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Bali Champions event ducks controversy with visa for Peer

Posted : Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:52:40 GMT
By : dpa
Category : Sports
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Bali, Indonesia - Israel Shahar Peer will take her place in the 12-woman field for next week's Bali Tournament of Champions after receiving a controversial Indonesian visa. The possible exclusion by the world's most popular Muslim nation had threatened to erupt into a controversy such as occurred in February in the Gulf emirate of Dubai when the Israeli was denied entry for that event.

But quiet WTA threats to cancel Bali apparently worked with Jakarta and the number 32 Peer will be allowed in.

The Israeli who won titles back-to-back in Guangzhou, China and Tashkent in September, will join a field comprised of tournament winners on the International level of the WTA.

2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France heads the list with Australian Samantha Stosur hoping to complete her breakthrough year when she won her first singles title and played the French Open semis.

The November 4-8 inaugural edition of the round-robin playoff at this tropical resort island offers 600,000 dollars in prize money.

Bartoli returns to Bali, which until this year was a September stop on the Tour, with two trophies in 2009 and a win over five-time Wimbledon winner Venus Williams in the Stanford final.

Stosur picked up singles honours in Osaka, Japan just weeks ago.

Due to the threat from the tropical rainy season, the tournament will be staged in a massive hotel ballroom.

Others in the field include Belgium's US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain, Hungarians Melinda Czink and Agnes Szavay, Aravane Rezai of France and Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.

Wildcards went to Kimiko Date Krumm, who won the Seoul title in a comeback at age 39 and German Sabine Lisicki, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist.

Copyright DPA

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