Sania decides to marry; wedding bell ringing

India’s most popular tennis ace Sania Mirza has finally chosen her prince charming, according to her family. The lucky guy is not some high-flying tennis star or celebrity, instead, he is a childhood sweetheart, Hyderabad's Sohrab Mirza.

The 22-year-old, who is the most successful woman tennis player of the country, will continue playing the game and her father Imran Mirza said it will take a while before the two families decide on when the wedding would take place.

"This is to confirm that Sania Mirza is engaged to Mr. Muhammad Sohrab Mirza, whose family hails from the city of Hyderabad. Although not related, the two families have had friendly ties for several decades. However, the wedding is not expected to take place for a while," Imran Mirza said.

"I would like to state that the news appearing in certain sections of the media about the two maternal grandmothers having fixed the liaison is baseless. It has also been wrongly projected that Sania is contemplating early retirement from tennis. These reports are absolutely untrue," he said.

The families of Sania and Sohrab have been friends for years. They discussed the proposal some time back and agreed, a source said.

Sobrab is the son of Adil Mirza and Noora Begum, owners of the Universal Bakers chain in the city, which is quite popular in the elite circles of the city.

Sohrab, 23, is a year older than Sania. After a B Com from St Mary's College, he took admission in a British university for an MBA. He is expected to fly to UK soon.

Adil's father, Samad Shakebai, better known as Samad Seth, is an Iranian businessman.

Early in his career in Hyderabad, he was a caterer to Prince Azam Jah, the eldest son of the last Nizam. He married into Hyderabadi nobility - Shaheda Begum. While Seth set up restaurants, Begum was involved in social work, essentially girls' education. They have three sons - Kamran, Nariman and Adil, and a daughter. The family is now into real estate business.

"The marriage date has not been fixed. Sania wishes to continue playing for some more time while the boy is still studying. It might take some time before the families agree on a date," the source said.