In Kanjarampuram, near Sasthamanglam, there lived a man who daily rode his Raleigh cycle with Swiss precision at 5 a.m. His destination was the Trivandrum Tennis Club (TTC) at Kowdiar. This cyclist, V. Krishnan, lovingly known as ‘Krishnan Sir’, taught the rudiments of tennis to hundreds of trainees, for over four decades. Krishnan passed away in 2008 at the age of 87.
V. Krishnan
Krishnan was an unassuming person, a gifted player, a super coach, a marathon runner – and, above all, a gentleman.
During the hours he spent at the TTC courts, from the early 70s, Krishnan imparted basic tennis lessons to beginners and honed the skills of almost all the State champions of the Eighties and beyond.
“My father used to get up at 4 a.m. and leave home on his three-speed Raleigh cycle for the TTC at sharp 5 a.m. and would return home by 10 a.m.,” recalled his daughter Chandralekha, who is staying at Ookkode near Vellayani, where Krishnan spent his last days. His wife had died a few years earlier.
Krishnan’s day wouldn’t end at 10 a.m. He would soon be pedalling back to the club by 3 p.m. for the afternoon stint and would return home only by 7 p.m.
“Krishnan Sir taught us how to be a fighter on the court,” recalled A. Ajaikumar, a former State champion.
“He would shout ‘Don’t quit, don’t quit’, even if I was trailing 0-6, 0-4,” added Ajai. He insisted on his trainees putting in their 110 % on the court, even if they were losing. It was his dedication to the game that made him stand out as a coach. He taught us self-belief and that’s a very important thing in tennis. He was an excellent ‘mind reader’ of his opponents and thus devised strategies for his trainees as well.
He believed only in the best and expected nothing but the best from his wards.
Little wonder that Krishnan at the age of 53 defeated Govind Krishna Kumar in a thrilling five-setter in the final of a State-ranked tournament at the TTC courts almost 40 years ago. Govind, a city lad who used to play with star players at Chennai, was half Krishnan’s age!
“Krishnan Sir was a master at hiding his emotions on the court,” revealed K. Vijay Kumar another State champion.
“He was cool as a cucumber ... and you can’t expect to get any free points from him. He believed in the adage: ‘No pain, no gain”, added Vijay Kumar, who himself is a coach now.
Krishnan also used to string rackets, run state-level marathons and was also employed at the College of Engineering Trivandrum (CET) as the custodian of equipment at the college lab. In fact, Krishnan used to pedal his way on his faithful Raleigh to the college in Kulathoor and back. No wonder, he was fit as a fiddle to the very end till fading eye-sight prompted him to hang up his racket.
The TTC is conducting an All India Tennis Association (AITA) ranking tournament in memory of Krishnan, which concludes on Saturday.
