Obituaries

[prasen9]

Very sad news.  Ashok Mankad has passed away at age 61.  My condolences to Nirupama and Harsh Mankad and their family.  I am at a loss for further words.

[Varma]

That's really shocking. My condolences to Nirupamaji, Mihir, Harsh & Anjali.

- Varma

[jayakris]

Former Davis Cupper Shyam Minotra is no more .. RIP.

Shyam Minotra dead

Sad news.

Jay

[jaydeep]

Really sad news .. RIP.

[BSharma]

I am saddened to hear about the untimely death of Shyam Minotra.  He had a big serve and a good forehand and played the classic serve and volley game of the 1960s and early 1970s.

May his soul rest in peace.

[PKBasu]

Very sad news. May Shyam Minotra's soul rest in peace.

The Hindu story has an error, of course. He won the doubles bronze at the 1978 Asian Games with Chiradeep Mukerjea (NOT his older brother Jaideep, who was about 37 years old at that point).
Dushyant and I know Shyam Minotra's elder brother, Jaggi, who was the north Bengal ("Dooars") tennis champion for 12 years, after having been a nationally-ranked player in his youth. Jaggi Minotra's game was marvellous to watch, and I can imagine Shyam playing a similar style, with a strong serve and finessed ground strokes and volley (more in the Ramesh Krishnan mould than Vijay's power game).

[dmehra]

Very sad indeed and my condolences to the family.

-Dushyant

[Kumar]

VP Singh passed away after prolonged illness

[PKBasu]

Incidentally, I played tennis at the Tollygunge Club with Jaggi Minotra, the late Shyam Minotra's elder brother, last week. I was in awe of Jaggi Minotra's game from my childhood days, so I was rather pleased to have lasted an hour on the court against him -- and we were on serve with him leading 5-4 when we had to vacate the court! He mentioned that his brother had struggled for 3 years with cancer of the oesophagus before succumbing sadly.

[jaydeep]

Former Davis Cupper Premjit Lall passed away on Wednesday (31st December 2008) at his residence in Kolkata after prolonged illness ... RIP

Former Davis Cupper Premjit Lall dead

[PKBasu]

Another reference from The Telegraph:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090101/j ... 328596.jsp

I must say I am shocked at the newspaper's lack of research. All they could do was interview three of his contemporaries? Just how lazy can our journalists be??? Truly disgraceful that they couldn't find a reporter who could write with authority about Premjit Lall's achievements. For a start, they could have visited our Golden Oldies section!

[prasen9]

Lasantha Wickrematunge, RIP.

[Chris_indianfootball.com]

2nd Division I-League player Alex Kateete has passed away earlier today. According to the latest infos Alex died due to a Cardiac Arrest.

Please check www.IndianFootball.Com for further details on the developing story!

[prasen9]

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan passed away in his home in Northern California. The world loses this musical giant from India/Bangladesh. His music will remain immortal. May his soul rest in peace.

[punarayan]

This is a monumental loss to the world of music. Listening to him play the sarod was to be in the presence of genius. I had the opportunity to listen to him and Ravi Shanker on the same stage at Carnegie Hall and it is the musical event of my life. They took a couple of hours to warm-up and then there was no stopping! All string players of all genre regard him as the Godfather. Actually Carlos Santana was recently raising funds for Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's school of Music. I'm not a listener of Indian Classical music, but this genius just invaded your sensibilities and crossed all lines. I have one Hindustani music CD and it is his. He is in heaven and is capable of making one himself. A very sad loss.