Sania Mirza has made us proud again. On Monday, the tennis ace became the first Indian to win the Fed Cup Heart Award for making a successful return to the court post motherhood after securing a whopping 10,000 plus votes. Sania Mirza then donated the prize money to Telangana CM's Relief Fund. Online voting is used to determine the results of the Fed Cup Heart Award.
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Sania Mirza wins Fed cup heart, donates prize money
The 33-year-old won the award for Asia/Oceania zone. She secured a whopping 10,000 plus votes out of the total 16,985 casts for this year's three regional Group I nominees. Sania Mirza defeated Indonesia's 16-year-old Priska Madelyn Nugroho for this award. The online voting by went on from 1st May to 8th May.
"It's an honour to win the Fed Cup Heart Award as the first Indian. I dedicate this award to the entire country and to all my fans and thank everyone for voting for me. I hope to bring more laurels to the country in the future," the 33-year-old said in a statement issued by the All India Tennis Association (AITA).
Sania donates the prize money
The six-time Grand Slam champion, Mirza decided to donate the prize money to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. USD 2,000 was the prize money given to the winners in each category.
"I want to donate the money that I get from this award to the Telangana Chief Minister's Relief Fund as the world is going through very difficult times with the virus," said Sania.
"It's an honour to win the Fed Cup Heart Award as the first Indian. I dedicate this award to the entire country and to all my fans and thank everyone for voting for me. I hope to bring more laurels to the country in the future."
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Other winners
Anett Kontaveit of Estonia emerged as a winner from Europe/Africa. Fernanda Contreras Gomez of Mexico emerged as a winner from the Americas region.
Fed Cup Heart Award
The Fed Cup Heart award is an initiative by the ITF (International Tennis Federation). The award aims at recognizing and honouring the players who have represented their country with distinction, have shown exceptional courage on the court, and demonstrated outstanding commitment to the team during the Fed Cup. The first award was given to Melanie Oudin of America in the Fed Cup finals of 2009.
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Saumya Tiwari is an intern with SheThePeople.TV
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