Northern India Championships

Northern India Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
Event name	Northern India Lawn Tennis Championships
Founded	1899; 126 years ago (1899)
Abolished	1975; 50 years ago (1975)
Location	Various
Venue	Various
Surface	Grass

The Northern India Championships[1] or formally the Northern India Lawn Tennis Championship[2] and, also known as the Northern India Tennis Championships,[3] was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament founded as the North India Championship c. 1899. The first tournament was played at Delhi, India. The championships ran until 1970 before it was discontinued.

History

Tennis was introduced to India in the 1880s by British Army and Civilian Officers.[4] In 1899 the North India Championship was established and played at Delhi, India. The championships were not staged during World War II and a few years after Indian Independence in 1947.

The tournament was hosted at different cities in India and was also played on different surfaces, such as grass courts and clay courts. This tournament was also held in conjunction with the National Lawn Tennis Championships of India for the years 1962-67. In 1969 and 1970 the event was also held in conjunction with the Punjab State Championships.

Locations and venues

The Northern India Championships were predominantly staged in New Delhi, over a number of years it was also held in other cities such as Amritsar and Lahore at the Cosmopolitan Club, Lahore and Lahore Gymkhana Club.

Finals

Men's singles

Incomplete roll included.[5][6]

Year	Location	Winner	Runner-up	Score
North India Championship
1899	Delhi	Abdul Majid	?	?
Northern India Championships
1919	Delhi	Hassan Ali Fyzee	Bhagwan Dass	6–2, 6–2, 6–3
1933	Lahore	Giorgio de Stefani	Emanuele Sertorio	6–0, 6–3
1936	Lahore	Ghaus Mohammed Khan	Subba L.R. Sawhney	2–6, 6–3, 5–5, ret.
1937	Lahore	Subba L.R. Sawhney	Hira-Lal Soni	6–4, 6–1, 6–3
1938	Lahore	Subba L.R. Sawhney	Hira-Lal Soni	6–4, 6–1, 6–3
1939	Lahore	Khan-Iftikhar Ahmed	Sohan Lal	6–3, 2–6, 7–5, 8–6
1940	Lahore	Ghaus Mohammed Khan	Franjo Kukuljević	7–9, 6–3, 6–3, 6–3
1941/1944	Not held (due to World War II)
1950	New Delhi	Felicisimo Hermoso Ampon	Geoff Paish	9–7, 9–7, 5–7, 6–0
1952	New Delhi	Tony Mottram	Naresh Kumar	7–5, 2–6, 6–4, 6–2
1954[7]	New Delhi	Jack Arkinstall	Staffan Stockenberg	6–2, 7–5, 6–3.[8]
1955	New Delhi	Ramanathan Krishnan	Władysław Skonecki	6–3, 6–1, 6–2
1957	Delhi	Ramanathan Krishnan	Jack Arkinstall	6–3, 6–4, 6–3
1958	New Delhi	Ulf Schmidt	Billy Knight	6–2, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
1959	New Delhi	Ramanathan Krishnan	Ulf Schmidt	6–3, 6–3, 6–1
1961	New Delhi	Ramanathan Krishnan	Premjit Lall	6–4, 6–4, 6–2
Northern India and India National Championships
1962[9]	New Delhi	Roy Emerson	Ramanathan Krishnan	6–4, 6–4, 6–3
1963[10]	New Delhi	Ramanathan Krishnan (7)	Jaidip Mukerjea	6–4, 6–0, 6–3
1964[11]	New Delhi	Ramanathan Krishnan (8)	Alan Mills	6–1, 6–3, 6–4
1965[12]	New Delhi	Ramanathan Krishnan (9)	Martin Mulligan	w.o.
1966[13]	New Delhi	Jaidip Mukerjea	Premjit Lall	4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–0
1967[14][15]	New Delhi	Premjit Lall	Ramanathan Krishnan	3–6, 7–5, 5–7, 2–1 rtd.
Open era
Northern India and Punjab State Championships
1969	Amritsar	Tadeusz Nowicki	Premjit Lall	6–1, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
1970	Amritsar	Zlatko Ivancic	Alex Metreveli	6–3, 6–4

Women's singles

Incomplete roll included.

Year	Location	Winner	Runner-up	Score
Northern India Championships
1936	Lahore	Meher Dubash	Dorothy Haydon Crouch	6–1, 6–3
1937	Lahore	Leela Row	Meher Dubash	?
1938	Lahore	Mrs E.H. Edney	Dorothy Haydon Crouch	6–4, 6–3
1941/1944	Not held (due to World War II)
1950	New Delhi	Gussie Moran	Pat Canning Todd	6–1, 4–6, 6–1
1953[16]	New Delhi	Rita Davar	Urmila Thapar	6–4, 9–7
1955	New Delhi	Parveen Sheikh	Urmila Thapar	6–4, 5–7, 6–1
1957	Delhi	Khanum Haji Singh	Mrs. J.B. Singh	4–6, 7–5, 6–1
Northern India and India National Championships
1960	New Delhi	Margaret Hellyer	Mimi Arnold	4–6, 7–5, 6–0
1962	New Delhi	Lesley Turner	Madonna Schacht	6–1, 6–3
1966	New Delhi	Tiiu Soome	Marion Law	6-2, 3–6, 6–4
1967	New Delhi	Alla Ivanova	Rena Abjandadze	8–6, 6–3
Open era
Northern India and Punjab State Championships
1969	Amritsar	Judith Dibar	Alice Tym	6–1, 5–7, 7–5
1970	Amritsar	Aleksandra Ivanova	Irena Škulj	6–1, 6–3

References

1. Datta, Pratip Kumar (2001). A Century of Indian Tennis. New Delhi: Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 93. ISBN 978-81-230-0783-0.
2. Meenakshi Saxena (2000). Kiran Bedi, the Kindly Baton. Books India International. p. 232.
3. GHOSH, S. N. (7 December 1940). THE INDIAN LISTENER: Vol. V. No. 24. (7th DECEMBER 1940). Delhi: All India Radio (AIR),New Delhi. p. 1933.
4. "History". aitatennis. New Delhi, India: All India Tennis Association. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
5. Nieuwland, Alex. "Tournament – Tennisarchives.com". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
6. Nieuwland, Alex. "Tournament – National and Northern India Championships". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
7. "Two Titles for Arkinstall:New Delhi: Northern India Lawn Tennis Championships". Adelaide Advertiser. Adelaide, Victoria, Australia: Newspaper Archives. 25 January 1954. p. 14.
8. Adelaide Advertiser, p.14.
9. "Tennis". Youngstown Vindicator. 19 February 1962. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
10. "Krishnan Scores Another Facile Title Victory Over Mukherjea". The Indian Express. 25 February 1963. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
11. "Krishnan crushes Mills in 65 minutes". The Indian Express. 23 February 1964. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
12. "Around the world". World Tennis. April 1965. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
13. "Results". World Tennis. March 1966. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
14. "Injuries halt final". The Leader Post. 9 January 1967. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
15. "Results". World Tennis. March 1967. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
16. Shukla, Dr Balraj (10 January 2019). "First Queens of Indian tennis and the reign of Rita Davar". thebridge.in. The Bridge. Retrieved 8 August 2023.