Venue: Bombay Gymkhana

Dates: November 16th and 17th, 2019

At the onset we would like to thank Mr. Rajesh Batra, Vice President, West for sponsoring and hosting the event. Mr. Batra has also confirmed his support for 2 more years. We would also like to thank the Sports Committee of Bombay Gymkhana, President, Honorary Secretary, the entire tennis and catering staff for all the arrangements.

The event highlight was the presence of India’s tennis legend, Mr. Ramesh Krishnan. He keenly watched the 17th evening session of matches and also made time to offer valuable tips and share insights on the inner game of tennis to aspiring Bombay Gymkhana coaching academy trainees. He was felicitated by the IC, Bombay Gymkhana and Mr. Rajesh Batra for his long standing commitment to tennis and its growth.

The matches itself were thrilling with the tie going to the wire. This event was played on a team format between Bombay Gymkhana and IC India combined. IC India fielded a strong team led by the President, Nandan Bal, Shivika Burman, Rajesh Batra, Rajiv Wallia, Deepak Bhargava, Sanjeev Kassal, Vineet Aggarwal, Satyajeet Burman, Neeraj Desai, Nitin Joshi, Rahul Chaudhari and Jaideep Bhatia.

Each team fielded 6 doubles teams each. Each Bombay Gymkhana team had to play a full regulation set against every IC India team.

At the end of both playing sessions all games won were added up and IC India was declared the winner, by a margin of a mere two games. The result couldn’t have been closer. Bombay Gymkhana have a point to prove in November 2020.

Dates: 12th and 13th October 2019

Venue: Mayo Hall Sports Complex.

We gratefully acknowledge all the support and efforts put in by IC Member Mr. Deepak Bhargava to make this fixture a memorable one.

As many members might recall, Allahabad has a rich tennis history dating back to the early 1900’s. From hosting the All India Tennis Championships in 1910 to the prestigious Central India Lawn Tennis Tournament, Allahabad was front and center of the tournament calendar. Tennis legends Ramanathan Krishnan, Jaidip Mukerjea, Premjit Lal, Amritraj Brothers, Ilie Nastase, Niki Pilic have all graced the event in its heyday. Mr. Deepak Bhargava and his family have played host to several players from across the world during the Central India Lawn Tennis Tournament. This tradition still continues as he and his family laid out the red carpet for the visiting and local players.

A total of 9 teams participated in the doubles event. The teams were chosen by a random draw of lots. The age range of the players was 18 to 62 years, with all players being well versed in making the ball dance to their tune. The ball was subject to all types of spin and speed, with the young and the old complementing each other perfectly. It was decided by mutual consent that an innovative match format be tested.

Everyone had to play with everyone else in a round robin match format Each team was to play a total of 8 matches.

Daunting when you first think of it given the time frame of one weekend with two tennis sessions planned. In order to ease some of the apprehensions, it was decided a shorter match format be deployed. Each match was to be a total of 5 games, with all 5 games to be played out. The team with maximum number of games at the end of their respective 8 matches would be declared the winner.

True to IC tradition and IC India’s commitment of spreading the game and promoting junior development, the Allahabad tennis fraternity and IC India took the initiative to organise a tennis clinic prior to start of the matches. 85 aspiring juniors received valuable lessons for life.

The matches started at 4pm with some surprising initial results. Clearly the match format was testing each teams mettle. At the end of the first day, all teams were separated by a razor thin margin, with barely a few points separating them. Each game was being well contested with each team using all the spins and tricks it could muster up. The ball merrily danced to their tune unaware of the tensions it was building up for the final day.

The tensions lightened up at night over a few drinks and tikkas. Mr. Aditya Agarwal of Hotel Yatrik hosted a fine evening for all the tennis maestro’s. The next morning saw a boat ride on the Sangam with a visit to the Bade Hanuman Ji temple.

The stage was set was the final evening of matches. The unexpected and surprising outcome of matches continued. Finally after a grueling two days, Mr. Deepak Bhargava and his young partner prevailed with a razor thin margin of 1 game over Dr. Abhishek and Aadarsh.

The final point table and positions are as follows:

1. Deepak Bhargava and Sanskar. Total points 26.

2. Abhishek and Aadarsh. Total 25 points.

3. Sanjeev Kassal and Aditya Narain. Total 23 points.

4. Ankur Agarwal and Nand Lal. Total 21 points.

5. Aditya Agrawal and Akshat. Total 20 points.

6. Jaideep Bhatia and Rohit. Total 19 points.

7. Vineet Aggarwal and Anurag. Total 18 points.

8. Aman and Shiv Shankar. Total 16 points.

9. Rishi Sharma and Piyush Bhargava. Total 12 points.

We would like to thank the entire Allahabad Tennis Fraternity for hosting one of the best IC Domestic Events. They have set the benchmark for IC Domestic Events.

Dates: 24, 25th August and September 2nd 2019

Venue: Delhi Lawn Tennis Association

IC India would like to acknowledge the support and efforts of DLTA, Col. Chauhan and his team. We would also like to thank Vinay Mohan for introducing and sponsoring Old Monk Beer and Solan Number 1 Single Malt Whiskey at the Cocktails and Dinner event.

There were several high points of this fixture. Starting with the felicitation of Indian Davis Cup legend Jasjit Singh, presence of outstation players such as the IC President Nandan Bal and former national champion Susan Das Chaudhuri, Aditya Khanna’s continuation of fine form by winning the singles and doubles championship, new format in way of random selection of partners for doubles, cocktails and dinner to mark the occasion, the Delhi fixture had it all and has set the benchmark for other fixtures to follow. It was also encouraging to see lady members of the Indian IC, Sangeeta Badhwar and Susan Das Chaudhuri participate. We look forward to having more lady members take part in future events.

There were a total of 22 players who took part in the Doubles Championship. Players were divided into two categories based on their playing ability. A random draw of lots led to the team formation. The categorisation of players ensured teams were fairly balanced. 11 teams were divided into 2 groups of 6 and 5 teams respectively. A round robin followed and the the top teams of each group qualified for the next stage. What was unique about this stage was that rather playing a knock out semi finals, another round robin followed, wherein all the 4 teams played against each other.

The final standings were as follows,

Doubles

Winner – Aditya Khanna and Arvinder Chatwal

Runner up – Arjun Uppal and Sameer Sharma

3rd Position – Vineet Agarwal and Vipin Sirpaul

4th Position – Anshul Bagai and Vikram Anand

Singles

Winner – Aditya Khanna

Runner up – Tushar Jagota

The tournament would not have been possible without the support of DLTA and Col. Chauhan. The arrangements and hospitality were on par as you would expect from any international tournament.

Felicitation of Mr. Jasjit Singh

As India celebrates the achievements of its young athletes, Hima Das, Komalika Bari, PV Sindhu, Sumit Nagal, etc., let us also celebrate the achievements of former athletes who persevered against all odds to put India on the world map at a time when information was relayed through traditional media of newspapers only.

The International Lawn Tennis Club of India recognized the achievements of one of India’s finest Davis Cup players, Jasjit Singh. Aged 71 years now, he achieved a career high ranking of 89 in 1974.

Mr. Nandan Bal, Former India Davis Cup player and coach, Mr. Anil Khanna, President of the All India Tennis Association, and Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Former Chief Minister of Haryana, felicitated Mr. Jasjit Singh at a simple ceremony in the Delhi Tennis Association stadium on August 24th 2019.