Sania to play Colombian Catalina in Pattaya Open first round

Pattaya, Thailand, Feb 4 (UNI) Sania Mirza has been seeded fifth and will take on Catalina Castano of Colombia in the first round of the 170,000 dollar Pattaya Open starting tomorrow.

Catalina is ranked 64th in the world to Sania's 48, but if the Indian manages to upstage the higher ranked Colombian then she will have a comparatively easier second round against much lower-ranked players -- either local challenger Tamarine Tanasugarn (85th) or Yung-Jan Chan (83rd) of Chinese Taipei.

If Sania continues winning, she could find herself up against third seed Mara Santangelo of Italy in the quarter-finals and second seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko in the last four.

France's Marion Bartoli has been seeded first while China's Shuai Peng has been given fourth seeding in the tier IV event.

Sania has a busy schedule in the coming weeks as after Pattaya Open, she will be seen in action in the Bangalore Open starting February 13. The world number 48 Indian will be up against some tough challenge with the reigning Australian Open champion Serena Williams being the biggest name in the draw.

UNI