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Cause to bid for
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Auction of tennis memorabilia at a charity evening
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PHOTO: S.S.KUMAR
ALL FOR ONE Vijay Amritraj at the auction
Autographed T-shirts and tennis racquets, posters and photographs, holiday packages to Goa and a trip to the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai. Two weeks training at the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy in Florida and tickets for two days at the U.S. Open
tennis tournament in New York City. Oh, and one very, very expensive cup of coffee with the Chennai Open’s defending champion Xavier Malisse.
Those were just some of the items on the auction list at the Rolex Charity Evening held at the Taj Coromandel recently. And with these, the charity auction, which always accompanies the Chennai Open tennis tournament, raised the highest amount it ever has in its 12-year history.
Held on a cool and windy evening at the poolside of the hotel, the auction was conducted by Vijay Amritraj, who kept his audience entertained—and bidding— with his smooth banter and witticisms. In total, the audience raised Rs. 8.2 lakhs for the seven items on the list, and sponsors Rolex contributed Rs. 2.5 lakhs. “We’ve crossed my target of Rs. 10 lakhs for the evening, so I’m thrilled,” said Amritraj. The highest bid of the evening was of Rs. 2.6 lakhs for two tickets on two days of the U.S. Open, plus two autographed t-shirts and four nights in Manhattan with the airline tickets thrown in. And then there was the Rs. 25,000 bid for a chance to have coffee with the Belgian player, Malisse, who walked away with both the singles and doubles titles at the Chennai Open last year.
“I have only good memories of Chennai, so it’s great to be back,” said Malisse, who was present to hand over the cheque to the beneficiaries of the auction. “Everything came together for me here last year.” The proceeds of the auction went towards the Tanker Foundation, which provides financial support as well as access to subsidised and free dialysis for patients suffering from kidney disease, and Balavidyalaya, an early intervention centre and school for young hearing-impaired children that gives them a chance to enter the mainstream educational system. The evening also featured a performance by Prem Kumar on the drums accompanied by Hari Krishnan (keyboards), Anu (bass guitar) and Master Kuberan (also on the drums), and ended with a well-earned dinner for the charitable audience members.
DIVYA KUMAR
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