Marriage muddle strengthened relationship
Saturday, 17 April 2010
NEW DELHI, Apr 16 (AFP): Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has said her relationship with her new husband, Pakistan cricket star Shoaib Malik, emerged stronger from controversy over claims he was already married.
Mirza and Malik married Monday after a settlement was reached with the family of Ayesha Siddiqui, an Indian woman who said she wed the former Pakistan cricket captain in 2002.
"It was a great test for our relationship and for our families and they supported us wholeheartedly ... they were there for us," Mirza said in comments broadcast Friday by the NDTV television network.
Malik denied marrying Siddiqui, but her family said he had agreed to sign divorce papers as part of a settlement that would allow his wedding with Mirza to go ahead.
Mirza said her husband had been honest with her throughout the saga, which transfixed millions in India and Pakistan for days.
"We did not even have one argument because we were honest and I think that is why our relationship got a lot, lot stronger," the tennis player said. "There was a lot of things that we learnt," said Mirza, who is currently recovering from a wrist injury that has seen her world ranking slip from 27 in 2007 to 89.
Mirza and Malik married Monday after a settlement was reached with the family of Ayesha Siddiqui, an Indian woman who said she wed the former Pakistan cricket captain in 2002.
"It was a great test for our relationship and for our families and they supported us wholeheartedly ... they were there for us," Mirza said in comments broadcast Friday by the NDTV television network.
Malik denied marrying Siddiqui, but her family said he had agreed to sign divorce papers as part of a settlement that would allow his wedding with Mirza to go ahead.
Mirza said her husband had been honest with her throughout the saga, which transfixed millions in India and Pakistan for days.
"We did not even have one argument because we were honest and I think that is why our relationship got a lot, lot stronger," the tennis player said. "There was a lot of things that we learnt," said Mirza, who is currently recovering from a wrist injury that has seen her world ranking slip from 27 in 2007 to 89.