TRIUMPH-Web Version-J2

["TRENDSETTERS","TRENDSETTERS","TRENDSETTERS (From left) India's Premjit Lall and Jaidip Mukerjea in action against the Mexican pair of Antonio Palafox and Osuna during their doubles match in the Davis Cup Inter-Zone championship at Island Ground, Chennai, December 1, 1962. The Mexicans notched up a thumping 5-0 win; (above) members of the Indian Davis Cup team \u2013 Mukerjea, Ramanathan Krishnan,Akhtar Ali and Lall","TRENDSETTERS India's best tennis singles player ever, Ramanathan Krishnan Jaidip Mukerjea, considered one of the \ufb01nest tennis players in executing a forehand drive against Panajotovic in the men's India in action against two-time Wimbledon semi\ufb01nalist singles semi-\ufb01nal of the South India Tennis Championship at the Ramanathan Krishnan at the Asian Tennis Championship held in Egmore Stadium in Chennai on February 13, 1959 Kolkata on February 9, 1964. Dilip Bose, the former Asian and national champion, took Mukerjea under his wings at the Rajkumari Amrit Kaur Tennis Coaching Scheme in 1954","TRENDSETTERS Premjit Lall, the debonair star of Indian tennis in the 1960s and Former Davis Cupper Naresh Kumar who caused a major upset, early 1970s, in action in the men's singles of the National Hard defeating British ace A. J. Mottram, making a low forehand return Court Tennis Championship against former world No.1 during the National Lawn Tennis Championship at Kolkata in this Romanian Ilie Nastase (not see in the photograph) at Egmore photograph dated December 30, 1952. The Indian tennis icon Stadium in Chennai, January 5, 1969 was multi-faceted: a tennis player, sports commentator, successful entrepreneur, tropical aquarium \ufb01sh breeder and art collector, all rolled in one","TRENDSETTERS Premjit Lall (left) watches as doubles partner S.P. Misra \ufb01nishes an overhead shot during the Eastern Zone Davis Cup match against Iran in Ahmedabad on April 16, 1966","TRENDSETTERS Members of the 1966 Indian Davis Cup team, Jaidip Mukerjea (from right), Ramanathan Krishnan, S.P. Misra with Ajit Lall (brother of the late Premjit Lall) at a felicitation event in Chennai on January 9, 2010","","PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA \u2018\u2018 \u2018\u2018 Healthy people, healthy families and healthy society, this is the way to make the New India the best India. -Narendra Modi","The iconic Vijay Amritraj in the tense decider of the Davis Cup Eastern Zone \ufb01nal against Australia's Bob Giltinan in Kolkata, played in 1974.The Indian ace pocketed the match 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to set up a summit clash for India in the Davis Cup for the second time. The match, is considered by many as one of the greatest victories for India in the Davis Cup. The Eastern Zone \ufb01nal also set the Davis Cup record for the most games in a tie (327), a mark that stands even today","TRAILBLAZERS","TRAILBLAZERS The Amritraj brothers, Anand and Vijay walk across to the airport terminal on their return to Chennai on April 26, 1973 after a successful tennis outing, which included the Davis Cup victory over Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur. The brothers were the semi\ufb01nalist in the 1976 Wimbledon men's doubles and part of the Indian team which reached the Davis Cup \ufb01nals in both 1974 and 1987","TRAILBLAZERS Vijay Amritraj (centre) sharing a lighter moment with his sons, Davis Cupper Prakash Amritraj (right) and Vikram Amritraj at the Nungambakkam tennis court in Chennai on December 24, 2005","TRAILBLAZERS The unassuming legend with an exquisite game, Ramesh Krishnan achieved a career-best world ranking of 23 in 1985, notched up wins over some of the world's best tennis players, Mats Wilander, Jimmy Connors and Pat Cash, and was part of the Indian Davis Cup team which reached the \ufb01nals in 1987","TRAILBLAZERS The Krishnan family have a tennis association with Delhi Gymkhana Club over three generations \u2013 the great Ramanathan Krishnan, his father,T.K. Ramanathan, and son Ramesh have relished playing on the grass lawns of the club","TRAILBLAZERS Jasjit Singh played in the 1974 Davis Cup tie against Japan Nandan Bal represented India in two Davis Cup ties \u2013 and Australia. He competed in the main singles draw of all against South Korea in 1980 and against Thailand in 1986. four Grand Slam tournaments and his biggest success The Pune-based Bal was also part of the silver medal- came in the mixed doubles, a quarter-\ufb01nal appearance at winning Indian team at 1982 Asian Games the 1973 US Open, with Ilana Kloss","TRAILBLAZERS India's Davis Cup crusaders across generations pose one for the memory. (From left) Jaidip Mukerjea, Ramesh Krishnan, Naresh Kumar, Vijay Amritraj and Leander Paes. (Back row) Mahesh Bhupathi,Anand Amritraj and Enrico Piperno","","","Known as the 'Indian Express', the chemistry between the most successful pair of Indian tennis, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi was explosive both on and off the court. In this picture, the duo is seen in action against Simon Aspelin and Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden during the doubles match of the Davis Cup World Group playoff tie in New Delhi on September 25, 2005","DREAM DOUBLES","DREAM DOUBLES","DREAM DOUBLES (From left) Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi after winning their doubles match against Denis Istomin and Murad Inoyatov of Uzbekistan during the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I second round at the jai Club in Jaipur, April 30, 2005. 'Lee-Hesh' became the \ufb01rst Indian pair to win a Grand Slam title; the duo with their trophies in the 2011 Chennai Open","DREAM DOUBLES One of the most popular sports icons in the country, Leander Paes interacting with young tennis players and their coaches in Kolkata","DREAM DOUBLES Mahesh Bhupathi is obliging autograph-hunters at a tournament in Chennai","DREAM DOUBLES Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi sharing a lighter moment during practice, on eve of India's Davis Cup World Group playoff against Brazil in Chennai, September 16, 2010","DREAM DOUBLES The \u201cLee-Hesh\u201d pair proved to be one of the best doubles pair in tennis \u2013 winning three Grand Slams titles, 25 ATP Tour titles, rising to world No.1 and still holding the Davis Cup record for the longest streak of doubles victories, 24 wins. Here, the doubles pair exult after clinching their match against Japan in the 2008 Davis Cup tie at DLTA, New Delhi","","","India's Davis Cup non-playing captain, Anand Amritraj, Leander Paes, Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Vishnu Vardhan arriving for the draw ceremony of the Asia Oceania Davis Cup tie between India and New Zealand in Pune, February 2, 2017","VANGUARDS","VANGUARDS Prakash Amritraj in action during the Asia Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie against China's Wang Yu Jr. in New Delhi, March 4, 2005","VANGUARDS Harsh Mankad in action during his match against Sun Peng of China in the Asia Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie at the R.K. Khanna Stadium, New Delhi, March 4, 2005","VANGUARDS Somdev Kishore Devverman during his match against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the 2008 Davis Cup at R.K. Khanna Stadium, New Delhi. Devverman clinched the gold medal in both the singles and doubles events at 2010 Asiad, and gold medal in singles at the 2010 Commonwealth Games","VANGUARDS Rohan Bopanna in the match against Chung Hong of Korea in the 2016 Davis Cup Asia- Oceania Group I tie in Chandigarh. He has been a member of the Indian Davis Cup team since 2002. Bopanna has won one Grand Slam title in mixed doubles and \ufb01nished runners-up in two Grand Slam events \u2013 one each in the men's doubles event and mixed","VANGUARDS Former Davis Cupper and coach of the Indian Davis Cup team 2022, Zeeshan Ali, non-playing captain of the Indian Davis Cup team 2022 & former Davis Cupper Rohit Rajpal, and Leander Paes pose one for posterity","VANGUARDS The Indian team during training prior to their 2019 Davis Cup tie against Pakistan, which was held at a neutral venue, the National Tennis Center, Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) on November 29-30","","","Former national champion Narendra Nath (centre) and Davis Cupper Naresh Kumar with Queen Elizabeth II Tennis legend Mr. Ramanathan Krishnan presenting an award to Mr. Daljit Walia, the winner of maximum number of tennis tournaments, 33 titles at the Delhi Gymkhana Club during its centenary celebration in 2013","TENNIS AT DELHI GYMKHANA CLUB The tennis experience at the club is like life. It\u2019s warm and comfortable, but understated","TENNIS AT DELHI GYMKHANA CLUB As the games are friendly, so there are no referees or linesman to regulate the play. Members are generally very sporting and if there is a bad line call, the dispute is settled between themselves RAJ LIBERHAN \ue053e grace and elegance of the Delhi Gymkhana Club are the lawn courts spread over a large part of its acreage. \ue053e present location is 75 years old. \ue053e club now An avid tennis lover has 25 beautifully manicured grass courts, reduced from the earlier 30 or so. It is true that grass court tennis is on the wane, primarily because these courts are hard to maintain and expensive. Hence to keep the sporting arena going, many clubs and sports facility have changed to clay or plexi cushion surfaces. Fortunately, for the city of Delhi, the club continues with this graceful facility and is able to keep the sceptics at bay. \ue053e club not only has a history of grass court tennis but also a tradition. \ue053e players have to be dressed in all white attire, including the shoes a la Wimbledon style. \ue053ough coloured styles are now common in the tennis-playing world, the club has maintained its allegiance to the \u2018whites\u2019. Luckily, the members who play tennis have adhered to this tradition, although there are some naysayers who want to go coloured. It\u2019s been a long-standing tradition, that members arrange their playing \u2018four some\u2019 and then book their court for play. \ue053ey continue with their foursome unless they invite some other player in, no one can ask to step in. \ue053e courts in play rotate as per the wait list on the blackboard maintained by the marker.","Conventionally, there has been a cut-in court for singles play on all the TENNIS AT DELHI GYMKHANA CLUB playing days of the week. Much later in time, probably, 15 or so years ago, the dependent court was added, to enable children of members to marker. \ue053ere are interesting and a fun dimension to the game. Betting also learn and play. in the game is not allowed. As a courtesy, the losing side o\ufb00ers a fresh lime soda or any other thirst quencher to the winning side. \ue053e really \ue053e delight of playing tennis at these courts is the ease of the surface on interesting tradition, that has fallen into disuse is the side losing a set to the knees and the sheer joy of being on the green, meadow like love, like 6-0, the losing side has to treat the winners to a dinner at the surroundings. \ue053e grass court season is eagerly looked forward to after club. Later, it got diluted to the losing side having to buy chicken the monsoon season. \ue053e season begins with a tea party hosted by the sandwiches to the winners. Now, even that is honoured more in breach club and soon it is also the annual tournament time for the tennis- or perhaps, members have become stingy. Even if none of these playing community. \ue053is is an annual event, comprising, singles, practices are honoured, the losing side doesn\u2019t leave the courts without doubles, mixed doubles and luck doubles. As the gender dimension has receiving their share of good-natured ribbing and change room jokes got diluted a bit, mixed doubles matches are no longer possible. Even and banter. lucky doubles have become an o\ufb00 and on event, having possibly been the victim of the pandemic. \ue053e club keeps an Honours Board to As the games are friendly, so there are no referees or linesmen to regulate remind us of the earlier winners and runners-up. the play. Each foursome calls its own balls when they are beyond the line. \ue053e members are generally very sporting and if there is a bad line In the not-too distant past, the club hosted many prestigious events. call, the dispute is settled between themselves. Often there are horror \ue053e Davis Cup was held in the year of 1961 against Japan and against cries from onlookers in case a line call is bad or faulty. It\u2019s gentlemen\u2019s Germany in 1966. \ue053e Indian Open Grand Prix tennis tournament was club and a gentlemen\u2019s game, so no bad line call gets into an ugly held in 1973. \ue053e International Lawn Tennis Club of India, which is a argument. Even in matches, players make their own calls, except for the world-wide association of former competing tennis players in \ufffdnals or semi-\ufffdnals. At the end of the day\u2019s play, members sit down to a international and national events, has held the Columbus Trophy twice cup of tea or another round of fresh lime and soda. \ue053ere are mock in the last twenty years or so. And all because the grass courts have been arguments with partner\u2019s bad play or the opponent\u2019s having had lucky a great universal attraction. \ue053e All-England Lawn Tennis Club has net cords. As at the beginning, tennis time ends with a closing bell by introduced the \u2018Road to Wimbledon\u2019 event in India and its \ufffdnals are the marker. And the members trudge back to their destinations with held on these grass courts. Another annual feature is the Harcourt memories of the day to regale and recall in their get-togethers. Every Butler Trophy, which is played between the club and the British High tennis playing day is an event in the life of the players and the sport is a Commission. \ue053e trophy is a present of the High Commission to pivot around which the day\u2019s routine is built. Many friendships have commemorate the \ufffdrst president of the club: Sir Harcourt Butler. \ue053e blossomed here and for many a life-long happiness and joy of playing venue alternates between the BHC courts and the club\u2019s lawn courts. helped overcome di\ufb03cult times too. \ue053e club has also maintained its tradition of hosting a Diplomats\u2019 tennis event which is followed by a high tea for the guests. Truly, sports, any sports, apart from building good bodies, in reality build good human spirits, able to love and spread cheer. \ue053ere are some unwritten traditions of the tennis-playing community. \ue053e tennis playing time o\ufb03cially begins with the ringing of a bell by the","","","Regarded as one of the greatest doubles players, Paes won 18 Grand Slam titles \u2013 eight in men's doubles and ten in mixed doubles, and holds the record for the most doubles win in Davis Cup with 43 victories","100 YEARS OF ALL INDIA TENNIS ASSOCIATION Tennis is now a major sport in the country and millions of fans follow Indian stars in the Grand Slams, Davis Cup, the WTA and Fed Cup","100 YEARS OF ALL INDIA TENNIS ASSOCIATION In March 1920, the All-India Lawn Tennis Association was formed at Lahore. At this meeting the constitution and by-laws were framed on the lines of the constitution of Lawn Tennis Association of Britain Tennis in its present form was conceived in England in the 1870s. In the 1880s the British army and civilian o\ufb03cers brought the game to India. Soon after, regular tournaments like 'Punjab Lawn Tennis Championship' at Lahore (now in Pakistan) (1885); 'Bengal Lawn Tennis Championship' at Calcutta (1887); and the All-India Tennis Championships at Allahabad in (1910) were organised. Initially, Britishers like T.D. Berrington and L.C. Ogbourne won these championships. Gradually, Indians started picking up the game. Mohammed Sleem of Lahore won the Punjab Championship in 1915 and thereafter consecutively from 1919 to 1926. In 1917, N.S. Iyer lifted the Bengal Championship. In 1919, Mr Nagu picked up the prestigious singles crown at the All-India Tennis Championship at the City Gymkhana Club at Allahabad. Henceforth, Indians started playing the game with greater distinction. In March 1920, the All-India Lawn Tennis Association (AILTA) was formed at Lahore. At this meeting the constitution and by-laws were framed on the lines of the constitution of Lawn Tennis Association of Britain. In November 1920, the \ufffdrst AGM of AILTA was held at the Town Hall at Delhi. Samuel Perry O'Donnell, a British member of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) was elected as the \ufffdrst president. In this meeting it was decided to hold the annual 'All India National Championships' at Allahabad and to participate in Davis Cup competition.","100 YEARS OF ALL INDIA TENNIS ASSOCIATION Mohammed Sleem represented India in the Olympic Games, Davis On its debut, the Indian team consisting of S.M. Jacob, Mohammed Cup, the French Open and Wimbledon in the 1920s and 1930s Sleem, L.S. Deane and Athar Ali Fyzee upset a strong French team to reach the semi-\ufffdnals. With AILTA at the helm of a\ufb00airs, di\ufb00erent provinces formed Provincial Associations (now known as State Associations) and were a\ufb03liated to the parent organisation. An Inter- Provincial tournament was organised with e\ufb00ect from 1922. Punjab LTA, led by Mohammed Sleem became the \ufffdrst champion. \ue053e annual competition continued till the eve of World War II (1939). In the Davis Cup ties held between 1921 to 1929, India beat among others, France, Romania, Holland, Belgium. Spain and Greece. Mohammed Sleem, the Fyzee brothers, A.H. Fyzee and A.A. Fyzee, Cotah Ramaswamy and Krishna Prasad beat a large number of ranked European players and teams and brought glory to the country. In Wimbledon, Indian participation dates back to the years of the \ufffdrst edition, B.K. Nehru in 1905 and Sardar Nihal Singh in 1908 were later joined by Mohammed Sleem, Fyzee brothers and Jagat Mohan Lal who made it to the last-16 stages. Athar Ali Fyzee and Mohammed Sleem represented India in the 1924 Paris Olympics; Sleem reached the semi- \ufffdnals in singles. India's repeated success at Davis Cup and some \ufffdne individual performances in Wimbledon earned the respect of leading tennis-playing nations and put her on the world map in the 1930s. Teams from Italy, France, Czechoslovakia, England and Yugoslavia visited India. \ue053e most notable amongst foreign visitors in 1930s was the great American Bill Tilden \u2013 considered by many as the greatest-ever in modern tennis, and Henry Cochet, an all-time great and one of the famous 'Four Musketeers' of France. Ghouse Mohammad, India's undisputed No.1 reached the quarter\ufffdnal at Wimbledon in 1939. After the war, AILTA decided to conduct two tournaments at all-India level, one on grass, termed as National Championships of India and the other, All-India Hard Court Championships. \ue053e National Championships were open to foreigners. \ue053e inaugural grass court National Championship was held at Kolkata's","100 YEARS OF ALL INDIA TENNIS ASSOCIATION Ramanathan Krishnan (left) with Sumant 'Tiny' Misra in 1953. Dilip Bose, a member of the Indian Davis Cup team and winner of Misra represented India in the Davis Cup for nine years between Asian Championship, in action during the International Lawn Tennis 1947 and 1956 and captained the team in 1952 and 1953. He Championship of Asia held at Kolkata, January, 1950. Bose was reached the quarter\ufb01nals of Wimbledon men's doubles India's No.1 ranked player at that time and defeated Sumant Misra, championship along with Jimmy Mehta in 1947 and 1948 who was ranked No.2 in the country, 6-1, 6-2, 8-6 in the \ufb01nal on January 1, 1950 Photo courtesy \u2013 Advantage India:The Story of Indian Tennis. By Anindya Dutta,Westland Sport"]