Tennis legend Bjorn Borg had to walk away from a ceremony to honour him in India’s Bangalore (Bengaluru) city after a top politician turned up almost two hours late.
Borg was to be honoured on Tuesday by Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister of Karnataka state, of which Bangalore is the capital.
The programme was scheduled for 9.30am but Mr Bommai arrived at 11.15am.
By then, Borg had stepped away to watch his son Leo’s tennis match.
An unnamed official from the organising committee told the Deccan Herald newspaper that the chief minister was delayed due to “some of his other commitments”.
It’s not uncommon for politicians and celebrities to turn up late – sometime by several hours – at events in India.
After Mr Bommai arrived at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) stadium, he watched Leo’s match with Taiwanese tennis player Hsu Yu-hsiou for about 20 minutes before leaving. The ceremony to honour Borg was cancelled later.
Former Indian tennis star Vijay Amritraj was also set to be honoured along with Borg.
Sunil Yajaman, joint secretary of KSLTA, said that they decided to cancel the programme as Amritraj felt it would be “inappropriate” for him to be honoured alone.
“Both of them will be felicitated at the chief minister’s office tomorrow or the day after,” he told BBC Hindi.
Leo was playing in the Bengaluru Tennis Open being held at the KSLTA. The 19-year-old lost the match 6-2, 6-3.
Borg later signed his photograph at the KSLTA’s Hall of Fame during a dinner hosted in his honour by Amritraj.
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10 August 2022
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