A seasoned coach of Indian basketball, Dr. S. Subramanian, passed away in Patiala in the early hours of Wednesday, after being hospitalised for about two weeks following heart ailment. He was 75, and is survived by wife, daughter and son.
The president of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the president of the Punjab Basketball Federation (PBF), R.S. Gill, condoled the death of Dr. Subramanian, and heaped praise for his dedicated service to Indian basketball for more than four decades.
The basketball fraternity was in full strength at the funeral. The secretary general of the Punjab Basketball Association Teja Singh Dhaliwal recalled how Dr. Subramanian continued to serve basketball despite medical advice after he had suffered a ‘stroke’ last year. He was the chief coach and director of the Ludhiana Basketball Academy.
Arjuna awardees Suman Sharma and Parminder Singh, apart from Yashvir Walia, Vijay Chopra, Ishwar Singh, Naunihal Singh, Yurinder Singh Hayer, Rakesh Aggarwal, J.P. Singh, Sajjan Singh Cheema, along with R.S. Gill, passed a resolution to stand by Dr. Subramanian’s family and offer all required help.
Disciplined and dedicated
“Dr. Subramanian was a very disciplined, dedicated and brilliant coach. He was always improving his training methods. His trainees and fellow coaches always held him in the highest regard and respect,” said R.S. Gill, in a statement.
Gill recalled how Dr. Subramanian had joined Indian Air Force in 1958 and had competed in the National championship from 1964 to 1967. He coached the Air Force team from 1968 to 1973. He had coached the Services to the gold medal in the National championships in 1969 and 1970.
He joined the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, as a teaching staff in 1973. He emerged with a gold medal on completing the International Trainer’s Course in Leipzig, East Germany, the next year.
Dr. Subramanian had coached 27 players to international level, and 12 of them are representing the country at the moment at various levels.
In the Asian Champonship in Wuhan in 2011, six players — Jadeep Singh, Yadwinder Singh, Talwinderjit Singh, Amritpal Singh, Amjot Singh and Satnam Singh — out of the 12 member men’s team were trainees of Dr. S. Subramanian.
