Premjit Lall (20 October 1940 – 31 December 2008) was an Indian professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

player from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, who was active during the 1960s and 70s.

Tennis career

Lall started his tennis career on the

grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass ...

s of the Calcutta South Club where he was coached by

Dilip Bose Dilip Kumar Bose (1921 – 30 December 1996) was an Indian professional tennis player. He was a winner of the Asian championship and a member of the India Davis Cup team. After retirement, he served as a coach and administrator. The All India ...

. Together with

Jaidip Mukerjea Jaidip Mukerjea (born 21 April 1942) is a retired professional tennis player from India. Personal life Mukerjea is the grandson of Indian independence leader Chittaranjan Das. He completed his schooling from La Martiniere Calcutta. Tennis car ...

and

Ramanathan Krishnan Ramanathan Krishnan (born 11 April 1937) is a retired tennis player from India who was among the world's leading players in the 1950s and 1960s. He was twice a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961, reaching as high as World No. 3 in Potte ...

they were called the Three Musketeers of Indian tennis. Lall was a runner-up at the Boyss Singles event at the

1958 Wimbledon Championships The 1958 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 23 June until Saturday 5 July 1958. It was the 72nd ...

, losing the final to

Butch Buchholz Earl Henry "Butch" Buchholz, Jr. (born September 16, 1940) is a former professional tennis player from the United States who was one of the game's top players in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Tennis career Juniors Buchholz was an outstanding ...

. At the

1969 Wimbledon Championships The 1969 Wimbledon Championships was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament that was played on outdoor grass courts. It was the second edition of the Wimbledon Championships in the Open Era and the 83rd since its formation. It was held a ...

Lall nearly caused a significant upset when he was leading first-seeded and world No. 1

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was the world number 1 ranked professional in some sources in 1964, in all sources from 1965 to 1969 and in some sources in 1970, spanning four years befor ...

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 Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

. Lall competed in 18 editions of the Wimbledon Championships between 1957 and 1975. In 1973 he won the

Stourbridge Open The Stourbridge Open also known as the Trophee Pernod Stourbridge for sponsorship reasons, was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in September 1887 as the Stourbridge Lawn Tennis Tournament, and first staged at the Stourbridg ...

at Stourbridge, England against French player

Daniel Contet Daniel Contet (3 November 1943 – 23 October 2018) was a French international tennis player. He competed in 16 ties for the French Davis Cup team between 1961 and 1969.Indian Davis Cup team from

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

until

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

against Australia but did not play in the challenge round. In doubles, he reached the quarterfinals at the

1962 Australian Championships The 1962 Australian Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on outdoor Grass courts at the White City Tennis Club, Sydney, Australia from 5 January to 15 January. It was the 50th edition of the Australian Championships (now known as ...

and the

and

1973 Wimbledon Championships The 1973 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was scheduled to be held from Monday 25 Jun ...

, all with compatriot

. Lall won the singles title at the

Indian International Championships Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

in 1961 and 1970 defeating Carlos Fernandes and

Alex Metreveli Alexander Irakliyevich Metreveli ( ka, ალექსანდრე მეტრეველი, tr, ; russian: Александр Ираклиевич Метревели ; born 2 November 1944) is a retired Soviet tennis player of Georgia ...

in the respective finals. Lall was given India's top sports honor, the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, on ...

in 1967. Lall played his final professional match in 1979.

Personal

Lall was married twice and had two sons and one daughter. Following a stroke in 1992, Lall began using a wheelchair and had difficulty speaking. He died at his residence in

on 31 December 2008 after a prolonged illness, and was cremated at

Tollygunge Tollygunge (Bengali: টালিগঞ্জ; nicknamed 'Mini Mumbai' or 'Mini Bombay') is a locality of South Kolkata, in West Bengal, India. It is famed as the centre of the Indian film industry, known as Tollywood, Marathi Cinema, South In ...

. In 2016, an invitation tournament named after him, was held in Kolkata in his memory.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lall, Premjit 1940 births 2008 deaths Indian male tennis players Tennis players from Kolkata Recipients of the Arjuna Award

Tennis career

Personal

References

Further reading

External links