The International Lawn T ennis Club of India Columbus Trophy 2016 November 1st to 5th, 2016
VENUE The Delhi Gymkhana Club, New Delhi, INDIA
www.icindia.co.in With best compliments from IC Council Chairman's Message
Congratulations to the IC of India which is celebrating the 65th anniversary of its foundation in 1951!
The IC of India is one of the IC family's greatest travelling and hosting clubs. Yet another group of tennis travellers is being treated to Indian hospitality in these first few days of November. The IC of India is hosting the Columbus Trophy on the splendid grass courts of The Delhi Gymkhana Club, a club that has supported many wonderful IC events over the years.
I wish all those players who have travelled to India and our Indian friends, their hosts, an excellent event: good tennis and renewed friendships in a marvellous cultural setting.
Peter Mcquibban
IC India President's Message
Columbus Trophy was gifted by Mexico on the 500th year of Columbus Discovering America in the year 1492. India on completion of its 65th years volunteered to host this event and the Council was very kind to immediately allot the same. The event of this kind in Delhi is always a challenge as the other IC countries are nowhere near India and they have to travel a long distance to participate in an event like this. Unlike, when an event is held in Europe where there are large number of IC countries situated, it is very convenient for them to participate in the event. This year we wanted to host the Columbus Trophy event on a very grand scale and we accordingly planned to have the teams’ stay at the Taj Mahal Hotel which is the most iconic hotel in Delhi having also the best location. Initially there were only three teams i.e. France, Belgium and UK who had agreed to participate in the event and in order to encourage more teams to come I decided to scale down the entry fee from USD 5500 to USD 4000 for each participating team at the AGM.
The Council was also very generous in extending additional grant for this event which helped in a very big way in covering the deficit for the event. We tried to make Vikas Singh this event the most memorable for the teams coming to India by providing them complete hospitality right from the time they landed in Delhi till the time they flew out from Delhi. Due to our persistence finally two more teams agreed to come i.e. Argentina and Japan who came from two ends of the globe making the event even more special for us. The quality of tennis played at the event was of very high standard and the event was finally won by IC of France beating IC of Belgium. Countries Names of Players
Argentina 1. Anibal Suero 3. Luis Cevasco
2. Luis Medus 4. Thomas Stalhandske
Belgium 1. Robert Van Malder 4. Philippe Vercruysse
2. Alex Lamquet 5. Frederic Dewaegneire
3. Michel de Marneffe
France 1. Daniel Montel 4. Thierry Froget
2. Gilles Dugardin 5. Jacques Hervet
3. Xavier Lemoine
India - (Spins) 1. Ramesh Krishnan 5. Rajesh Batra
2. Sanjeev Kassal 6. Jasjit Singh
3. Commander R I Singh 7. Somnath Bose
4. Nandan Bal 8. Arun Khanna
India - (Slices) 1. Vineet Aggarwal 6. Kinny Khanna
2. Raveen Chaudhary 7. Aroon Purie
3. Major Yogesh Prasad 8. Bhupinder Singh Hooda
4. Sanjeev Manchanda 9. Gopi Krishna
5. C.M. Sharma 10. Vijay Mathur
Japan 1. Toshiro Sakai 4. Masao Inouye 2. Toshio Chomabayashi 5. Mimi Yoshii
3. Shigeyuki Nishio 6. Natsumi Nishio
UK 1. Nigel Mann 4. Mark Cox
2. Steve Alger 5. Jeremy Woods
3. Niall Sweeney Nations Participating in The International Lawn Tennis Club Columbus Trophy 2016
Argentina Belgium
France India
Japan UK D Y Patil Stadium
The D Y Patil Stadium is a Cricket and a football Stadium in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Owned by the DY Patil Sports Academy, the ground lies inside the DY Patil University campus in Nerul, about 50 kilometers east of Mumbai. The brainchild of Dr Vijay Patil, the patron of the institution The pitch and outfield have been prepared with plenty of care., The outfield is covered with sand-based grass, which not only prevents player injuries but also has the advantage of easy drainage. A drainage system below the main surface will help faster dispersal of water. The four floodlight towers are taller than normal, making sure that there is no glare in the players eye during the evening games.The stadium has all the facilities of an international cricket and football stadium. The stadium was officially inaugurated on 4 March 2008.The capacity of 55,000 makes it the second largest cricket ground in India and to make sure each spectator has a comfortable and clear viewing experience, the entire ground has bucket seats and cantilever roofs that eliminate the need for columns. It is the largest sports venue by capacity in Mumbai. The stadium will host 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Columbus Trophy 2016 - From the Tournament Director's Desk
The 13th edition of the 2016 Columbus Trophy got underway at the 103 year old Delhi Gymkhana Club grass courts on November 2nd, 2016. Participating teams included top seeds France led by the world number one player in the 55 plus category, Jacques Hervet. The hosts, India had fielded two teams and were led by Indian Davis Cup players Ramesh Krishnan, Nandan Bal and Jasjit Singh.
The tournament was inaugurated by the President of The Delhi Gymkhana Club, Lt. Gen I.J. Singh (retd).
A total of 7 teams participated in the 13th edition :
1. France
2. United Kingdom
3. Belgium
4. Argentina
5. Japan
6. India Slices
7. India Spins
The first day saw some close matches with the Belgians going down to United Kingdom 2 matches to 4. In a pivotal doubles match in the 55 age group, the Belgians were leading 6 games to 2. United Kingdom with their never give up attitude, fought hard and tied the match at 6 games all. The tie breaker saw the tenacious British sealing up the match (and the tie) 7 points to 4.
France showed no appreciation for the Indian hospitality and knocked out the hosts, Indian Spins 5-1. The French were just too strong and it seemed the Indian curries helped their strokes and movement on the wonderful grass courts of The Gymkhana Club.
Post the French-Indian encounter, the first day also saw Japan give a tough fight to top seeds France. By the close of the day’s play, the tie was poised at an exciting stage with 2 matches all.
The next day saw Japan and France square off in the 55 doubles and 65 doubles. By 2 pm the tie was poised at an exciting stage of 3 matches all. To decide the tie a doubles match was played comprising of one player each from the 55 and 65 age group. In spite of Jacques Hervet spearheading France’s efforts, to everyone’s surprise, Japan wrapped up the tie by winning it easily at 7 games to 2. This tie witnessed the biggest upset of the tournament.
The second day also saw India Spins take the fight to Japan by keeping the tie alive at 2 matches all. The third day promised to be an exciting one.
While Group 1 was wide open, from Group 2, United Kingdom and Belgium had already qualified for the semifinals.
Finally France and Japan also qualified for the semifinals.
In the first Semifinals, United Kingdom played against France. France was in top form as they easily won the semifinals 4-1. Jaques Hervet, the World's number one player showed his superior grass court skills in a close win over the British Number one player, Steve Alger. The match was decided in a tie breaker and was by far the best match between the two teams.
The second semifinal between Belgium and Japan turned out to be a real thriller. By the end of the day's play, the tie was poised at 3 matches to 2, with the 65 doubles tied at 1 set all. As play resumed the next day, Japan crushed Belgium in the 3rd set super tiebreaker, to make it 3 matches all. However, Belgium qualified for the finals by virtue of having won more games. Columbus Trophy 2016 - From the Tournament Director's Desk
The final was played between France and Belgium, with France comfortably winning the four singles and thus sailing through to win their second consecutive Columbus Trophy. The last two matches were not played as it was a dead rubber.
United Kingdom and Japan played an exciting tie for 3rd & 4th position in which United Kingdom won by a hair's breadth to come out on top.
India Spins and Argentina played for the 5th & 6th positions in which the host team won all the six matches, thereby giving the hosts something to cheer about.
The final standings were as follows:
1. France
2. Belgium
3. UK
4. Japan
5. India Spins
6. Argentina
7. India Slices
The Prize giving ceremony and dinner was held at the Terrace gardens of the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi's premier Hotel. Mr. Vikas Singh, The President of IC India spoke of the strength of the IC fraternity and the close encounters on court during the preceding few days. Everyone was in 'high spirits' (pun intended). It was a fitting end to a wonderful five days of Tennis and bonhomie amongst all the players.
Sanjeev Kassal Honorary Secretary IC India
Columbus trophy 2016 November 1st to 5th, 2016 Results ROUND ROBIN Pool Name - GROUP 1
Team Name Matches Played Won Lost Tied Points
JAPAN 2 2 0 0 6.00
FRANCE 2 1 1 0 3.00
INDIA SPIN 2 0 2 0 0.00
Team JAPAN FRANCE INDIA SPIN
JAPAN X WIN WIN
FRANCE LOSS X WIN
INDIA SPIN LOSS LOSS X
Pool Name - GROUP 2
Team Name Matches Played Won Lost Tied Points
UNITED KINGDOM 3 3 0 0 9.00
BELGIUM 3 2 1 0 6.00
ARGENTINA 3 1 2 0 3.00
INDIA SLICE 3 0 3 0 0.00
Team UNITED KINGDOM BELGIUM ARGENTINA INDIA SLICE UNITED KINGDOM X WIN WIN WIN BELGIUM LOSS X WIN WIN ARGENTINA LOSS LOSS X WIN INDIA SLICE LOSS LOSS LOSS X Columbus trophy 2016 November 1st to 5th, 2016 Results
COLUMBUS TROPHY KNOCKOUT STAGE Semi Final Final Winner
1. UNITED KINGDOM
2. FRANCE 2. FRANCE ______1. FRANCE 3. BELGIUM 3. BELGIUM
4. JAPAN
FOR 3 & 4 POSITION
Match No. Match Winner Date
1. UNITED KINGDOM VS JAPAN UNITED KINGDOM 05-Nov-2016
FOR 5 & 6 POSITION
Match No. Match Winner Date
1. INDIA SPINS VS ARGENTINA INDIA SPINS 05-Nov-2016
FINAL STANDINGS
Rank Team
1st FRANCE
2nd BELGIUM
3rd UK
4th JAPAN
5th INDIA SPINS
6th ARGENTINA
7th INDIA SLICES
Team Info and Pictures
Argentina
1. Anibal Suero 3. Luis Cevasco
2. Luis Medus 4. Thomas Stalhandske
Belgium
1. Robert Van Malder 4. Philippe Vercruysse
2. Alex Lamquet 5. Frederic Dewaegneire
3. Michel de Marneffe
France
1. Daniel Montel 4. Thierry Froget
2. Gilles Dugardin 5. Jacques Hervet
3. Xavier Lemoine
India - (Spins)
1. Ramesh Krishnan 5. Rajesh Batra
2. Sanjeev Kassal 6. Jasjit Singh
3. Commander R I Singh 7. Somnath Bose
4. Nandan Bal 8. Arun Khanna Team Info and Pictures
India - (Slices)
1. Vineet Aggarwal 6. Kinny Khanna
2. Raveen Chaudhary 7. Aroon Purie
3. Major Yogesh Prasad 8. Bhupinder Singh Hooda
4. Sanjeev Manchanda 9. Gopi Krishna
5. C.M. Sharma 10. Vijay Mathur
Japan
1. Toshiro Sakai 4. Masao Inouye
2. Toshio Chomabayashi 5. Mimi Yoshii
3. Shigeyuki Nishio 6. Natsumi Nishio
UK
1. Nigel Mann 4. Mark Cox
2. Steve Alger 5. Jeremy Woods
3. Niall Sweeney Tournament Venue and Pictures
TENNIS AT THE DELHI GYMKHANA CLUB (DGC)
The Delhi Gymkhana Club founded in 1913, can justifiably claim the status of the Best Grass Courts Tennis Club in the country and Asia. Only the All England Club Wimbledon has such an extensive and elaborate set up as the DGC. The Class of the Club, rated as the best in the country manifests in the fact that its Tennis Complex has greatly promoted the sport of Tennis by hosting several Davis Cup ties, a Grand Prix, and several National Grass Court Championships . Some of the top players of the world, to name a few; Jack Krammer, Pancho Segura, Roy Emerson, Frank Sedgman, Ramanathan Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Raul Ramirez, Mal Anderson, Ramesh Krishnana, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Boris Becker, Jaideep Mukherjee, Premjit Lal and many more have enjoyed playing tennis on the lush green lawn courts of the Club.
The International Lawn Tennis Club of India under the leadership of some of the Indian Tennis Greats like; Sumant Misra, Narender Nath, Naresh Kumar, Prem Pandhi has benefited from the support that it has received from the successive managements of the Club. Ever since the early 70’s when the Club Management shifted from Mumbai to Delhi, the DGC has been the venue for each and every Tennis Event organised by the IC of India. The visiting teams from Great Britain, USA, France, Spain, Denmark, Singapore, Pakistan, Argentina, Belgium, Japan, Netherland, to name a few, have all played at the DGC during their respective bilateral visits. The management of the DGC, staff, grounds men and ball boys have all provided their unstinted support to the International Club. The DGC has been supportive because it understands and appreciates the ideals for which the IC stands and provides a platform for the players of yesteryears to continue playing the game at International Level.
The Delhi Gymkhana Club has supported several players of eminence the likes of Jasjit Singh, Gaurav Misra and a large number of the tennis playing members of the IC, who are also members of the DGC. The International Lawn Tennis Club, in partnership with the DGC also encourages the participation of the Delhi based Diplomats in an Annual Tennis fixture. The DGC does not require any visibility but by hosting the Diplomats it lets them have a taste of the high quality of Tennis which is promoted by the Club and its status of eminence in the country. The visiting foreign teams and players at varied fora speak highly of the DGC’s commitment for maintaining very high quality of tennis infrastructure and the outstanding facilities offered by the Club and its eye catching ambience.
Major Yogesh Prasad. Vice President IC of India. Tournament Venue and Pictures Tournament Venue and Pictures
The Venue
The Delhi Gymkhana Club
2, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi - 110011 Ph : +91-11-23015531 - 35 +91-11-23012773 Fax : +91-11-23010584
www.delhigymkhana.org.in
The Delhi Gymkhana Club. New Delhi, India.
The Delhi Gymkhana Club had its origin at the Delhi Durbar in 1903, when it was decided that the Capital of India will shift from Calcutta to Delhi; a new Capital ' New Delhi' was to be built which would be the show piece of the British Empire.
In the heart of this was built a Club, described by Larry Collins in his book ' Freedom At Mid Night'
“ One of the most Privileged Sanctuaries of British India, The Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club “
The Club stands today as a Heritage Property on 27 acres of prime land . on one side is the official residence of The Prime Minister of India and on the other side, now 'the Indira Gandhi Memorial' the erstwhile Prime minister's official residence.
The Club has 26 Grass courts, rated by experts as comparable to those of the Wimbledon Tennis Club, Clay courts comparable to Rolland Garros, and Synthetic Courts, comparable to the US Open Tennis Center at Flushing Meadow.
The Club came into existence in 1913 and the present accommodation came to be occupied in 1928. It celebrated its centenary in 2013.
The Club's 'State of the Art' Squash Courts, Solar Heated Swimming Pool, the Billiard Room and Cards Room, have been witness to National and International Tournaments.
The sprawling 27 acres houses beautiful lawns, The Rose Garden, the Kashmir Lawns and Wood Land for Open air Lunches and Dinners during the various seasons in Delhi. There are 43 Cottages in ideal serene surroundings with tree lined avenues and gardens for guests and visitors.
Welcome to the Delhi Gymkhana Club. Facilities at The Delhi Gymkhana Club
Tennis Hard Courts Tennis Grass Courts
Accommodation Bars
Swimming Garden Lounge
Cards Room Squash Courts With best compliments from Shrimati Ram Ditti Dua “Delhi – The heart of India”
Red Fort
Jantar Mantar Humayun's Tomb Qutub Minar 01st Nov. 2016 - Dinner at The Delhi Gymkhana Club - Blue Room Hosted by Maj. Yogesh Prasad 02nd Nov. 2016 - Dinner at The Delhi Gymkhana Club - Party Cottage Hosted by The President Delhi Gymkhana Club - Lt. Gen. IJ Singh, AVSM, VSM, (Retd.) 03rd Nov. 2016 - Dinner at Taj Mahal Hotel Hosted by IC India 04th Nov. 2016 - Bollywood Evening Hosted by President IC India Mr. Vikas Singh at his residence 05th Nov. 2016 - Dinner at The Taj Mahal Hotel - Grand Finale Hosted by IC India 05th Nov. 2016 - Dinner at The Taj Mahal Hotel - Grand Finale Hosted by IC India 05th Nov. 2016 - Dinner at The Taj Mahal Hotel - Grand Finale Hosted by IC India 05th Nov. 2016 - Dinner at The Taj Mahal Hotel - Grand Finale Hosted by IC India Argentina Australia Austria Bahamas Barbados
Belgium Bermuda Brazil Bulgaria Canada
Chile Czech Republic Denmark Finland France
Germany Great Britain Hungary India-A Ireland
Israel Italy Japan Luxembourg Mexico
Monaco Netherlands New Zealand Norway Pakistan
Romania Russia Singapore Slovenia South Africa
Spain Sweden Switzerland Uruguay USA With best compliments from