Ground realities of the days gone by!!

This is nothing, but a total recall. A rewind into those ‘golden’ environs. Reminiscing the good old infrastructure (read ground) that existed back in the days of yore.  It’s like flicking through a well-preserved black and white album. A royal walk down memory bylanes. Most treasured moments indeed! Hyderabad Sports in the 70s, 80s and 90s had that ubiquitous glamour, beauty and unmatched glory.   Each sport had its own season to unveil its spread to the connoisseur.  There were quite a number of unsung venues that showcased latent badminton, table tennis, tennikoit, wrestling, boxing, carroms, chess, volleyball and kho-kho talent.

If the YMCAs were home to basketball and table tennis, the Bolarum reading room and a small court near the Olympic Bhavan was where tennikoit flourished. The Exhibition Society gave some of these sporting events the New Yearly start to their seasonal campaigns.  Table Tennis, badminton, tennikoit and a few other games had their own places of pride in the sporting season.

Badminton bloomed at the IRISET indoor hall and the indoor stadium, Fateh Maidan, which became a badminton nerve-centre. There were some illustrious coaches in Hamid Hussain, Mahboob Ali, SM Arif, Goverdhan Reddy and now it is Pullela Gopi Chand, who was the first to start his own academy in Gachibowli and is grooming several national and international stalwarts.

YMCAs were home to basketball and table tennis

Very few know of a tennis court that existed in the Mushirabad Telephone exchange, where some top international and Indian stars displayed their magic. The once famous Lady Hydari Club, near Liberty talkies, which has now disappeared thanks to road widening, was a favourite hunting court for Davis Cupper Shiv Prakash Misra, who reigned as a state champion for a record of many decades.  His younger sibling Shiv Shanker Misra had his moments of glory, when ‘Baby’, as S.P was called in close circles, did not purvey his wares.

The senior Misra and Jainarayan laid a tennis court in their luxurious home compound, near St John’s Church, for his sons to fine tune and practice along with the others like ML Jaisimha, V M Shamraj and the younger Misra cousins.  Tennis flourished at the elitist Secunderabad Club, before Nagraj and Ravi started their own camps in the Zoroastrian Club (Sinnet) and Railway grounds. Then Narendranath and S Vasudev Reddy combined to start an academy in Cyberabad limits.

Ravi Kiran and Sanjay, another tennis enthusiast, trained kids at the IAS Club Begumpet. Brahma Reddy had his camp near Necklace Road. Gymkhana had its own courts and coach. The Asif Club courts in the Public Gardens saw some fascinating duels between top notch players. Top basketball player Yadgiri was a regular here for practice with the other players.

MCH playgrounds in Sanathnagar, Marredpally, Mushirabad and Audiahnagar were sporting havens for volleyball and basketball

MCH grounds were sporting havens

The MCH playgrounds in Sanathnagar, Marredpally, Mushirabad and Audiahnagar were sporting havens for volleyball and basketball.   There were some dedicated players and coaches. Rajeshwar supervised Sanathnagar while Narsimha Reddy was one dedicated coach at the Mushirabad courts.  He would go to schools and coach to spot talented youngsters. He groomed girl students of St Anthony’s High School, Secunderabad.

If V S Jagannathan was a legendary coach, giving tips to boys and girls in softball at Marredpally grounds, Nagaraj did the same when it came to table tennis at Secunderabad YMCA.  The Victory Playgrounds was another sporting hub. The legendary L Venkatraman Reddy, popularly known as ‘bhai saheb’, used his influence to give volleyball a big boost.  Sepal Takraw and tennikoit too gained popularity in this area of the city.

The Railway Institutes in Lalaguda were boxing arenas. Billiards and snooker were familiar sport here and at the Fateh Maidan Club and Nizam Club. There was a snooker parlour on the ground floor of the now defunct Minerva theatre where some top players like the Railway’s Rao brothers, Krishna and Prasad, along with Murray, King and a few other great cue artistes showed their artistry.

Olympians dribbled at the Police hockey grounds in Begumpet

Olympians like hockey wizard Balbir Singh, Ajitpal Singh, Virender Singh dribbled on this turf mesmerising the big crowds that gathered at the Begumpet hockey grounds

The Police hockey grounds at Begumpet witnessed some great games. Many-times Olympians like hockey wizard Balbir Singh, Ajitpal Singh, Virender Singh dribbled on this turf mesmerising the big crowds that gathered here.  For the National Games, this venue was provided with an astro-turf, which in those days was a big boon.  The other two at the Gachibowli sports complex must be in bad shape now. They needed replacement, but wonder if the authorities revamped these venues or not?

The two Osmania University cricket grounds was where some young cricketers, like Arshad Ayub, Shahid Akbar, Khalid Abdul Quayyum and so many other upcoming players exhibited their wares, in no uncertain terms, during collegiate and Zonal tournaments.

The swimming pools in OU and Nizam College were venues for inter college events. The pool near the Police control room opposite Public Gardens is now dead to the swimming enthusiasts. Adjacent was the wrestling arena where all the ‘pahelwans’ from the Old City took a roll on the red soil in front of huge crowds.

We sports journalists would feel embarrassed as these burly wrestlers would go around touching the legs of association officials, coaches and ours too out of respect. Abhimanyu was one name I can recollect who was a many times champion.

Goshamahal Police grounds saw some star-studded soccer action on the other side of the Tank Bund

Athletics was mostly confined to Gymkhana grounds, Fateh Maidan and Railway grounds in those days, before Gachibowli came into existence. The dinghy halls under the Fateh Maidan gallery stands functioned with some enthusiastic gymnasts. Sudhan Rao was the disciplined coach and had trained some champion gymnasts, who made the national grade. So was Giriraj.

If the Trimulgherry football grounds saw many an Olympian grace this venue, City College grounds and the Goshamahal Police grounds saw some star-studded soccer action on the other side of the Tank Bund.  Nizam Gold Cup was the blue riband of Hyderabad football. Top teams from Goa, Rajasthan, Bombay, Army teams and Madras dished out exhilarating stuff.

These were the ground realities of the days gone by!!!