Sanmar Mayura Kumar Swimming Tennis

The anti Hindi agitation dented N Kumar’s Tennis ambition but his passion for the sport remained unabated and he anchored the home coming of the Prestigious ATP Tourney to Madras in 1997 

Daughter Mayura rose dramatically to the top securing 100s of State and National Medals but ‘sports burnout’ led her to quit Swimming at 19 soon after winning three International Medals

Sanmar Group’s Vice Chairman N Kumar was all set to play in the Tennis Nationals in Pune in 1965 when the anti Hindi agitation led to the postponement of the SSLC Board exams. Kumar missed the Nationals and was replaced by Anand Amritraj. And the rest as they say is history. He was in form and a strong performance there may have fuelled his tennis aspirations. Unfortunately, a year later, his father directed him to focus on academics and he had to let go his Tennis ambitions. Three decades later, his daughter Mayura Kumar, managed to achieve what her father could not and was on top after bagging international medals albeit in another sport. But soon after, she quit the sport rather prematurely and made her way to the US to pursue her academics and secured a double bachelor’s degree. Kumar himself did not let go of his tennis passion easily and without an accomplishment, for much later in life he was the mastermind behind bringing the prestigious ATP tourney to Madras. Here is the story of the father – daughter sporting duo.

As seen in the story on Sanmar Group’s N Sankar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/jolly-rovers-n-sankar-75.html), TK Ramanathan, father of tennis legend Krishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/03/ramanathan-krishnan.html), was the driving force in him achieving early success in Tennis. By the time, younger brother N Kumar arrived on the tennis scene at the age of 9, Ramanathan was slowly moving away from coaching. But it was still not too late for Kumar to get the much needed early initiation. There was early success for Kumar and he won many tournaments including achieving wins over Anand Amritraj. He also beat the upcoming Vijay Amritraj in that phase. Kumar recollects the coaching days under the guidance of Ramanathan “Even though he was in his final years of coaching, it was he who taught me the fundamental aspects in tennis - serve and volley and the basic strokes - upon which I built my game.”

Later, he came under the tutelage of Akhtar Ali  and Kapinapathy who, Kumar says, were all about ‘strategy’. He attended ALTA organised national camps in Shillong ( under Akhtar Ali) and Ooty (Kapinapathy). Clearly in those early days, he had his eyes set on Tennis as a career.

By 15, Kumar was in the top two in the city and was on the verge of playing in the prestigious nationals in Pune when the anti Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu led to a postponement of SSLC examination. While the nationals went ahead as scheduled, Kumar had to skip the tournament focusing instead on the Board exams. His replacement in that tournament, Anand Amritraj, never looked back after that. Into his early teens, Kumar was exploring Tennis as a career and this was a big setback to his aspirations. A year later, Kumar faced the same quandary that TVS’ S Ram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/tvs-ram-s-cricketer.html?m=1) faced as a teenager a decade earlier when he entered that important decision making zone. Should he pursue his tennis ambitions or was it time to focus on academics. 

Kumar remembers the simple direction from his father “Sports cannot be a full time career, he said, and asked me to head to the Guindy Engineering College for my Engineering. There was no discussion about the career decision and my interest in tennis. I simply followed his direction.”

He says that unlike those in the current generation who are vocal in discussions with parents on ‘decisions’, there was no such (debate) in those days. Kumar may have been disappointed to have had to let go of his tennis ambition but he says that may have lasted only a few days and that with the clear instructions from his father, he moved on to focus on his academics over the next five years.

Kumar, who also loved cricket, recalls his father's support to cricket that turned out to be transformational "Cricket was dying in that phase in the 60s. There were not too many corporates who took ownership and ran it. My appa had a cricketing vision and he raised the bar. Competitiveness in the first division brought life to youth and energised them. The cricketers of the 1960s and 70s were outstanding and became big heroes to the fans who would flock in large numbers to watch a local match. The players of that generation were also very good human beings."

Out of sporting interest, he also played cricket for different teams in the TNCA league including Jai Hind, TSC, MRC A and Chemplast 'A' and 'B' as a wicket keeper and an attacking and carefree opening batsman, one that also reflected his personality. Najam Hussain (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/10/najam-hussain-80th-birthday.html?m=1) remembers some of his shots played at the Marina “He would take the attack to the opposition and hit bold shots over the top. He was a ‘lucky go happy’ person right from those days and enjoyed life in the way it presented itself to him.”

That personality has stood the test of time, for aged 70, Kumar is easily approachable even while he is at his Golf, where he plays 18 holdes, and responds to every query with a cheerful face.

Soon after his Electrical Engineering degree he moved to the US for his Masters bringing to end his active sporting days as a player. But he did have his big cricketing day in the Sun one that he delightfully remembers “Playing for MCC against Jolly Rovers, I opened the batting against Kalli and George Thomas. We beat them in the Semi Finals of the Buchi Babu tournament and then played Mafatlal in the final.”

Once he returned from the US, he founded his own firm in the electronics space along with a few friends.

Bringing the Prestigious ATP tourney to Madras

Kumar’s passion for Tennis remained unabated and it was during his stint as the President of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association that he pitched Madras as the venue for the ATP tournament in January. During that year, 1996, he (along with his team that included Prem Kumar Karra) masterminded the move from Delhi to Madras and convinced the authorities with the idea that Madras would be a very succesful venue to host the tournament in January, just around Pongal. Two decades after that golden moment, Kumar delightfully looks back at Madras capturing an important moment in Tennis History "We spoke with the heads of multiple organizations involved with the tourney and convinced them of Madras as being the most appropriate venue in India given its rich history of players who were successful on the global circuit as well as the knowledgeable and sportive tennis fan".

After just one year in Delhi, the ATP tourney venue in India was moved to Madras and continued quite successfully for the next two decades. 

A New Initiative - Personal Coaches on overseas tours

During his term as the President of the TNTA, Kumar also launched the Tamil Nadu academy of Tennis Excellence, an initiative that funded coaches to accompany talented and upcoming tennis players on overseas tours and camps. This was a much needed support for budding tennis players who were without the training and psychological support of personal coaches on tours till the 1990s.

Tennis vs Horse Riding/ Gymnastics

When his younger daughter, Mayura, was growing up as a child, Kumar initiated her into tennis. But she was not particularly interested. She was also into horse riding and gymnastics. Talking to this writer from her home in Alamo, near San Francisco, US, Mayura recalls those early days from the late 1980s “My father had been a pretty good tennis player and he was keen that I pursue Tennis. But as you know with parents, they would lecture and manage you a lot since they themselves had been good at the sport. I did not like that ‘parental coaching’ in Tennis and I did not show the interest that he expected from me.”

Swimming – A First in the Family

While she was not interested in tennis, one thing was clearly visible even at that early stage. Mayura was inclined towards sport. It was then that her father asked her to choose and focus on one sport. And she made that call when she was 12. Turning away from her father’s tennis passion she unexpectedly took to swimming, something that had not been tried earlier by any of the family members. Father Kumar remembers the first few months after she jumped into the pool “She adapted to swimming as easily as a fish to water”.

Under her first coach, Senthil, she made rapid progress along with another young upcoming swimmer Sandeep Srikanth, who too did well in that early phase. Within the first year, she won a bronze in the national championship in 1992. Her days began at 5am with a two hour practice session in the morning, followed by the whole day at school and then she would get back to the swimming pool in the evening. Right from the beginning, backstroke was her favourite segment and she specialized in that. 

While Mayura began winning medals at State level tournaments and her coaches (Railways coach KK Mukundan being the second one) found her to be naturally athletic and supremely talented, it was a very challenging phase for her in life. Being in a top ranked CBSE school had its set of academic challenges. She looks back at those initial years with a touch of sadness “It was really tough being in a CBSE school. You had to do well in academics and it was a big challenge to straddle between academics and sport, each day of my life in those three years.” 

Educational Institution’s Support

By the time, she entered college, she was already in the top 3 in India. Aged 17, Mayura went to the University in Dallas, US, for summer training. She considers that an invigorating experience that It was only after she joined Adarsh Vidyalaya for her Class XI did she receive the much needed support from the educational institution that is essential for the development of a sportswoman. She points to the support from Adarsh Vidyalaya and then Ethiraj College as being critical to her sporting success “Adarsh and Ethiraj College helped me leverage my potential and provided me the leeway to focus on the sport. It was that phase that helped me reach and stay at the top, consistently for a few years.” ‘taught her a lot’. 

Malaysia after Malaria 

As with her uncle, N Sankar, who was struck with Polio at 17, Mayura too suffered health issues at a crucial phase in her career when she turned 18. She was down with a bout of Malaria. She remembers that phase distinctly “I was down for a month. It drained me physically. I lost a lot of weight and was out of swimming action for a while.” 

It was then that her fighting spirit came to the fore. She worked hard and came back strong. Despite the Malaria strike, 1998 turned out to be her best year in her sporting career. She surprised herself and her parents, and in fact the entire sporting community with her comeback. 

Her mother, Bhavani, who was present at the APAC games in Kualalumpur, proudly recalls the spirit of her daughter "Once she decides to take up something, she would always give it her best shot. That is what we witnessed in that phase. She wanted to give her best and came back strongly after having been down with Malaria."

Best Sporting Moment

India had picked a strong contingent in August 1998 for the Asia Pacific tournament that was considered very competitive. While most of them returned empty handed, Mayura had the moment of her life as she turned out to be the one who saved the blushes for India. She won two Silvers and a Bronze at the tourney in Malaysia “It was easily the best sporting moment of my career. It was a very competitive tourney. To come fighting back from Malaria and to win medals in an international tournament was quite pleasing.” 

Two International Silvers

In fact, she recounts with delight the reasons for both the Silvers being a special achievement at that time “I bagged the Silver in my favourite event, the backstroke, just behind the then Commonwealth bronze medalist (Aussie Brooke Hanson). It showed to me that I was up there with the best. But what was even more pleasing was the fact that I surprised myself with a Silver Medal in the Freestyle, a category that I was not particularly fond of and rarely did.” 

A month later, she won the Gold at the National Championship held in Bangalore. 

At that time, she was on a roll and her father was hoping for many more sporting years. Kumar recalls her form at that time “The success at the APAC tourney was a high point in her career. Three International Medals and  a National Gold in successive months was a creditable achievement. I thought she was good enough at that time to aim for the Olympics."

Another Burnout in Sports

Fitness training and focus on diet was an integral part of her calendar. She would do a lot of running, cycling and weights to develop power. Soon after the APAC tourney, she was back into her fitness regimes. It was during one of those practice sessions in Bangalore, ahead of the Short Courses Championships, that she tore a ligament in the ankle, a result of the ‘pot holes’ in the running field. It put her out of action once again. 

Even in a sport that is not as popular as cricket, in India, the effort to reach the top and then to stay there takes its toll on the player and their personal lives. For close to a decade, Mayura’s life was all about training and competing in tournaments. Her day began at 5am and by the time it was 8pm she was left with very little energy to do the normal kind of things that teenagers her age did. She had won a number of tournaments nationally and the hundreds of medals that she collected at the Podium brought happiness to her parents. But burnout, that is such a common feature in successful sporting personalities, began to take a toll on her and she decided to call it quits at 19. She put behind the hundreds of medals she had won in the seven years prior and just let go of her swimming career in a flash. She was never at it again and went to the US to pursue academics.

Just over two decades after she last won those three international medals and now settled in the US, she reflects on her teenage phase that revolved around swimming “Even today, I cherish the 7-8 years of my life that I completely dedicated to the sport. My parents and elder sister were always there to encourage me at major tournaments and that was a real motivation to do well in that phase. Swimming shaped my personality and made me what I am today. I wish I had worked harder and continued for a few more years. In sport, one has to push oneself for more and I simply did not want to push myself any longer, at that time.”

Kumar has the final word on his daughter's decision at that time "Ambition is critical for a sportsperson. Drive to succeed is an important feature, especially in sports, and that is lacking in most of us. Once you reach the top, you need to increase the speed in the ‘treadmill’ and pursue relentlessly. Higher glory and bigger laurels for the country was beckoning but she chose not to pursue further”