BLACKBURN'S Gail Atherton has successfully qualified for the main draw of the Hastings Direct National Tennis Championships at Bolton, which started on Monday.

Twenty one year old Atherton, who also qualified for the event last year but lost in the first round, faces an uphill task against second see Lucie Ahl from Devon in the first round.

Eight girls qualified for the main draw, and Durham & Cleveland's Jo Ward, winner of the Nationals title back in 1994, was one of them. Ward faces 1999 winner Lorna Woodroffe from Surrey in the first round.

Following the withdrawal of British number one, Scotland's Elena Baltacha, who injured her back on Friday, two times Nationals winner Julie Pullin is this week's number one seed. The former British number one from Sussex meets 600 plus lower placed Annabel Youthed from Berkshire in the opening round.

In the same half of the draw, Lancashire's Jane O'Donoghue meets Amanda Janes from Essex, and if all goes according to the seedings O'Donoghue will have a semi finals clash with Pullin in Friday's semi finals.

Ticket details:

The ticket prices range from £4 to £8 on finals day. Concession prices are available and once again the Kids Go Free scheme is on offer to adults buying a full priced ticket. The ticket hotline number is Tel. 01204 488178.

Hastings Direct's £400,000, three-year deal with the Lawn Tennis Association covers 25 British Tour events throughout the year with an additional five junior events in southern England.

The Kids Zone will be in operation at the Bolton Arena from Tuesday, October 22, to Friday, October 25. There are two sessions a day featuring children aged 10 and under with plenty of fun activities taking place.

Schedule:

Men's qualifying: Friday to Sunday, October 18 to 20.

Men's main draw: Monday to Saturday, October 21 to 26.

Women's qualifying: Saturday to Sunday, October 19 to 20.

Women's main draw: Monday to Saturday, October 21 to 26.

Main draw acceptance list

Men: Martin Lee (Sussex); Arvind Parmar (Hertfordshire).