Tennis was introduced by the English to the people of Coimbatore. The fall of Tipu Sultan in the year 1799 ushered in English rule and this paved way for a number of exchanges. The game of tennis was part of this lovely exchange.
Tennis was introduced by the English to the people of Coimbatore. The fall of Tipu Sultan in the year 1799 ushered in English rule and this paved way for a number of exchanges. The game of tennis was part of this lovely exchange. The English played tennis at Coimbatore and eventually the Indians began absorbing tennis and other table games like cards.
The founding of the Coimbatore Cosmopolitan Club at Race Course in the year 1891 took the game forward in this part of the country. A number of eminent Coimbatoreans began playing tennis at Cosmo Club those days. The memoirs of the father of the Co operative movement T.A.Ramalingam Chettiar state that he began playing tennis at Cosmo Club by the year 1902.
Its interesting to note that Diwan Bahadur C.V.Venkataramana Iyengar, the Coimbatorean who suggested that the waters of Pilloor be tapped for the growing city used to play the game regularly. Ramanuja Iyengar and Sadasiva Iyer were among the early players. T.Essex or T.S.Krishnamurti, Principal Government Arts College in Race Course used to enjoy the game with T.B.Doraiswami, C.V.Krishnamurti, Raghunatha Rao ( Later Prinicipal of Maharaja's College in Parlakimidi ) during their days as youngsters. In fact they had a tennis court just for themselves at Cosmo Club. Salted almonds was the snack for the youngsters playing tennis.
C.V.Ramanujam was another tennis star at the club. T.S Balakrishna Aiyar (Top lawyer and one of the Founders of Cosmopolitan Club) used to play a stylish game with a semi reverse American service. He was very particular about playing tennis until an injury stopped him from playing further.
The Ideal Club that Cosmo was had many leading citizens like P.Balasundaram (grandson of N.Giriya Chettiar - The road adjacent to the Anna statue is named after P.Balasundaram Chettiar) playing tennis regularly until sundown. As kids P.Balasundaram Chettiar and his friends used to play tennis with used balls and rickety racquets in the unused part of the club compound. P.V.Lonappan, Capt G.S.Tampi, Sekaran and C.V.Krishnaswami Iyengar were the tennis mates of P.Balasundaram during the twenties of the last century.
K.Viswanatha Iyer of Sulur House was largely responsible for the game of tennis doing great guns in Coimbatore. Alexander of Stanes & Co had encouraged a number of people to play tennis. He used to arrange weekly matches and arrange picnics and parties for the participants. A group of tennis enthusiasts started the United Club at the Coronation Park (V.O.C.Park) and in spite of this club shutting down quickly, it worked successfully and conducted open tournaments in which renowned players like Raja Iyer and B.R.Chandrashekhar of Bengaluru, Ganeshsundara Rao and R.M.Savoor of Mangalore, P.Markandeyalu of Chennai used to play with local stalwarts like T.B.Balagopal ( he played tennis until he was ninety years of age and he was son of T.S.Balakrishna Aiyer ) and Devasagayam. The players from the United Club took part in tournaments that were played at Mysore, Salem, Chennai, Coonoor, Trichy etc., and fared pretty well in those tournaments.It was T.B.Balagopal who went on to become a first rate and foremost player in South India. The United Club had to be closed for want of space and many of its members became a part of Cosmo Cllub.
The tennis courts at Cosmo Club were not of regulation height those days and over time, thanks to the efforts of K.Viswanatha Iyer , they were made alright and shifted to the current location. The Cosmo Club tennis courts were among the finest in India due to the good work of K.Viswanatha Iyer. Players like S.B.Sodalamuthu Pillai, V.C.Kumaraswami, K.Srinivasa Iyer, A.N.Rama Rao, L.Chowdappah, C.Ramaswami.Savoor Senior and Junior, S.R.Ramakrishnan (Sulur House), S.Rajagopal, Dr.S.R.Srikantan, C.Nanjundan, N.Srikantan were some of the stars. The sportsmen and patrons from Coimbatore did their bit and the game reached provincial standards.
Alexander of Stanes & Co was the energy behind the game and at the age of seventy he would take a hand in order to pull a roller at the tennis court. He used to distribute packets of cakes to the players of the game and also rebuke the ones who did not show proper interest while playing. C.V.Ramanujam of the Municipal Market Court and a Mopla Marker who used to be treated more as a teacher than an employee were also responsible for making tennis popular in Coimbatore.
Dozens of youngsters including K.R.Krishnaswami, V.C.Subbiah Gounder, G.V.Krishna Iyer, K.Viswanatha Iyer and others used to play tennis from morning till noon on holidays. Earlier to all this people used to play tennis after their work and hit the balls so hard that it used to make life difficult for the ball pickers. Officials like Ravi Varma Raja and P.K.Krishna Iyer were steady players. They used to state that C.S.Sambamurthi Iyer used to play the game with a screw just as he used to screw his moustache and gown strings at the Courts. H.Rama Rao (with his red turban) used to play the game at seventy years of age and Diwan Bahadur C.V.Venkataramana Aiyengar was known for his ' Ayyayyos and Appappas ' at the Tennis Court.
Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar was a keen player in his younger days and so were K.S.V.Rowji, C.S.Meenakshisundaram and N.S.Ramaswamy Iyengar (The NSR Road is named after him). Amenities brought back members of the Coimbatore United Club to Cosmo Club. R.S.Sankara Iyer was another personality who had infused a lot of life into the game in the city. Tennis lovers of the yonder years were keen to protect a few trees which used to located near the playing area. Jenkins, the District Judge, the Collector, people like C.Raghunathan, A.C.Hensman, Sivaswami, Abdul Ali Khan, K.S.Ramaswami Sastri were among the players who took up club memberships in order to pursue the game.
Players like the Sub Judge Gururaja Rao, Rao Bahadur Sesha Sastriar (one of the true bred Coimbatore type) were regulars even at their old age. Sesha Sastriar was very particular about his exercise regimen. He used to exercise and play tennis even on Ekadasi.
Coimbatoreans undertood that sport ensured a good cum long life. It was well known that the game of tennis reached a high level in the region due to the interest and energy of the members of the Sulur family, particularly K.Viswanatha Iyer.
Ramoo, the great Cambridge Blue and test cricket player was a silent inspirer and the vigourous tennis of K.Viswanatha Iyer brought him into the fray. It was because of him too that the game reached better levels. A casual planter visitor brought by Ramoo from the hills was attracted by the standard of the game in Cosmo Club in particular and Coimbatore in general.
The assurance and role of Ramoo became the reason for this unique inter club tennis tournament played in the hills by Indians. K.N.Annaji Rao and C.Srinivasa Rao had provided the lighter side of enjoyment. Coimbatoreans were treated like royalty at the Anamalai Club and these gracious hosts were invited to Coimbatore but unfortunately the onset of the second world war put a full stop to the tournament.
The Golden Jubilee Celebrations at the Cosmo Club during the year 1941 was a crowning glory for tennis. A tennis tornament was held and N.Srikantan emerged as the winner while Dr.S.R.Srikantan was the runner up. Dr. M.A.Parthasarathy and C.S.Balakrishnan won the doubles title on defeating ' Nadai Mannan ' K.Desikachari and V.C.Subbiah Gounder. A.Nanjappa Chettiar was the committee member who had been responsible for the tournament during those halcyon days.
The pioneers of tennis at Cosmopolitan Club led by K.Viswanatha Iyer and others were largely responsible for developing the game with Indians in Coimbatore. The game developed over the years among Coimbatoreans and a number of them became champions at the national level.The game scaled new heights and it was due to the solid foundation laid by visionary sports patrons of the yonder era.