Only yesterday former TT International TT Player and National Coach Ratish Chachad displayed a group photo from his album on his social networking page. And in this photo taken during the 1977 Asian T.T. Championship at Malayasia, he was seen with Indian Men’s team comprising of V.Chandrashekar, Manjit Dua, Vilas Menon & Sudhir Phadke. Mr. Ratish Chachad was Coach of this team.
File Photo of Sudhir Phadke( Ext Right) with L to R – V.Chandrashekhar, Manjit Dua, Coach-Ratish Chachad and Vilas Menon. ( PhotoCourtesy: Ratish Chachad
This was merely a coincidence, as I am sure, Mr. Chachad who is far away in Canada may not be even aware about the sad demise of Sudhir Phadke . Like him, even I was shocked with this news displayed through an article, which was seen on TTFI website. It is certainly very disheartening to note that the news about the sad demise of this former India No. 1 who earned the highest world ranking of 35 went unnoticed.
I had the privilege of playing against this TT legend way back in 1981, when I played against him both in the team as well as individual event during theAll India Inter Bank TT Tournament hosted by Reserve Bank of India . Cool and calm, with his tall, slim and fit personality he impressed one and all in this tournament with his solid defensive game. Sudhir then played for Bank of India. Those days, when the game was of 21 pints, it was very difficult to earn even 10 points against him, as he never conceded negative points. Only top three players of India during those days could beat him but that too after struggling a lot. Sudhir though a Maharashtrian , lived in Delhi , as his father held the highest post in administration in the Vice President’s office, as per my knowledge.
Though Sudhir lived in Delhi, he used to visit Mumbai for big tournaments like Western India, which used to be held at the University stadium, Mumbai and also at Invitational Khar Gymkhana TT Tournament, where he displayed his best defensive game. It was really a pleasure to watch him during the match and he had big fan following like our other top player of that time Late Vilas Menon. Sudhir tied his knot with Veenu Bhushan from U.P. who was also a national and international level player in the Girls and Women’s events. With his early exit, the Table Tennis fraternity has lost a legend.