The sparkling clean and carpeted drawing room of Ellyas Lehry at RR Lay out near Mettupalayam road suffused with warmth as he began sharing details pertaining to his 40 year old passion - Table Tennis. He bubbles with childlike enthusiasm while 'showing off' his prizes and certificates belonging to his school days. "My parents Tayeb and Rafika had put me in the St.Mary's school at Armenian street in Chennai and I went up to Class X in the same school before moving on to Gill Adarsh and finally I did my higher education at New College. One Father Itiachan was our Principal at St.Marys' and he loved Table Tennis. He used to simply open up the sports area and fix the tables and let the students play as and when they wanted to. There were 5 tables in all and we used to play Table Tennis everyday after our school hours till 7 pm and the whole day during the weekends. Father Itiachan used to play too. Many of the boys who began to play at our school became good players, thanks to the accessibility facilitated by the sports loving Father Itiachan. I began playing from the year 1976, when I was just 10 years of age and my inspiration was a fellow Bohra Muslim player Y.J.Shabir who happened to be a champion those days." stated an energetic Ellyas while sharing hot jalebis, samosas and some nice aromatic chai made by his wife Rashida.
Ellyas hails from a typical Bohra Muslim family from Chennai and he had spent his childhood amidst a large joint family which used to stay in the place of business itself. He hit gold by winning the first inter school tournament while he was in the fifth standard and therefore was part of the school team for 7 years. The veteran has won many tournaments over the years and he used to play for at least 2 hours a day until the year 1987 when he joined active business with his family. Ellyas gets nostalgic while going further into the past, "I won my non medallist singles Young Mens Indian Association (YMIA) tournament in the year 1982. One cannot participate in this kind of an event after winning it. My prime years were between 1982 and 1985 when I got see several multiple National Champions like Chandrashekhar, Chandramouli and R.Hari. I have in fact played with guys like Raman, Surendranath who went on to become great Champions. On one occasion while playing the IIT tournament I had the good fortune of loosing to the National Champion Chandramouli. Back in 1982 I beat the Nigerian Slako in the finals and it was reported in the Indian Express the very next day. Those were the days and then business took over I just used to play on and off until I restarted again by playing at the Coimbatore Cosmopolitan Club as an Associate Member from the year 2010 with my buddy Shankar Manivannan."
The veteran has won the recent "Veteran Table Tennis Tournament" held at Kuniamuthur recently and was ecstatic to talk about the veterans who are trying to give a boost to the game, "Initially, I was egged by Ali Sekhi of Chennai to play the veteran tournament and I am glad that I took his advice. Now I am the Vice President of the Veteran Table Tennis Association. Our President Balashanmugham and Secretary Sunith along with the members of the committee are conducting a veteran tournament every month and this is rejuvenating the game. Lots of people from Tirupur, Palakkad, Salem, Udumalpet and Ottapalam visit us and its inspiring to watch the veteran Khaleed from Ottapalam play the game. 67 year old Khaleed has in fact played the world veterans at Spain. Now the generous Cosmopolitan Club has come forward to let us have the South Zone Veterans Tournament at the club. All of us are looking forward for the day."
Juzar and Mohammed, the talented kids of the Lehry couple are sports people in their own right and the proud father beams while showing us the many trophies taken by his boys. Ellyas goes down the memory lane while conversing further," Those days we used Mark V Yasaka and Sriver rubbers on either sides of the racquet and the balls that we used to play with had seams but nowadays we play with seamless balls made by companies like Yinhe. The seamless balls cost upto Rs.150 per ball and they last 10 sessions. The 40 mm balls weighing just 2.7 grams are really fast and uncontrollable. Table Tennis is a fast game and has to be played at a furious pace. One requires exceeding high hand and eye co ordination for there is no time for reaction literally. You have to be alert all the time and the game gives work to all the parts of the body. I play even during the times when I fast at the time of Ramzan. I am reminded of Velu of the Tamilnadu Table Tennis Association who encouraged good players to play at the YMCA Esplanade branch by choosing to ignore their fees. I have also played along with famous players like Jacob Selvakumar while at the New College. I came out with a good experience while playing the Santhome Montfort Trophy. The 1980s and 1990s were a good time for Table Tennis in Tamilnadu."
Ellyas elucidated certain facts and points which could take the game forward in Coimbatore and elsewhere, "China is a world leader and there are 9 AM to 4 PM schools for the game in China. Almost each and other home in Siliguri has a table where the entire family play. This approach can bring up the standard plus we need to have sports exchanges with other cities in the form of tournaments and camps. We must remember that Table Tennis is a complimentary game and there was one Fred Perry who was an ace Tennis player and he was also the first player to win four career grand slams while also winning the world Table Tennis championship long ago".
The veteran sportsman is busy with his Perfect Trading Company near Dr.Nanjappa Road while not savouring his favourites - Biriyani and Table Tennis.
Ellyas hails from a typical Bohra Muslim family from Chennai and he had spent his childhood amidst a large joint family which used to stay in the place of business itself. He hit gold by winning the first inter school tournament while he was in the fifth standard and therefore was part of the school team for 7 years. The veteran has won many tournaments over the years and he used to play for at least 2 hours a day until the year 1987 when he joined active business with his family. Ellyas gets nostalgic while going further into the past, "I won my non medallist singles Young Mens Indian Association (YMIA) tournament in the year 1982. One cannot participate in this kind of an event after winning it. My prime years were between 1982 and 1985 when I got see several multiple National Champions like Chandrashekhar, Chandramouli and R.Hari. I have in fact played with guys like Raman, Surendranath who went on to become great Champions. On one occasion while playing the IIT tournament I had the good fortune of loosing to the National Champion Chandramouli. Back in 1982 I beat the Nigerian Slako in the finals and it was reported in the Indian Express the very next day. Those were the days and then business took over I just used to play on and off until I restarted again by playing at the Coimbatore Cosmopolitan Club as an Associate Member from the year 2010 with my buddy Shankar Manivannan."
The veteran has won the recent "Veteran Table Tennis Tournament" held at Kuniamuthur recently and was ecstatic to talk about the veterans who are trying to give a boost to the game, "Initially, I was egged by Ali Sekhi of Chennai to play the veteran tournament and I am glad that I took his advice. Now I am the Vice President of the Veteran Table Tennis Association. Our President Balashanmugham and Secretary Sunith along with the members of the committee are conducting a veteran tournament every month and this is rejuvenating the game. Lots of people from Tirupur, Palakkad, Salem, Udumalpet and Ottapalam visit us and its inspiring to watch the veteran Khaleed from Ottapalam play the game. 67 year old Khaleed has in fact played the world veterans at Spain. Now the generous Cosmopolitan Club has come forward to let us have the South Zone Veterans Tournament at the club. All of us are looking forward for the day."
Juzar and Mohammed, the talented kids of the Lehry couple are sports people in their own right and the proud father beams while showing us the many trophies taken by his boys. Ellyas goes down the memory lane while conversing further," Those days we used Mark V Yasaka and Sriver rubbers on either sides of the racquet and the balls that we used to play with had seams but nowadays we play with seamless balls made by companies like Yinhe. The seamless balls cost upto Rs.150 per ball and they last 10 sessions. The 40 mm balls weighing just 2.7 grams are really fast and uncontrollable. Table Tennis is a fast game and has to be played at a furious pace. One requires exceeding high hand and eye co ordination for there is no time for reaction literally. You have to be alert all the time and the game gives work to all the parts of the body. I play even during the times when I fast at the time of Ramzan. I am reminded of Velu of the Tamilnadu Table Tennis Association who encouraged good players to play at the YMCA Esplanade branch by choosing to ignore their fees. I have also played along with famous players like Jacob Selvakumar while at the New College. I came out with a good experience while playing the Santhome Montfort Trophy. The 1980s and 1990s were a good time for Table Tennis in Tamilnadu."
Ellyas elucidated certain facts and points which could take the game forward in Coimbatore and elsewhere, "China is a world leader and there are 9 AM to 4 PM schools for the game in China. Almost each and other home in Siliguri has a table where the entire family play. This approach can bring up the standard plus we need to have sports exchanges with other cities in the form of tournaments and camps. We must remember that Table Tennis is a complimentary game and there was one Fred Perry who was an ace Tennis player and he was also the first player to win four career grand slams while also winning the world Table Tennis championship long ago".
The veteran sportsman is busy with his Perfect Trading Company near Dr.Nanjappa Road while not savouring his favourites - Biriyani and Table Tennis.