Premjit Lall

Premjit Lall (20 October 1940 – 31 December 2008) was an Indian professional tennis player from Kolkata, who was active during the 1960s and 70s.

Premjit Lall
Full namePremjit J. Lall
Country (sports) India
Born(1940-10-20)20 October 1940
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died31 December 2008(2008-12-31) (aged 68)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Retired1979
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record294–231 (56%)[1]
Career titles9[2]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open3R (1962)
French Open3R (1969)
Wimbledon3R (1962, 1965, 1970)
US Open2R (1959, 1964, 1969, 1970)
Doubles
Career record20–36
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenQF (1962)
WimbledonQF (1966, 1973)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon2R (1958, 1959)
Team competitions
Davis CupF (1959, 1962, 1963, 1966Ch, 1968)

Tennis career

Lall started his tennis career on the grass courts of the Calcutta South Club where he was coached by Dilip Bose.[3][4][5][6] Together with Jaidip Mukerjea and Ramanathan Krishnan they were called the Three Musketeers of Indian tennis.[7][8]

Lall was a runner-up at the Boyss Singles event at the 1958 Wimbledon Championships, losing the final to Butch Buchholz. At the 1969 Wimbledon Championships Lall nearly caused a significant upset when he was leading first-seeded and world No. 1 Rod Laver by two sets to love in the second round but ultimately lost in five sets to Laver, who went on to win the title and his second Grand Slam.[9][6] Lall competed in 18 editions of the Wimbledon Championships between 1957 and 1975.[10] In 1973 he won the Stourbridge Open at Stourbridge, England against French player Daniel Contet.

He played on the Indian Davis Cup team from 1959 until 1973, competing in 41 ties and compiling a record of 52 wins and 32 losses. He was part of the team that reached the challenge round in 1966 against Australia but did not play in the challenge round.

In doubles, he reached the quarterfinals at the 1962 Australian Championships and the 1966 and 1973 Wimbledon Championships, all with compatriot Jaidip Mukerjea.

Lall won the singles title at the Indian International Championships in 1961 and 1970 defeating Carlos Fernandes and Alex Metreveli in the respective finals.

Lall was given India's top sports honor, the Arjuna Award in 1967.[11][12] Lall played his final professional match in 1979.

Personal life

Lall was married twice and had two sons and one daughter.[5] Following a stroke in 1992, Lall began using a wheelchair and had difficulty speaking.[6][13] He died at his residence in Kolkata on 31 December 2008 after a prolonged illness, and was cremated at Tollygunge.[5] In 2016, an invitation tournament named after him, was held in Kolkata in his memory.[14]

References
  1. Garcia, Gabriel. "Premjit Lall: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  2. Garcia, Gabriel. "Premjit Lall: Career tournament results". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  3. "Road to Wimbledon: An introduction to the Calcutta South Club". Wimbledon. AELTC. 5 April 2016.
  4. "Premjit Lall is no more". The Telegraph. 1 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012.
  5. "Davis Cupper Premjit Lall cremated". The Times of India. 1 January 2009.
  6. Hari Hara Nandanan (2 January 2009). "Ramanathan Krishnan pays tribute to Premjit Lall". The Times of India.
  7. S. Sabanayakan (6 May 2006). "The man who serves". Sportstar.
  8. Monojit Chatterji (19 July 2015). "Big W crowns 50 years of fandom". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. It was the Davis Cup semi-final and our three musketeers - Ramanathan Krishnan, Premjit Lall and Jaideep Mukerjea - were facing the might of America led by Chuck Mckinley,...
  9. Bud Collins (31 January 2009). "Rocket science". The Age.
  10. "Players archive – Premjit Lall". Wimbledon. AELTC.
  11. "LIST OF ARJUNA AWARD WINNERS - Football | Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports". yas.nic.in. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 25 December 2007.
  12. "List of Arjuna Awardees (1961–2018)" (PDF). Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (India). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  13. V.V. Subrahmanyam (5 February 2003). "Premjit Lal - in a class of his own". The Hindu.
  14. "Tennis legend Tony Roche to visit Kolkata next month". Hindustan Times. 22 November 2016.

Further reading
  • Down the Line By Georgina and Premjit Published by Rupa & Co.
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