With tennis, floats and clinics Kolkata enters into festive groove

Kolkata, Sep 15 (UNI) Durga Puja seems to have arrived a couple of weeks early, for Kolkata is rocking already to the festive tune thanks to the divas of world tennis led by none other than Martina Hingis.

The tennis carnival is on a roll as the stars led by Martina Hingis arrived at the metro for the Sunfeast Open, that will also feature fashion shows, floats and clinics done by no other than Sania Mirza.

Some of the top tier glam ladies of tennis world will set the Netaji Indoor Stadium ablaze with their rocking shots and baseline rallies. But that is not all.

Tournament director Jaidip Mukherjea told UNI, ''In all probability Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza will do a couple of tennis clinics in the city during their stay to motivate the youngsters.'' ''While one of the clinics is scheduled to be sponsored by ITC the other is due to be sponsored by Peerless,'' he said.

GloboSports spokesperson, the organisers of the tournament, told UNI, ''Last year we did a buggy ride along the Ganges, this time we are planning a float along the river. This will be a variation from what we did last time.'' There are certain other shows that have been kept under the wraps as a surprise during the tournament.

Meanwhile, Mr Mukherjea said, ''We will have some very special guests for the opening ceremony. While Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will inaugurate the Open, Sourav Ganguly and Baichung Bhutia wuill be invited along with Mr P K Banerjee and Chuni Goswami.'' Ganguly is a personal friend of Mahesh Bhupathi and he will have a talk with Sourav Ganguly. Besides Sania would also like to see him in the galleries watching her play.

The city is also gearing up for the fiesta, with ticket sales picking up. ''Last year the tickets came in late. However, this year there will be no such problems,'' he said.

The turf on the stadium has also been given a purple hue so that the line calls with green balls became all the more better. While finishing touches are being given to the venue, the organisers are happy with the proceedings.

''We are used to working under heavy pressure. So this is not unusual to us,'' the GloboSports spokesperson said.

During the tournaments, on weekdays a section of the gallery has been left for school children to come and watch the game without paying any price. This will be a big boost for the tennis aspirants and enthusiasts to see their stars perform before their eyes.

UNI BA MQA PM1203