Mukund, Riya and Sahaja up for grabs at Pro Tennis League auction[?]
Oct 26, 2023
New Delhi [India], October 26 : The auction for the fifth edition of the Pro Tennis League (PTL) is set to take place on October 28, 2023, at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium in New Delhi. A total of eight teams will be vying for 40 players in the auctions.
Mukund Sasikumar, Riya Bhatia with Sahaja Yamalapalli will be part of the players' pool for the auction. The 40 Players participating have been divided into five categories. The team composition will be as following: 1. Men's Pro (1 player), 2. Women's Pro (1 player), 3. Next-Gen Men's Pro (1 player), 4. Next-Gen Women's Pro* (1 player) and 5. Masters Player - 1 player (already allocated).
Mukund Sasikumar has a career high ATP singles ranking of 229 achieved on October 17, 2019. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of 431 achieved on February 3, 2020, while Riya Bhatia has career-high WTA rankings of 338 in singles, achieved on March 2, 2020, and 387 in doubles, reached on May 17, 2021. She has won three singles and three doubles titles at tournaments of the ITF Women's Circuit and Sahaja Yamalapalli had highest rank of 380 in singles and 513 in doubles category.
The pattern to be implemented to run the auction will be decided by the draw of lots before the start of the auction. Within the process, each set of players will be exhausted first and only then the auction will move to the next set of players.
Team members will be given a virtual budget of 1,00,00,000 points for the process. This means that each of the players in the pool has been already given notional values after significant research by PTL Sports Group. The bidding process for each player will start at the players' minimum bidding price and can maximum go up to the cap or ceiling price that has been stated by the league excel sheet that will be present and will be dynamic. No team will be allowed to exceed their budget.
Speaking on the occasion, Pro Tennis Business Development Head, Abhijeet Dangat said, "As we gather for the players' auction, we see more than just bids and numbers. We witness the spirit of determination, the thrill of potential, and the promise of greatness by these budding players. I would like to wish all the team owners best of luck ahead of the season and hope to see some thrilling and entertaining matches in the league."
The base price for all categories is:
* Men's Pro - 10,00,000 points
* Women's Pro - 10,00,000 points
* Next-Gen Men's Pro - 5,00,000 points
* Next-Gen Women's Pro - 5,00,000 points
The minimum balance required by team owners after bidding of each player will be -
* Men's Pro - 1 player - 20,00,000 points
* Women's Pro - 1 player - 10,00,000 points
* Next-Gen Men's Pro - 1 player - 5,00,000 points
* Next-Gen Women's Pro - 1 player - 0 points.
