Ice melts, Sania finally obliges media

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) In the eye of storm after her remarks on pre-marital sex last year, Sania Mirza has been shunning the Indian media for quite a while but finally the ice melted and the star player today came out of her self-imposed exile and talked at length about tennis and fashion -- two things she is synonymous with.

Hyderabad's most popular citizen was here in the capital to launch ''Sania's Summer 06 Collection'' and she walked the ramp obliging shutterbugs, dressed in a black tracksuit and white t-shirt and flaunting her earings and the unmistakable nose-ring.

The teenager, accompanied by her mother Naseema Mirza, was in no mood to address the media and one of the organisers said, ''She was not very keen to talk to the media for obvious reasons. She was misquoted on a number of occasions and that resulted in unwanted controversy. We had to convince her to come here for the unveiling of her signature collection.'' As soon as the unveiling was over, Sania was shoved out by security guards in a jiffy and the assembled mediapersons were taken aback with no customary question-answer session.

Finally the organisers got her back on the dais after repeated requests to the media that the tennis-ace be asked, only about her game and sponsorship.

Sania deftly tackled the questions and did not skirt a single query, ranging from her new coach Asif Ismail, training under legendary Tony Roche, injuries and her attires.

''It gives me immense pleasure to launch my own signature collection. I'm an easygoing person and like to dress in casuals.

Give me a pair of jeans and I'll carry it off. With the likes of (Maria) Sharapova and (Serena and Venus) Williams coming in, tennis court is now the place where you make fashion statement and I think this is good for the game also,'' Sania said.

UNI AY PM KN1325