Another icon of my childhood passed away recently. Indian Davis Cupper, Premjit Lall died at the age of 68 in Kolkata. In the 60’s and early 70’s, you could not say “Premjit Lall” without saying “Jaideep Mukerjea” his doubles partner.
As kids, we read with awe as Lall hit the headlines by reaching the finals of the Wimbledon Juniors in 1958- a terrific feat for those times. He later became a permanent member of India’s Davis Cup squad for many more years. He and Mukerjea were the first choice doubles players for India in those days.
He was a natural tennis player and a great team man. Many years have gone by but people still remember how he almost beat the legendary Rod Laver in a Davis Cup tie in 1960 when Laver was at the peak of his career.
He gave us many moments of enjoyment. May his soul rest in peace.
January 3, 2009 at 2:51 am
[...] Premjit Lall, India’s tennis star of the ’60s and wrote about him recently when he passed away last week. Yesterday -from out of the blue, I suddenly remembered his wife’s name was [...]