Zee Sports to Telecast Sony Ericsson World Tennis Championship Top Women Stars in Action for $ 3 Million Prize Money

New Delhi, November 7, 2006: Zee Sports, the first Indian private sports channel will telecast the season ending Sony Ericsson Championship from Madrid Arena, Madrid from November 8 – 12, 2006. The Sony Ericsson Championship gather the Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams from the regular 2006 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season as they battle it out for the season ending titles and a share of the $ 3 million prize money. The top eight women players who have qualified for this edition of Sony Ericsson World Championship are Justine Henin Hardenne, Amelia Mauresmo, Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznestsova, Nadia Petrova, Elena Dementieva, Martina Hingis and Kim Clisters. The defending champions are Amelie Mauresmo (singles) and Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur (doubles).

Four former champions and five No.1s are in Madrid this week for arguably the most competitive season-ending Championships in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour history, which also features the first-ever three-way battle for the year-end No.1 ranking. Honoring the host nation, the two Groups have been named Yellow and Red, with four players from the elite eight – who qualified based on their results during the regular 2006 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season – randomly placed in each Group.

The world's Top 2 players – No.1 Amélie Mauresmo and No.2 Maria Sharapova – head the Yellow and Red Groups respectively. Completing the Yellow Group is world No.3 Justine Henin-Hardenne, No.5 Nadia Petrova and No.8 Martina Hingis. The remainder of an almost all-Russian Red Group consists of No.4 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No.6 Kim Clijsters and No.7 Elena Dementieva.For the first time in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour history, there is a three-way battle for the year-end No.1 ranking, with incumbent Mauresmo up against Sharapova and Henin-Hardenne for the coveted achievement.

The round robin stage of the Sony Ericsson Championships will be conducted over four days between Wednesday and Friday, with each player meeting the other three women in their Group. The Top 2 performers in each Group advance to semifinals, with the final scheduled for Sunday.

Catch the action LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on Zee Sports

S.No	Event	Date	Time
1	Sony Ericsson World Championship	Nov 8, 2006	22:30 onwards
2	Sony Ericsson World Championship	Nov 9, 2006	22:30 onwards
3	Sony Ericsson World Championship	Nov 10, 2006	22:30 onwards
4	Sony Ericsson World Championship	Nov 11, 2006	18:00 onwards
5	Sony Ericsson World Championship	Nov 12, 2006	21:00 onwards

For more information contact
Abhishek Agrawal , Manager Corporate Communications Zee Sports; 9810352353/ 0120-259962