Many former and current players including six-time Grand Slam winner Sania Mirza paid tributes to the departed soul of Raja Narasimha Rao, life president of All India Tennis Association and also of the Telangana State Tennis Association on Friday
Rao, 92, passed away on Thursday and the cremation took place in the City on Friday. His son Ashok Kumar is now the secretary of TSTA.
Sania, accompanied by her parents — Imran and Nasima — visited the residence of Rao to express condolences to the bereaved family members. “Raja Saheb (as Mr Rao was more popularly in the sporting circles) has always been supportive to my cause right from my formative years. It is not just a huge personal loss to me and my family but also the tennis fraternity itself,” Sania remarked.
Former Davis Cuppers S.P. Misra, Vasudeva Reddy, and former national champion S. Narendranath were among those in the tennis fraternity who recalled the contribution of Mr Rao.
