two venues - the Jalan Duta National Tennis Centre and the KL City Hall Titiwangsa complex.
The championships, comprising of 10 categories including the men's and women's Open, offers a total of RM27,900 in prize money.
KL LTA decided to revive the tournament due to an increase in interest from the local tennis community and to promote the development of tennis in KL.
It is also to select and train the best tennis players to represent the Federal Territory in national tournaments, he said, adding that all of Malaysia's top five ranked national players including Si Yew Ming, Abd Hazli Zainuddin, Muhammad Ashaari Zainal Abidin, Ahmed Deeday Abd Razak and Syed Mohamad Agil Syed Naguib are expected to take part.
Mirzan said the KL Open was sanctioned by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia and would be part of the national championships whereby ranking points would be awarded to the winners.
He said top ranked tennis players from Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore are also expected to participate in the championships and their participation would improve the level of the game and raise the playing standards.
In conjunction with the championships, a Tennis Carnival will be held on Saturday at the indoor stadium in Jalan Duta. It is open to all - Bernama.
