Sania and Serena to play in Kolkata

Australian Open champion Serena Williams and India's teenage sensation Sania Mirza will take part in the first ever WTA tour event to be held here from September 19 to September 25.Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi will be here on March 8 and 9 to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee and finalise logistics of the high-profile $170,000 prize money WTA Sunfeast Open, 2005, which is being touted as the biggest women's tennis event in South Asia.

Apart from Bhattacharya, Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty and Indian cricket skipper Sourav Ganguly are also in the committee. "I have also written to Union Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar to arrange for sponsors like IBP and Indian Oil," he said. The participation of 23-year-old Serena, now ranked number three in the world, is bound to add to the prestige of the week-long tournament, which has ITC Foods as the title sponsors.