Vijay Amritraj, the face of the Chennai Open, was conspicuous by his absence as he was not on the podium at the prize distribution ceremony.
Vijay Amritraj, the face of the Chennai Open, was conspicuous by his absence as he was not on the podium at the prize distribution ceremony. He has been keeping a low profile throughout the event. He was not invited for the draw ceremony before the tournament had begun and he was also miffed with the organisers that his son Prakash did not get a wild card. Another reason is that a newspaper mentioned that the legendary Indian tennis player is making more appearance money (Rs 65 lakh) from the International Management Group than the winner in this case, Marin Cilic, who received Rs 30 lakh. Vijay Amritraj
Sold out, but seats vacant!
The IMG and Tamil Nadu Tennis Association had put up a sign at the main ticket office that Friday, Saturday and Sunday's tickets are all sold out.
But there were plenty of vacant seats on all three days. According to the person in the ticket booth, the IMG gets 30 per cent of the quota of seats. Well TNTA and IMG, the question one begs to ask if a sign outside said 'Tickets Sold Out' why were there so many empty seats?
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Making all the right moves
Slovakian tennis player Lukas Lacko who reached the quarter-finals not only has good moves on the tennis court, but also on the dance floor. He showed some nifty moves and also made a whacky pink cocktail at a tennis party at The Park.u00a0 Also spotted were India cricketers L Balaji and S Badrinath. While Balaji refused to speak to this reporter, Badrinath was quite courteous. "I was disappointed not to make it to Bangladesh, but hopefully I will find a place when South Africa tours India in February,"u00a0 said Badrinath
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