Rediff

Kolkata, Dec 1: India's tennis ace Leander Paes has been elected as one of the seven vice-presidents of Bengal Tennis Association (BTA).

The Kolkata ace, who now lives in Mumbai, was not present at the Annual General Meeting on Saturday but has accepted the new role, which was offered to him sometime back.

"Leander has shown keen interest for the development of tennis in this state. So he was a unanimous choice, as were all other office-bearers," BTA secretary Hironmoy Chatterjee, who has been re-elected at their 67th AGM, said in a statement on Sunday.

BTA also has two high-profile vice-presidents in Olympian Chuni Goswami and former Davis Cup coach Akhtar Ali.

"Leander will play an important role to develop the sport in the state. He has different ideas. One is to set up a tennis centre of excellence in the city and we can work together to achieve our goals of producing world-class players," Chatterjee added.

Asked how Paes, who travels throughout the year for his assignments, would manage the demands of the post, Chatterjee said, "We don't expect him to be here for all the time, but he has assured me he will come if there's an important meeting provided he's not playing."

Captain Sushil Mehrotra has been appointed president, a post fallen vacant after Manik Goswami's death last month.