There was a further Indian connection in the main draw of the WTA Sunfeast Open 2005 with Sunitha Rao being drafted into the main draw in place of German Marlene Weingartner, who has pulled out.

Rao, a US citizen of Indian origin, is ranked 161 in the WTA Tour rankings, one step lower than the German.

"It's a great opportunity. I am thrilled. I shall try to make the most of it," said the New Jersey-born player, originally in Kolkata to play the qualifiers.

Rao, who turns 21 next month, would be the fourth Indian in the main draw after second seed Sania Mirza [Images], Shikha Uberoi and wild card Neha Uberoi.

Rao had a career highest singles ranking of 152 in 2003 but slipped in the rankings last year when she failed to qualify in the WTA events in Memphis, Vancouver and New Haven and the 2005 US Open [Images].

Though she qualified for the Seoul WTA Open, her challenge ended in the first round itself.

On the ITF circuit, Rao reached two singles finals and won the doubles title in one of the three tourneys where she made it to the summit round.

In May this year, Rao qualified for the main draw at Strasbourg, but could not proceed beyond the first round.

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