Sumant Misra (11 January 1923 – 3 September 2011) was an Indian

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player.

Biography

Misra, who was born in

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city located in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated on the southern bank of the River Saryu about 6.5 km from Ayodhya City, the district headquarter, ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, played on the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

team for nine years between 1947 and 1956 and captained the team in 1952 and 1953. He reached the quarter-finals of the

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Men's Doubles Championship (along with Jimmy Mehta) in

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and

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

and the US National Doubles at

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, being the only pair in the championships to take a set off Schoder and Kramer the winners, who had won both

and the US Nationals at

that year. He won the last All India Tennis Championships in 1944–45 and then went on to win the first newly christened

National Lawn Tennis Championships of India The National Lawn Tennis Championships of India, originally called the All India Championships, or the All India Lawn Tennis Championships and the Indian National Championships, was a combined (men's and women's) tennis tournament. It was played f ...

that was held at

Calcutta South Club Calcutta South Club is a historic lawn tennis club and tennis training centre in Kolkata, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-large ...

in Woodburn Park Road, in 1946–47 beating Man Mohan Lal. In 1952–53 he won the national championships again and was the finalist on three other occasions. In the 1947–48 final he was defeated by

Lennart Bergelin Sven Lennart Bergelin (10 June 1925 – 4 November 2008) was a Swedish tennis player and coach. As a player, for AIK, Bergelin won nine Swedish championship singles titles between 1945 and 1955, and the French Open doubles title in 1948. Bergeli ...

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(in later years better known as

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's coach). In 1972, Misra's son Gaurav Misra defeated

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 Pot ...

to win the National Lawn Tennis Championships of India held at Calcutta South Club, making them the first father–son to win the national championships. Sumant Misra also won the men's singles title at both the Ceylon and Malay Nationals in 1958–59 and 1959 respectively. Since there was no ATP Tour then, each country held their own national events. He was the finalist at the inaugural Asian Tennis Championship in 1949. His game was dominated by a cannonball serve and a lethal backhand. Nicknamed 'Tiny', 89-year-old Sumant Misra carried the moniker like a crown on his 6 feet and 2 inches tall frame. Also called 'the grandfather of Indian tennis', Misra was initiated into the game by his father Sir L. P. Misra, then Chief Commissioner of Indian Railways. As a 14-year-old, his favourite turf was the Calcutta South Club. That's where Misra met his contemporaries,

Narendra Nath Narendra Nath (1935–1998) was an Indian actor. Early life and background His full name is Narendra Nath Malhotra. He was the first cousin to actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Prithviraj's mother was the elder sister of Narendra's father. Two of ...

, Man Mohan Lal and Dilip Bose. However, Misra was the only one to participate in the junior national championship, the national championship and national veteran championship. He was secretary of the All India Tennis Association (AITA, then known as AILTA) from 1963 to 1966 and on the Committee of Management of ITF (

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. there are 211 nat ...

) during 1965–67. Misra died on 3 September 2011. He was 88. Besides tennis, he was an accomplished player in squash racquets, and in later years a golfer with a handicap of 8. "Then, sports was seen as a hobby," recalls Misra, who retired from Indian Aluminium as General Coordination Manager over two decades ago. He lived in New Delhi with his wife, Sharda Misra and younger daughter. His elder son Gaurav Misra is a former national tennis champion and is the director of the

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Dick Savitt Richard Savitt (March 4, 1927 – January 6, 2023) was an American tennis player. In 1951, at the age of 24, he won both the Australian and Wimbledon men's singles championships. Savitt was mostly ranked world No. 2 the same year behind fellow ...

Tennis Center tennis in

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Misra, Sumant 1923 births 2011 deaths Indian male tennis players