New Delhi, Oct 26 (IANS): Mukund Sasikumar, Riya Bhatia with Sahaja Yamalapalli will be part of the players’ pool of the auction for the fifth edition of the Pro Tennis League (PTL), set to take place here at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium on Saturday.

A total of eight teams will be vying for 40 players in the auctions, divided into five categories- Men’s Pro (1 player), Women’s Pro (1 player), Next-Gen Men’s Pro (1 player), Next-Gen Women’s Pro* (1 player) and Masters Player - 1 player (already allocated).?

Mukund has a career-high ATP singles ranking of 229 achieved on 17 October 2019. He also has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of 431 achieved on 3 February 2020, while Riya has a career-high WTA ranking 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 had the highest rank of 380 in singles and 513 in the 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.?

"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," Pro Tennis Business Development Head, Abhijeet Dangat said.

Base price for all categories:?

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-0points