Putting to rest all speculations, and disappointing tennis fans in the city, WTA official Jill Hausler announced here today that Sania Mirza has pulled out of the Sunfeast Open. A sprain in her right wrist was given as the reason for the pull-out. Sania will also miss next week’s WTA meet in Seoul, but is expected to play in Tokyo the week after.

“I was looking forward to this and am very upset that this injury is keeping me away from the courts. My fans here have always been very supportive and I was keen to perform well in Kolkata. I wish all the players, especially my Indian compatriots, a great and exciting tournament,” Sania said in a statement.

Lucky loser Sandy Gumulya of Indonesia will replace the Indian star in the draw and take on Sunitha Rao tomorrow.

The Indian star, who has been promoted by organisers Globosport from her early days in the international circuit, was the star attraction of the third Sunfeast Open WTA meet, and her recent success in the US hard court series made her a huge draw.

Today, coming out for a practice session at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, she lasted for only about five minutes. The discomfort was obvious as she kept rolling her wrist as she hit with Enrico Piperno. And finally, taking the wristband off, she walked away, keeping the speculations alive.

This morning, during a promotional event organised by one of the sponsors, Sania’s discomfort was also evident as she, along with Mahesh Bhupathi, played an exhibition match on a barge on the river Hooghly.