Stage set for ATP World doubles

The fourth-ranked ace Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will be the star attraction as the twice-postponed ATP World doubles tennis championship 2001 gets under way as a 'challenge' event in Bangalore from Tuesday, devoid of ATP ranking points.

The 350,000-dollar event, sponspored by telecom giant Bharati group -- to promote their brandname 'Touchtel' -- will be more of a tennis carnival, with the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association throwing in music and fashion shows in between the matches.

The scenic stadium inside the Cubbon Park will not only reverberate with the powerful game of the top-notch players but also blare popular western music over the next five days as the world's top two teams, split into two groups, named 'Bharati' and 'Touchtel', play on as league basis. The top two from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

The draw is slated for late Monday evening.

The last of the ATP tour events, the World doubles had to be called off last year following the September 11 terrorist attack in the United States and the subsequent tension in the sub-continent.

The KSLTA, in view of the security situation, had initally sought postponement and later cancellation of the event. However, Indian tennis ambassador Vijay Amritraj impressed upon the ATP for holding the event as a Challenge championship and the tournament was got up in less than 15 days, with the Bharati group agreeing to be the main sponsor.

A question mark, however, hangs over the participation of Zimbabwean pair of Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett, who finished fifth last year, and the US-Australian combination of Jeff Tarango and Michael Hill, ranked ninth.

However, tournament director C G K Bhupathi said there would be no problem for the event to kickstart tomorrow as two alternate pairs -- John Laffnie de Jager and Robbie Koenig of South Africa and Tom Vanhoudt (Belgium) and Chris Haggard (South Africa) -- had already arrived at the city.

Other prominent pairs in action are Wimbledon champions Donald Johnson and Jarred Palmer of the US, currently world ranked No. 3 French Open finalists Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (US), Peter Pala and Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic (seventh), Mark Knowles and Brian MaCphie (Bah/US) and former champions Rick Leach and Ellis Ferreira (US/SA), ranked tenth.

Bhupathi and Paes will be looking ahead for an impressive start to the season. Bhupathi, who played a crucial role to impress upon the players to participate in the event, said in an interview, ''For us it is the World Championships and we are playing for the world title. It is not as if the players are coming to play for free; there is big money. So why shoudn't it be the World Championship just because the ATP didn't decide to give it points.''