By IANS,
Chennai: The 1966 Indian Davis Cup team, which reached the Challenge Round, was felicitated by the All India Tennis Association, the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association and the organising committee of the ongoing Chennai Open tournament here Saturday.
Ramanathan Krishnan, Jaideep Mukherjea and S.P. Mishra recounted their memories of the Challenge round, where they lost to Australia. The fourth member of the squad, the late Premjit Lall, was represented by his brother Amarjit.
“We were all young then and made it to the Challenge Round. We miss Premjit at this moment, but we are thankful to all of you for this felicitation,” Krishnan said.
Addressing the media after the function, Krishnan recalled the doubles match he and Mukherjea won against the then top pair of Tony Roche and John Newcombe.
“The Australians were a left-right combination and the best in the world, but then, we played exceptionally well to surprise them,” he said.
Mukherjea felt that India produced some outstanding players in the past due to a very strong domestic circuit that attracted the very best players.
“During our period, there were many tournaments in India and the world’s best players used to be regulars in Indian events because the ATP tour was not yet in existence. These days, with tournaments all over the world, India’s best players do not play in domestic events because they are busy on the pro tour,” said Mukherjea.