Jamsetji Merwanji (also spelled Jamsetjee; born 1871/2[n 1]) was an Indian professional racquets player, who was world champion of the sport from 1903 to 1911.
Profile
He was a Parsi who worked as a "marker" (club professional) at the Bombay Gymkhana. In 1903 in England, he played Gilbert Browne[2] at Queen's Club and Prince's Club for the vacant world title, winning by five games to one.[3] The world title was contested by challenge, and the distance between India and Britain or America meant he never had to defend his title until 1911.[1] His closest rival in India was his brother Padanji, who was a marker in Pune.[1] He was finally challenged in late 1909, for 5,000 rupees, by Charles Williams, who had beaten amateur E. M. Baerlein to become English champion.[4] The contest did not take place until 1911, when several Indian sports teams journeyed to Britain around the coronation of George V and 1911 Imperial Conference.[5] Jumanji easily beat Baerlein in a warm-up match,[6] but Williams, 17 years Jumanji's junior, beat him at Queen's Club by five games to nil.[5][7][1]
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 THE RACQUETS CHAMPIONSHIP: Jamsetji of Bombay sails for England. The Straits Times(24 February 1911).
- ↑ Template:Cite EB1911
- ↑ The Racquet Game{{#if:Danzig|, Danzig}. Macmillan(1930)
- ↑ Sporting Intelligence: Notes in General. The Straits Times(27 December 1909).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sport and the Imperial Bond: The 1911 'All-India' Cricket Tour of Great Britain. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy({Template:Year).
- ↑ The Sporting World; Racquets.. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser(2 June 1911).
- ↑ Indian Cricket Through the Ages: A Reader{{#if:Majumdar|, Majumdar}. Oxford University Press(2005). ISBN 9780195667868
References
Template:India-sport-bio-stub
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