Sania Mirza is Telangana brand ambassador; gets Rs 1-cr grant

Ahead of participating in major tournaments such as the US Open over the next year, tennis player Sania Mirza was on Tuesday named “Brand Ambassador of Telangana” and given a grant of Rs 1 crore by the state government.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao handed over the certificate of appointment to Sania during an industrial policy meeting here on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old tennis player had on Monday visited the chief minister at the secretariat to confirm her ambassadorship.

“Sania is a daughter of Hyderabad. She is an international tennis player at the fifth rank (women’s doubles). We are proud of her and hope that she reached the top rank. We wish her all the best,” Rao said while handing her the Rs 1 crore cheque and certificate.

Sania, who became a professional player in 2003 and overcame a career-threatening wrist injury in between, has entered the top five in Women’s Tennis Association rankings for the first time in her career.

Many people, however, are surprised by Rao’s move to grant such a large sum of money to the tennis player, who at the age of 27 is heading towards the twilight of her career, while other budding athletes in the state are still awaiting governmental support.

Sania’s earlier request for a land grant to set up a tennis academy was turned down by former chief ministers Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, Rosaiah and Kiran Kumar Reddy.