One of the highlights of the Pattaya sporting calendar, the WTA Tour women’s professional tennis tournament, which is now in its 24th year, will have a name change in 2015 and revert back to its original name the “PTT Thailand Open”, which was initially used in 2005.
Whilst the tournament will go-ahead as planned next year from 8–15 February at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Pattaya, there is increasing uncertainty over the future of the event due to funding cuts from the principle sponsors of the tournament.
The Pattaya women’s tennis open has drawn top stars to the seaside city for the past 23 years.
Tournament Director, Geoffrey Rowe stated, “The long running support from Pattaya City and Chonburi province was terminated for 2015 as the local authorities were informed they were no longer allowed to support international sporting events. At the same time funding from other key sponsors has also been cut which means the financial viability of the tournament is at risk. We have no option but to go-ahead with the tournament in 2015 but we need to seriously consider the situation beyond next year. It is a great pity as the tournament is Thailand’s longest running professional sporting event and we were looking forward to celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2016.”
Rowe continued, “We renamed the tournament the PTT Thailand Open to reflect the status of the event as it is the only remaining world tour tennis tournament in Thailand, since the demise of the ATP Thailand Open 2 years ago. The name was originally used for the tournament in 2005 when it was first held in Bangkok, so it is basically reverting back to the original name of the tournament.”
The PTT Thailand Open will take place over 8 days in 2015, with the qualifying rounds being held on 8-9 February and the main draw commencing from 9 February and running through to the finals on Sunday 15 February.
Tickets are currently on sale at the following prices: Sunday 8 February (qualifying) 300 baht; Monday 9 – Sunday 15 February: 300, 500, 800 and 1,200 baht. All tickets cover access to the matches for the whole day and special rates are available for groups or weekly passes.
For further information on the tournament, contact Pentangle Promotions Co., Ltd on: Tel: 02-3113414/5 or via the website at www.pentanglepromotions.com.
