Sania Mirza Engagement

Hyderabad, July
11 (IANS):
Tennis star
Sania Mirza found her match in childhood friend Sohrab Mirza as the two
exchanged rings at an engagement ceremony here Friday night that was attended by
industrialists, sportspersons and politicians.

The
22-year-old tennis ace exchanged rings with Sohrab, 23, an MBA student and son
of a city-based businessman. The ceremony was held at a star hotel amid tight
security and was attended by relatives and close friends of the two families.

The engagement
ceremony was held at Taj Krishna, owned by GVK Group of Industries, which had
been sponsoring Sania ever since she started playing at the age of six.

About 300
guests, including 200 from Sania’s side, attended the ceremony. They included
badminton player P. Gopichand, Minister of State for Human Resource D.
Purandareswari, her husband and legislator D. Venkateshawara Rao, Telugu film
actor Vishnu and industrialist G.V.K. Reddy of the GVK Group.

Family sources
said Sania’s parents brought a variety of fruits and sweets for the occasion.
The two sides gifted each other clothes and Sohrab’s family presented jewellery
to Sania.

The guests were
treated to several mouth-watering dishes, including different types of
Hyderabadi ‘biryani’ and ‘qubani ka meetha’ (a type of sweet).

Sania’s family
said the marriage would take place in a couple of years. Her father Imran Mirza
had earlier said that she would focus on her tennis career for now. Sania, who
ranks 85 in the world, will immediately leave for the US Open.

Elaborate
security arrangements were made for the function in the backdrop of the arrest
of two youths, who created a nuisance at Sania’s house during the last two days
claiming that they were in love with her and demanding that her family cancel
the engagement.

About 50
policemen were posted around the hotel and journalists were not allowed into the
hotel. Dozens of photographers and camerapersons of various regional and
national television channels stood at the gate, hoping to get a glimpse of the
tennis star.

Accompanied by
her parents Imran Mirza and Naseema Mirza and younger sister Anam, the tennis
sensation reached the hotel at around 6 p.m.

Earlier, Imran
told the media at his residence to respect their privacy. “Kindly cooperate with
us. This is a simple and private ceremony,” he said.