News

Chennai, Tuesday, December 29, 2009: India's only ATP World Tour Tennis Tournament, Aircel Chennai Open 2010 has identified ten successful youngsters as 'Ball Kids'. Qualified kids are all set to experience an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of interacting with tennis stars by passing the balls, towels and drinks to the players.

Ten Ball Kids in the age group of 12-16 years qualified for this unique opportunity by undergoing training under the watchful eyes of 6 coaches. The ten lucky ball kids are R. Mahesh, M. Ayush, R. Rajath, S. Ramaneshwar, R. Aravind, S. Akshay, S. Gautam Swaminath, Yash Ahuja, Karthikeyan and Jack Nithavrianakis.

Over 100 enthusiastic kids participated in the selection which was based on factors such as basic knowledge of tennis, hand-eye coordination, speed and agility. The event was held during the last week of December to give interested kids an opportunity to participate at the event during Christmas and New Year holidays.

Sharing the success of Ball Kids activity, Mr. Gurdeep Singh, COO, Aircel, said, "I congratulate these young enthusiasts and hope this further encourages them to nurture their talent in the future. The selected kids will get an opportunity to rub shoulders with the tennis stars, making their dream a reality."

Mr. Ravi Krishnan, Director - IMG South Asia, Senior Vice President - IMG said, "In order to encourage young kids to take up tennis, have fun, and may be find a future champion, we created activities like 'Aircel Ball Kids'.