Mark,
20 years young, is doing his Bachelor's degree in Commerce, at Loyola
College. Come January and he can be found at the Gold Flake
Open (GFO), working as a volunteer at the tournament. He is
part of the scores of youngsters who work behind the scenes for
over a month to make India’s premier tennis event a grand success.
These youngsters, who are part of IMG team, have been working
along with full time staff since October. They are in charge of
various departments; right from transportation to the media centre.
The
Gold Flake Open also means a lot of things to others. 10 year old
Suhas, who is part of his school tennis team, was literally
in seventh heaven after getting to play with Taylor Dent
from USA. The player’s interaction with the kids at the Corporation
Ground, adjacent to the Nungambakkam Stadium, was well
attended, with the whole enclosure teeming with kids. The tennis
stars played with their young admirers and obliged them with autographs.
For each kid, aspiring to be the country's next ‘Leander’
or ‘Mahesh’, it was indeed an exciting, event-filled day.
Then there were the ‘yuppy’ crowds…boys in their ‘Metallica’
t-shirts, ear rings, dyed hair (and their girlfriends in tow).
To them GFO, was just another event, like one big party. And for
one full week, the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium became their ‘hangout’.
Each
year GFO attracts its own celebrities, apart from the international
‘stars’ of tennis. This year Vijay Amirtraj and Anand
Amirtraj were to be found in the commentator’s box, while one
could see the Krishnan’s (Ramesh and Ramanathan) along
with their family in the VIP box. Krishnamachari Srikkanth
was seen obliging enthusiastic autograph seekers. World Chess Champion
Viswanathan Anand was however, the pick of the lot, and was
clearly the cynosure of all eyes. He caused a mini-stampede among
media photographers who were assembled at the venue.
Author : Joseph Pradeep Raj R
Photographs : V Ganesan
12:59:00 PM 
Mark,
20 years young, is doing his Bachelor's degree in Commerce, at Loyola
College. Come January and he can be found at the Gold Flake
Open (GFO), working as a volunteer at the tournament. He is
part of the scores of youngsters who work behind the scenes for
over a month to make India’s premier tennis event a grand success.
These youngsters, who are part of IMG team, have been working
along with full time staff since October. They are in charge of
various departments; right from transportation to the media centre.
The
Gold Flake Open also means a lot of things to others. 10 year old
Suhas, who is part of his school tennis team, was literally
in seventh heaven after getting to play with Taylor Dent
from USA. The player’s interaction with the kids at the Corporation
Ground, adjacent to the Nungambakkam Stadium, was well
attended, with the whole enclosure teeming with kids. The tennis
stars played with their young admirers and obliged them with autographs.
For each kid, aspiring to be the country's next ‘Leander’
or ‘Mahesh’, it was indeed an exciting, event-filled day.
Each
year GFO attracts its own celebrities, apart from the international
‘stars’ of tennis. This year Vijay Amirtraj and Anand
Amirtraj were to be found in the commentator’s box, while one
could see the Krishnan’s (Ramesh and Ramanathan) along
with their family in the VIP box. Krishnamachari Srikkanth
was seen obliging enthusiastic autograph seekers. World Chess Champion
Viswanathan Anand was however, the pick of the lot, and was
clearly the cynosure of all eyes. He caused a mini-stampede among
media photographers who were assembled at the venue.
