Visit of Singapore IC Feb 20-23, 2014

The IC of Singapore paid a return visit to New Delhi in Feb 2014. Earlier the IC of India had visited Singapore in 2010. The President of the Singapore IC led a ten-member team and after a practice session(Feb 21) on the lush Green courts of the Delhi Gymkhana Club, fielded a strong team for the official fixture on Feb 22. Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles matches were played. Both sides produced high level of Tennis but the IC of India capitalized on the Home playing conditions including the advantage of playing on the grass, which was alien to the visitors. As usual the Gymkhana Club provided Wellmanicured Grass Courts and excellent on court facilities. Mr. Vijay Chhibber, the President of the Gymkhana, and his wife visited the courts and were seen interacting and socialising with the visitors. Members of the Club too showed interest in the first ever IC tie between Singapore and India. While the IC India’s playing side comprised of younger players, the old IC members were not only seen in the gallery but helped in the organisation of the Tie. Sanjeev Kassal, the Secretary of the Indian IC, captained and organised the Tie on behalf of the Indian IC, however, the logistics were coordinated by Amitabh Sood. His zeal and enthusiasm in attending to details indeed deserves a special mention. On Feb 21, Mr. Vikas Singh, the President of the IC of India, hosted a grand reception for the visitors at his residence during which the mementos were exchanged. In his welcome speech, Vikas reiterated his intention for institutionalising exchange of visits between the two IC’s and Mr. Paul Wong, President of the Singapore IC accepted the proposal and agreed to host the Indian IC at a mutually convenient date. The IC of India invited Mr. XT Tan and Mr. Leslie Lim to the membership of the Indian IC and the Singapore IC reciprocated by inviting Mr. Vikas Singh, Mr. Sanjeev Kassal and Mr. Amitabh Sood to the membership of the Singapore IC. The IC of India organised a Dinner for the visitors at the Tennis Pavilion of the Gymkhana where the visitors enjoyed the ambiance and a variety of the Indian cuisine produced by the Chef of the club. The members of the Singapore IC Were extremely social and have left very pleasant memories of their gentle demeanour both on and off the court. They availed Feb 23 to visit Agra and the Taj Mahal.

Yogesh Prasad
Vice President

Chandigarh (Punjab), 23rd-24th November 2013

IC Delhi went across to Chandigarh to play a friendly with the IC members of Punjab. During the two day tour primarily doubles was played at the city’s main Tennis stadium. Delhi won all the matches. The main purpose of the visit was to introduce the IC to the tennis fraternity beyond the major cities. Two new members were inducted from Chandigarh.

KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 1st & 2nd 2014

A bilateral fixture between IC North and IC East was played at Kolkata on the renowned grass courts of The South Club, a venue for numerous Davis Cup duels in the past fifty years. It was a closely contested tie with the IC team from Delhi winning the fixture by a whisker. Four new members were inducted from Kolkata during this event.

The British High Commission, New Delhi, 9th February 2014

The IC along with members of The Delhi Gymkhana Club (of which IC has several members) fielded a combined team at the annual BHC event. It was a ‘friendly’ with a lot of social tennis with the Diplomatic fraternity. The IC and the Delhi ‘Gym’ won the event without losing a match.

Inter Club Centenary Tennis Gala at The Delhi Gymkhana Club, 1st & 2nd of March 2014

The IC fielded two teams at Delhi’s premier Clubs Centenary celebratory event. The IC ‘A’ was the runners up to the home team. It was a well contested fixture with two of the three matches being decided by super tie breakers.

Austria – Vienna

Our first stop was at Vienna where we all stayed together in a hotel and played some very good Tennis at the Vienna Park Club. This was followed by a formal and sumptuous dinner. One of our members, who is presently posted in Vienna, Dr. Ravi Kashyap was of great help. He went out of his way to be our ‘guide’ for our sightseeing visit in Vienna and also hosted the IC for dinner at his home. The Austrian IC Secretary Mr. Peter Lund single handedly, managed the entire show.

Hungary – Budapest

The IC Team comprising the following visited Europe between 7th to the 13th of June 2014.
1. Mr. Amar Khosla
2. Mr. Gaurav Kumar with his spouse Neha
3. Mr. Vineet Aggarwal with his spouse Amita
4. Mr. Vikas Singh with his spouse Minu
5. Mr. Sanjeev Manchanda with his spouse Bindu
6. Ms. Sohini Kumari
7. Mr. Ravi Inder Singh
8. Mrs. Meera Chowla

Budapest
Our team drove down from Vienna to Budapest in a minivan and reached Budapest on the 10th afternoon. As in Budapest, the Hungarian IC had organized for us to stay in homes, the various members in whose homes we were to stay were waiting for us at the hotel. The Hungarian IC members then welcomed the ladies with flowers and took each one of us to their respective homes for a three day stay in Budapest. Each IC member who hosted us in his home took great pain to ensure that our trip was memorable. We played Tennis at their beautiful Club in Budapest followed by dinner. Each one of us got back with great memories of the trip and especially the warmth shown by our hosts at their respective homes. The President with his wife Minu, Mr. Sanjeev Manchanda and Mr. R.I. Singh flew together from Austria to Washington DC where we were joined by Somnath Bose with his wife Sharmila, Sanjeev Kassal, Rohit Sharma, Rajveer Ranawat and Dinky Misra.

USA Washington D.C. 15 & 16th June 2014

IC India fielded a six member team, with Dinky Misra joining the team from New Jersey. The venue for the two day event was the splendid Chevy Chase Club in Maryland. As the USIC did not have adequate members on call, it was a mix and match fixture, with the US IC roping in some of the best players from the C.C. Club. The first day the USIC/Chevy Chase Club were up 3-2, and on day two, they won 3-1. The hospitality extended to our members was very warm and embracing. Players stayed at homes of the hosts, a proven recipe in fostering life long friendships. Particular mention and thanks to Les Nicholson, the grand man of all things tennis in the D.C. area and the main architect of this wonderful exchange.
Sanjeev Kassal (Honorary Secretary)

Merrion Cricket Club, Philadelphia, 17th June 2014

Merion is a 150 year old Club with the likes of Bill Tilden, Dick Savit, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall & Arthur Ashe having graced this wonderful tennis facility in the past. The grass courts were a wonderful sight but a shade tricky to execute on. Nevertheless, IC India won all their matches. With the low bounce, the net was the right place to be in a hurry. A tactic the visitors employed in ample measure. Ed Turnville had especially flown down from Florida to make all the arrangements. Interestingly, Rebecca Sorlien (whose late husband had been in the organizing Committee of the US IC 36 years ago) also joined us for dinner. Dinky Misra was on the Indian team then and both were lost in wine and nostalgia. The lunch and dinner hosted were both sumptuous as well as full of the usual camaraderie associated with IC events.
Sanjeev Kassal (Honorary Secretary)

60th Anniversary: IC World-Wide Men’s Tennis Team Championships

60th Anniversary Event, 15th to 20th November 2011
IC India celebrated its 60th anniversary with teams from USA, UK, SA, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland and India (with four teams) participating. There were several Players ranked in the top 50 of the ITF rankings. The round robin format of one singles and two doubles had a good mix across several generations. All in all great camaraderie and close encounters (on the court!). UK narrowly edged out the young Mexican Turks in a thriller.
Sanjeev Kassal (Honorary Secretary)

Report on the IC World-Wide 16 and Under Junior Challenge Finals held in New Delhi from the 12th-17th of December 2010

This event was hosted by the International Club of India in partnership with the All India Tennis Association (AITA). There were six teams that participated in this round robin format event.

USA

GREAT BRITAIN

GERMANY

NEW ZEALAND

INDIA ‘A’

INDIA ‘B’

Unfortunately, Brazil could not make it for some unforeseen reasons, and hence India ‘B’ filled in as an alternative.

On the 12th there was a spectacular inauguration with the Army Band welcoming the players followed by a folk dance performance by Tsunami survivors. This was followed by a wheel chair doubles event. In the audience we had 75 children from the DCCW (The Delhi Council for Child welfare) an adoption agency in the capital along with 250 children from The Sriram School.

The event was inaugurated by the Honorable Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a keen tennis player himself. Also in attendance were Mr. Barry Weatherill and Mr. Julian Tatum of the World IC Council. Sanjeev Kassal, the Tournament Director welcomed the players and Barry spoke some encouraging words along with Daljit Wallia, the President of IC India and Mr. Anil Khanna, the Head of the All India Tennis Association.

There were some very well fought matches throughout the five days of play. On the final day some spectacular matches were witnessed. In a nail biting finish, and after several match points traded, India ‘A’ beat Germany in a super tie breaker 18-16! This enabled India to enter into the ‘final three’ along with Germany and Great Britain. Lots were drawn and India once again had to play Germany, while GB went straight into the finals.

This time around Germany got the better of their host country in another close encounter 12-10.

In the decider, the GB mixed doubles team of Tommy Bennett and Alannah Griffin played exceptionally well to edge out Hendriik Bertrams and Noemi Hemmerich of Germany 10-6.

Great Britain won the event, with Germany as the Runners up and India ‘A’ coming in third.

It was a wonderful few days and an enriching experience for all the players, captains and the hosts. The matches were played in the right spirit with all the teams displaying a very high level of sportsmanship.

The Chief Guest on the final day was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha (India’s Parliament), Ms Meira Kumar. She gave away the prizes along with Daljit Wallia and Vikas Singh of IC India. Mr. Julian Tatum gave away two sportsmanship awards to Tommy Bennett (boys) and Natasha Palha (girls). Julian and Daljit thanked the participants and organisers for a super few days of tennis.