Mahesh Bhupathi and Jaidip Mukerjea in the city on Wednesday

Calcutta: After a successful debut in 2005, the WTA Sunfeast Open will return in September.

In fact, the women’s event will be a feature of the city’s sporting calendar till at least 2009, announced Ravi Naware, Divisional Chief Executive, ITC Limited (Foods Business), at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

The biggest Tier III WTA event in Asia, organised by Globosport under the auspices of the state government, will once again be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium from September 18 -24 with a prize money of $ 170,000.

“I’m sure this edition will attract some of the biggest names in the world. We are in negotiations with a number of players, but the names will be known only six weeks before the tournament. Maybe we will know something after Wimbledon,” said Mahesh Bhupathi, managing director of Globosport.

Tournament director Jaidip Mukerjea added: “We hope to have most of the players in the draw from the top-100 in the world. We are working in that direction.”

Last year, after Sania Mirza’s second-round loss, footfall had drastically fallen. Are any plans in place to deal with such eventuality this year? “Well everyone wants to see Sania win,” smiled Bhupathi, “When Sania won the doubles in Bangalore, there were 7000 rooting for her. At the Netaji Indoor last year, when the Uberoi sisters, Shikha and Neha, made it to the doubles final, we had a good turnout. But we cannot always bank on our stars to emerge on top.”

And does he harbour any worries about Sania’s fitness? “None whatsoever,” came the prompt reply, “she should be fit by the end of this month.” Plagued by injuries, Sania is taking a three-week break from the court.