Indian expat in Dubai wins Big Ticket prize twice in 2 days – after picking her own number

Lightning struck not once but twice for Indian expat Saritha Sekhar Battepati, who clinched back-to-back cash prizes in Big Ticket’s ‘Race and Luxury Yacht’ experience at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The Dubai-based IT professional was one of 30 lucky participants selected during the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend to play for Dh10,000, Dh20,000 and a grand prize of Dh250,000.

On Day 1, show hosts drew the winning number that secured Saritha Dh10,000. The next day, in a twist straight out of a movie, Saritha was invited onstage to pick the winning number for the new game and ended up choosing her own, winning Dh10,000 again.
“I was excitedly waiting to see whose number I had picked, and then I was told to check my own number. I had picked my own winning number.”

The expat from Andhra Pradesh was left speechless by the double strike of luck.

“I have been participating for the past six to seven years. We are a group of 10 people, sometimes up to 15, all colleagues and friends,” she said, still buzzing from the experience. “This is the first time I’ve won anything like this in my life.”

“Not much,” she laughed. “Earlier, I used birthdays and special dates. This time it was completely random and the number I picked ended up being the lucky one,” she said, pointing to ticket 205256, which secured her spot among the 30 participants.

Also, all 30 participants, including Saritha, received Dh10,000 in cash, bringing her total winnings to Dh30,000 from the F1 weekend experience.

Saritha plans to share the winnings with her friend and save the rest for her son’s education.

And after a weekend like this, she’s not stopping anytime soon.

“Yes, I was hoping to win. With only 30 people, the chances were high. You must keep hoping,” she added. “I’ll definitely continue buying tickets.”