Vijay Amritraj, Ramesh Krishnan talk the legacy of N. Sankar

N. Sankar was the president of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) from 1989 to 1994.

Published : Apr 18, 2022 18:27 IST , Chennai

N. Sankar (second right) with former Davis Cup star Premjit Lal and the Amritraj brothers.
N. Sankar (second right) with former Davis Cup star Premjit Lal and the Amritraj brothers.
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N. Sankar (second right) with former Davis Cup star Premjit Lal and the Amritraj brothers.

N. Sankar was suave, possessed a wealth of knowledge, and was articulate. He cared for sports and not surprisingly earned the respect of top-flight sportspersons, whether it was tennis aces Vijay Amritraj or Ramesh Krishnan.

Hearing the news of Sankar’s death, Amritraj, president, Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), said, “Incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of our dear friend N. Sankar.”

He added, “My relationship with him started over 50 years ago watching and then playing against Sankar and Kumar on the clay courts of Chennai. He was a wonderful player, great in business, and an amazing lover and supporter of tennis.”

Amritraj said, “I always enjoyed my time with him well after my career. He was a true gift to Tamil Nadu tennis before and after his stint as president of TNTA.”

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The entire tennis fraternity in our state would “dearly miss him,” he said. He added, “I will miss him. Sincere condolences to his entire family."

Ramesh told Sportstar , “Sankar has known our family for generations. In the late 50s, he used to play a lot with my grandfather, C.K. Ramanathan.”

To the Krishnans, Sankar was a family friend. “He is very prominent in my father’s wedding photos.” revealed Ramesh.

Although Sankar was more connected to his father, the great Ramanathan Krishnan, and his grandfather, Ramesh said, “I played with him at the club level. He had a very neat style, clean game.” Ramesh remembered the Rs one million clay-court tournament at Chennai’s Gymkhana Club in 1993. “Sankar was the driving force behind that event. All the big players came. I defeated K.G. Ramesh in the final.”   

Talking about Sankar’s qualities, Ramesh said, “He was sharp, a very good company, and had a sense of humour. What set him apart was that he could organise things, He was passionate about sports.”

As TNTA CEO Hiten Joshi said, “Sankar was truly in love with sports.”

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