By Sunder Iyer

Tashkent  , September 19 ,2009 :  The fireworks to celebrate the  2200 year celebrations of Tashkent City just don't' seem to fade ,  a new set of fire power in form of top women tennis players from over 20 countries descend on the historical city to  participate in the  upcoming Sony Ericsson Tashkent Open 2009 .
With more than 20 players from the top 125 players entering the tournament, the Tashkent Open promises to be as exciting  as it has been for the past 10 years.
Tashkent Open as it is now known   has truly   grown in stature and strength. The tournament  which started as an  International Tennis Federation women competition in 1996 propelled into the world stage after receiving the tour event status of WTA Tour in 1999.
Tashkent Open 2009 is no different with players like Iaona Raluca Olaru of  Romania  leading the pack and trying to emulate country mate  Sorena Cirstea winner of the last year to lift the title .
Following Olaru closely for the title would be Yaroslava Shvedova another top 50 player looking out for her first ever WTA Tour title, Israeli Shahr Peer ranked as high as 15th in the world ranking and currently ranked  57th and.Member of the Belarusian Olympic Team Olga Govortsova who made the Tour main draw debut at Tashkent   as a qualifier  and later on reached  a high ranking of 35 in the world, will be  the other players taking a shot at the  coveted title
For the local fans the hope of regaining the Tashkent Open rests on Local Star Agkul Amanmuradova currently ranked 109,having come close to winning the title in 2005 falling at the last hurdle.
 Akgul looks trim and lean to take on the world and get the Uzbek crowds and fans to their feet while waiting to emulate Iroda Tulyaganova's   record of being the only Uzbek player to lift the Tashkent Open in 2000.
Says tournament Director S Uthrapathy, Tashkent Open is the probably the only event in the world to have provided a launching pad to careers of unknown tennis players from around the globe.
The previous winners of the event Israeli Anna Smashnova , Uzbek's star player Iroda Tulyaganova , Germany's B . Lamade, Swiss player M.G Mikaelian, Spanish Virginia Ruano Pascual , Czech Republic's Nicole Vadisova , Dutch player , Chinese Player Tian Sun , French Player Pauline  Parmentier  and last years winner Romanian Sorena Cirstea , all of them hit the top 50 rankings in the year they won the event, he adds.
The final entry list for the Tashkent Open 2009 confirmed by WTA Tour Supervisor Martina Lutkova today seems like a true tribute towards the 2200 years celebrations of Tashkent's existence from the tennis fraternity of the world.
Who will capture glory coinciding with this historic occasion, is any one's guess. The tournament is Wide Open.

Tashkent, September 18:В Yuliana Fedak of UkraineВ ranked 162 has been given the top billing in the qualifying rounds of theВ 11th edition of the Sony Ericsson Tashkent Open which gets underway at the Olympic Tennis schoolВ tomorrow.
Ksenia Palkina(170) of Kyrgyzstan who qualifiedВ for the main draw and knocked out second seeded Olga Govortsova last year is seeded second in the draw.
Elena Chalova(179), Ksenia Lykina (184) , Alexandra Panova (192), Arina Rodionova(221), Natalia Orlova(226) all of Russia and Lesya Tsurenko (249) of Ukraine are the other seeded players in the draw .Four players from amongst 32 playersВ will make it to the main draw of the event
It will also be day of reckoning for Uzbek youngster’s Vlada Ekshibarova, Lola Azimova , Albina Khabibulina who have been awarded wildcards for the qualifying rounds for one of the premier tennis championships in the WTA Calendar.
Explains, S. Uthrapathy, the tournament director and a driving force behind the success of the Tashkent Open for the last decade, it isВ an opportunity for these local youngsters to show their skills and graduate into the next level of their careers.
Last year too the committee awarded wildcards to junior tennis players at the Tashkent Open , and many of these youngsters are now ranked in the world and have justified our decision to hand over qualifying wildcards to Uzbek youngsters .В
Success of players like Iroda Tulyaganova, Akgul Amanmuradova ,В can surely be attributed to their participation and performances at Tashkent Open and we hope many more players will follow their suit, he added.
Matches will begin 10 am onwards.

The work of Uzbekistan Tennis Federation had been deservedly marked by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) at the Annual General Meeting, which was held in Madrid.
 
More than 300 delegates, representing 96 countries elected the new Board of Directors of the ITF for 2009 - 2011.
The meeting also approved important changes to Davis Cup and Fed Cup regulations, approved an increase in shares for a number of national federations bestowed 12 awards for Services to the Game to people who have made outstanding contributions to the game.

Effective and fruitful work of the Uzbekistan Tennis Federation is widely known, it was noted by Francesco Richi-Bittie, the President of the ITF, who visited Uzbekistan on a number of occasions. The country hosts a number of international youth series tournaments, adult future and challenger competitions, WTA Tashkent Open. Both men and women national teams successfully participate in the unofficial world team tournaments.
 
Likewise Uzbekistan national team, which qualified to compete in the World group playoffs this season, is ranked 23rd in the Davis Cup rankings among 131 countries, leaving behind such tennis 'giants' as Italy (29th) and the Great Britain (30th), while Uzbekistan is ranked 3rd in Asia after India (19th) and Korea (20th). In the Federations Cup, Uzbek girls are ranked 21st among 94 countries.
 
Undeniable successes of Denis Istomin and Akgul Amanmuradova, the leaders of our team are reinforced by achievements of younger players: national teams of 13 - 14 year old boys' and 10 - 11 year old girls' are among top tens in the world.

Uzbekistan has contributed greatly to the development of tennis in Asia - a number of continental tournaments have been held in Uzbekistan in the last six years, while Tashkent hosted the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) General Annual Meetings twice. The children tennis camps have also been organized for the Central Asian region states in Uzbekistan.

During the last ATF General Annual Meeting, which was held in Tashkent, Annil Hannah (India), the President of ATF, who also reserved his vice-presidential seat in the ITF in Madrid, noted: "Uzbekistan is one of the most respected ATF member states, an unquestionable tennis leader in the Central Asian region.  A lot is being done for the support of tennis by Islam Karimov, the President of Uzbekistan. The Uzbekistan Tennis Federation is very well organized and hosts a number of different tournaments on a high level, while its players take part in all major tournaments.  The establishment of the Republican tennis school for Olympic reserves puts Uzbekistan among the leading tennis countries of the continent. I am convinced that tennis players of Uzbekistan will demonstrate their strengths on the world arena repeatedly."
 
Juan Margets (Spain), the Vice president of ITF, highly marked the work of the Federation as well at the ATF Annual General Meeting.

And it is no surprise that the delegates of the Madrid General Meeting had voted almost unanimously for the increase of the shares of Uzbekistan from 3 to 5. It was an unprecedented decision for the CIS countries: only Russia has 9 shares, other countries have from 1 to 3.
 
And the fact that Uzbekistan Tennis Federation was honored with an 'Award for Services to the Game' significantly proves its role in the world tennis family as a young and independent state.