In Indian tennis, there are many unsung heroes and Balram Singh should rank right at the top of that list. In fact, the amiable 75-year-old Balram, who has donned many hats in Indian tennis, heads a tennis family that is second to none in the country.
Balram’s brothers, Madhusudan, Hanuman, Anand Shankar, Arjun, and Nar Singh played the game with distinction at various levels, and were associated with the game as coaches as well.
Balram’s three children, Lalit Mohan, Shalini Thakur Chawla and Ashutosh have had fairly successful careers in tennis, and are associated with the game both at the national and international level.
Two-time Wimbledon semifinalist Ramanathan Krishnan put Balram’s contribution to Indian tennis in perspective, in a crisp video message on his 75th birthday recently.
Pleasant memories
“I have known Balram from his childhood. I have very pleasant memories. When I was playing my best tennis, he was coming up. I played some very good matches with him. Before Davis Cup matches, we used to have him as a practice member. He used to hit the ball quite hard and that helped us get used to the pace. What I liked about Balram was that he made the Indian circuit interesting. He along with Narendra Singh played all the tournaments in India and played competitive matches,” recalled Krishnan.
As a fitting tribute, Krishnan observed, “I was very surprised that Balram chose to stay back in India when many others went abroad and settled there. He would have got much better opportunities outside India. That showed his patriotic sense. He has given Indian tennis all his time. He had a good game and a good career. All his brothers followed in his footsteps.”
Another pioneer of Indian tennis, CGK Bhupathi, who is the father of multiple Grand Slam champion Mahesh, also sent a message. Others like Jaidip Mukerjea, Harsh Mankad, Enrico Piperno, Gaurav Mishra, Nandan Bal, Rohit Rajpal, Divij Sharan, Sunil Yajaman, T. Chandrasekaran, Mark Ferriera and Aqeel Khan — the Pakistan player who won the Indian national championship — spoke with warmth and admiration about Balram.
Wonderful years
“I cannot forget the wonderful years. We were 15-years-old when we first met. We travelled the whole world together. Tennis was our base. You have a nice and growing family of children and grand children,” said CGK.
Most of the children, including those of his brothers, have been associated with tennis, to underline the growing contribution of the family.
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