Kolkata: With information on the condition of tennis ace Leander Paes coming only in trickles, anxious members of the Calcutta South Club on August 23 held candle-lit prayers for the well-being of their very own "Lee".

The green lawns of the club, where Paes learnt the "a-b-c" of tennis, were crowded with seniors and young trainees, who held aloft candles in the twilight hours to wish the local boy a speedy recovery.

Leading the prayers of this motley group of about 50 people were former Test cricketer Arun Lal, ex- soccer star Chuni Goswami and tennis coach Akhtar Ali.

"We are concerned for Leander. He was virtually brought up here. We pray to God that he recovers soon and returns to the tennis court in the next couple of months," Ali said in his brief speech after the prayers.

Leander is now being treated for a brain cyst at the M D Anderson Cancer Centre in Orlando.

PTI