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World tennis moves out of city court

Andavilli Satyanarayana recapitulates the growth of Andhra Gymkhana, a premier sports institution, which made its humble beginning under a thatched roof in Gandhinagar

Long before Vijayawada became a political hub, it was well known in the country as a centre of intense sporting activity. It produced some of the finest players in football, badminton and lawn tennis. They won laurels at the national level. Talk to anyone who has crossed the biblical three score and 10, he will tell you about a manly game, football, which was very popular among the young and old alike for a long time. `C.R. Das team' of the city was a name to reckon with in the country.

Similarly, ball-badminton was played everywhere and some of the players attained high proficiency and won accolades.

Tennis, a late entrant

Tennis came into the picture a little later and interestingly some of the best football and badminton players switched over to it and quite a few of them made a mark.

Special mention must be made about Janakiramaiah and S. Bhujanga Rao, who won the all-India tennis title in 1945.

Andhra Gymkhana, a premier sports organisation in the State, played an active role in the promotion of these games. Started in a humble way in a small hut in Gandhinagar on April 30, 1913 by Subbayya and a few sports-lovers of average means as `Young Men's Athletic Association', the first mud court for tennis was laid in 1916. Rising from that position to the stage of conducting an event of international importance like the Davis Cup East Zone `B" final between India and North Vietnam in 1965 is no mean an achievement.

East Coast tennis championships were conducted for nearly four decades and some of the top-ranking players like Ramanathan Krishnan, Premjit Lal, Jaideep Mukherjee and Naresh Kumar used to participate. Wimbledon winners Neale Fraser (1960) Manuel Santana (1966) and Mackay played exhibition matches on these courts.

King of Games

When I look back at my association with this great sports institution where I played only club-level tennis for a number of years and rubbed shoulders with some of the great players of this place, I feel sad, that the increasing `cricket craze' has led to the neglect of this `King of Games'. I recall proudly a great event I organised as its secretary -- an exhibition match in which Amritraj brothers played along with two top ranking players. Vijay had just then lost in his quarterfinals against J. Kodes in 1974. He was leading by a few points in the match when he missed an easy smash and lost it to the ultimate winner that year. The lovers of tennis were thrilled by his performance and it was at this height of glory he came here. It was a record gathering from all parts of the State who came to see their hero in action.

Vijay's Vijayawada connection goes back to the days when his father, Robert Amritraj, was working for the railways here. He used to play in the Railway Club near the station with his wife partnering him. He would have been born here but for his mother's preference to deliver the baby at Madras. She liked this place very much and hence, his name after this place, Vijay!

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