Delhi likely to host next Davis Cup tie

Squashing all speculation about Kolkata hosting the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup Group I semi-final against Japan, a senior Bengal Tennis Association (BTA) functionary said Wednesday that Delhi is the likely venue for the encounter.

"As of now, the April 4-6 tie is in Delhi," said BTA secretary Hiranmoy Chatterjee, who also an executive council member of the All India Tennis Association (AITA).

Chatterjee said initially the South Club courts in Kolkata was considered as the venue, but the idea was dropped looking at the huge expenses involved.

"We initially thought about holding it in Kolkata, but Delhi would be cost-effective," he said.

"We can hold the tie, but the expense would be around a whopping Rs. 2.2 million which is huge."

Media reports Wednesday quoted Chatterjee as saying that the tie will be held at the lush green South Club grass courts, but he said Wednesday the main reason for not playing it in Kolkata is the lack of permanent stands at South Club.

"The main reason is that we don't have permanent stands. If we intend to hold the tie, we have to make three temporary stands which would cost us around Rs.8 million," he said.

He also said that they were not so eager to hold the tie as Kolkata had hosted 10 Davis Cup ties, including World Group encounters.

"We would not have thought about the expenses had it been a World Group tie," said Chatterjee.

India entered the semi-final last week, beating Uzbekistan 3-2 at the R. K. Khanna Stadium in the national Capital.