Prince Edward all glued to tennis match (Tennis snippets)

NEW DELHI - Rohan Bopanna and Nirupama Sanjeev had a royal audience in Prince Edward during their first round mixed doubles match against Australians Paul Hanley and Anastasia Rodionova at the centre court of the R.K.Khanna Tennis Complex here Monday.

Edward, the youngest son of British monarch Queen Elizabeth II, saw a part of the match during the afternoon. He also spoke to some organising committee officials at the venue.

Edward had also been to the S.P. Mukerjee stadium where the swimming event is taking place.

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The non-functional giant screen

The giant screen at the centre court in the tennis venue did not function through the day. The screen was supposed to show the hawk eye results as well as the match replays.

Instead, the hawk eye results had to be relayed through a walkie-talkie.

The media tribe, however, had screens at their tables and were spared the chaos.

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Sparse crowd at stadium

Tennis attracted sparse crowds on its debut day at the Games with most of the stands occupied by Organising Committee officials and volunteers.

The heat and the fact that Monday is a weekday also did not help.

The ticket sales has been shrouded in mystery with the All India Tennis Association (AITA) washing off its hands saying it was the responsibility of the Press Information Bureau.