Asian Championships (tennis)

Asian Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
Tour	ILTF World Circuit (1949–72) ILTF Independent Tour (1970-73) men (1971-73) women
Founded	1949;75 years ago (1949)
Abolished	1973;51 years ago (1973)
Location	Bangalore Calcutta Colombo Hong Kong Lahore Manila New Delhi Poona Singapore
Venue	Various
Surface	Clay Grass

The Asian Championships ^[1] also known as the Asian International Championships ^[1] or Asian Lawn Tennis Championships was an open international men's and women's grass and clay court tennis tournament founded in 1949 as the International Championships of Asia. ^[2] The tournament was one of eight official championships of the International Lawn Tennis Federation. ^[3] It was first played at the Calcutta South Club, Calcutta, India. ^[4] The international tournament was played at other locations until September 1972 when it was discontinued as part of the ILTF Independent Tour.

In December 1972 the format for the open event was changed to a closed event (Asian players only) and played as team only competition called the Asian Amateur Championships whereby a country sends teams of players to compete in singles, doubles and mixed doubles events. Unlike the Davis Cup its not a round robin tournament. It was first played at Kings Park, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The tournament was played at other locations until 1973 when it was discontinued as part of the ILTF Independent Tour. ^[1]

History

On 22 December 1949 the International Championships of Asia were inaugurated at the Calcutta South Club, Calcutta, India. ^[3] The tournament was concluded on 1 January 1950 the first winners of the singles events were Indian player Dilip Kumar Bose, ^[1] and American player Patricia Canning Todd. In 1968 the men's edition was held in Calcutta, the women's in Bangalore. The open Asian Championships ran annually until 1972 when it was last held in Poona, India, that year two editions of the tournament were held the normal winter edition, and a one off summer event called the Asian Championships Invitation. ^[1] The final winners of open international winter edition in the singles events were the Indian player Jaidip Mukerjea (men's), ^[1] the Indian player Kiran Peshawaria (women's).

The summer edition of this tournament was played in Singapore. The winner of the men's singles in the invitation event was Ramanathan Krishnan. ^[1] This tournament was then discontinued from the ILTF Independent Tour. ^[1] The championships were held in the following locations throughout its run in Bangalore, Calcutta, Colombo, Lahore, Manila, New Delhi, Poona and Singapore. ^[1] The ILTF Independent Tour, ^[1] a series of worldwide tournaments not part of the men's Grand Prix Circuit or women's the WTA Tour

In July 1971 at an annual general meeting of the ILTF it was decided to change the format of the open international championships and make it a closed Asian only team event. ^[3] The ILTF provided the finances to stage the event that was to be held from 20 to 26 February 1972 at King's Park, Kowloon in then what was British Hong Kong. ^[3] Thirteen countries were invited to send teams including Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ian, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. ^[3]

The Asian Amateur Championships were held only once the winner of the men's singles event was won by Japan's Toshiro Sakai (men's), ^{[1] [3]} and the doubles event was won by Japan's Toshiro Sakai and Jun Kamiwazumi. ^[3]

Asian International Championships (open)

Finals

Men's singles (winter)

(incomplete roll)

Asian Championships
Year	Location	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1949 [5]	Calcutta	Dilip Kumar Bose	Sumant 'tiny' Misra	6–1, 6–2, 8–6. [1]
1950	Lahore	Jaroslav Drobný	Fred Kovaleski	6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–4. [1]
1952	Colombo	Frank Sedgman	Tony Mottram	6–4, 4–6, 7–5, 6–3. [1]
1954	Manila	Lennart Bergelin	Felicisimo Ampon	6–3, 5–7, 6–2, 6–0. [1]
1955	Calcutta	Kurt Nielsen	Jack Arkinstall	6–2, 6–4, 6–1. [1]
1957	Colombo	Jaroslav Drobný	Warren Woodcock	6–1, 6–2, 6–4. [1]
1958	Lahore	Torben Ulrich	Robert Haillet	6–4, 6–2, 6–2. [1]
1959	Calcutta	Ramanathan Krishnan	Barry MacKay	7–5, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3. [1]
1962	Calcutta	Roy Emerson	Ramanathan Krishnan	7–5, 6–4, 6–3. [1]
1963	Calcutta	Ramanathan Krishnan (2)	Jaidip Mukerjea	6–4, 6–2, 6–4. [1]
1964	Calcutta	Ramanathan Krishnan (3)	Jaidip Mukerjea	6–4, 6–3, 6–2. [1]
1965	Calcutta	Ramanathan Krishnan (4)	Bob Hewitt	6–2, 6–1, 6–4. [1]
1966	Calcutta	Jaidip Mukerjea	Ramanathan Krishnan	6–4, 6–3, 6–2. [1]
1967	Calcutta	Alexander Metreveli	Ismail El Shafei	6–3, 8–6, 6–4. [1]
1968	Calcutta	Alexander Metreveli (2)	Ion Țiriac	8–6, 6–3, 6–4. [1]
↓  Open era  ↓
1969	Calcutta	Jaidip Mukerjea (2)	Bill Tym	6–2, 6–1, 6–0. [1]
1970	New Delhi	Alexander Metreveli (3)	Premjit Lall	6–3, 6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3. [1]
1972	Poona	Jaidip Mukerjea (2)	Vijay Amritraj	1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4. [1]

Men's singles (summer)

Asian Championships Invitation
Year	Location	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1972	Singapore	Ramanathan Krishnan	Eduardo 'Eddie' Cruz [6] [7]	6–2, 11–9, 6–1. [1]

Women's singles

(incomplete roll)

Asian Championships
Year	Location	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1949	Calcutta	Patricia Canning Todd	Betty Hilton	6–4, 6–0
1950	Lahore	Dorothy Head	Joy Gannon Mottram	4–6, 6–2, 6–3
1952	Colombo	Doris Hart	Shirley Fry	6–4, 2–6, 6–1
1954	Manila	Sachiko Kamo	Desideria Ampon	6–2, 6–4
1956	Calcutta	Althea Gibson	Sachiko Kamo	6–3, 9–11, 6–2
1957	Colombo	Althea Gibson (2)	Patricia Ward	6–0, 13–11
1958	Lahore	Louise Snow	Parveen Ahmed	6–3, 6–4
1960	Calcutta	Margaret Hellyer	Mimi Arnold	3–6, 6–1, 7–5
1962	Calcutta	Lesley Turner	Madonna Schacht	8–6, 6–2
1963	Calcutta	Cherri Chettyanna	Rattan Thadani	6–1, 1–6, 6–3
1964	Calcutta	Lakshmi Mahadevan	Jill Rook Mills	6–3, 6–2
1965	Calcutta	Nirupama Vasant	Lakshmi Mahadevan	6–2, 6–4
1966	Calcutta	Tiiu Soome	Carol Ann Prosen	6–3, 1–6, 6–1
1967	Calcutta	Rena Abjandadze	Alla Ivanova	6–4, 6–0
1968	Bangalore	Alla Ivanova	Nina Tukherli	6–1, 6–2
↓  Open era  ↓
1969	Calcutta	Nirupama Vasant (2)	Alice Tym	6–1, 3–6, 6–3
1970	New Delhi	Rena Abjandadze (2)	Alla Ivanova	9–7, 6–3
1972	Poona	Kiran Peshawaria	Susan Das	6–2, 6–0

Asian Amateur Championships (closed)

Finals

Men's singles

Asian Amateur Championships
Year	Location	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1972 [3]	Hong Kong	Toshiro Sakai	Vijay Amritraj	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 5–7, 7–5 . [1]
1973	Manila	Toshiro Sakai (2)	Chiradip Mukerjea	4–6, 2–6, 6–0, 6–2, 6–3. [1]

Men's doubles

Asian Amateur Championships
Year	Location	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1972 [3]	Hong Kong	Toshiro Sakai Jun Kamiwazumi	Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj	6–4, 4–6, 6–4 . [1]

Tournament records

Men's singles

Included: ^[1]

• Most Titles: Ramanathan Krishnan (5)
• Most Finals: Ramanathan Krishnan (7)
• Most Consecutive Titles: Ramanathan Krishnan (3)
• Most Consecutive Finals: Ramanathan Krishnan (4)

Women's singles

• Most Titles: Althea Gibson & Nirupama Vasant & Rena Abjandadze (2)
• Most Finals: Althea Gibson & Nirupama Vasant & Rena Abjandadze (2)
• Most Consecutive Titles: Althea Gibson (2)
• Most Consecutive Finals: Althea Gibson (2)

References

1. "Tournaments:Asian Championships" . The Tennis Base. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
2. Robertson, Max; Kramer, Jack (1974). The Encyclopedia of Tennis. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. p. 196. ISBN   0047960426.
3. Robertson & Kramer
4. Majumdar, Boria; Mangan, J. A. (2013). Sport in South Asian Society: Past and Present. Routledge. p. 122. ISBN   9781317998938 . Retrieved 29 September 2023.
5. Majumdar and Mangan
6. "Player Profile: Eduardo Cruz PHI". www.itftennis.com. ITF. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
7. "Eddie Cruz: Overview". ATP Tour. ATP. Retrieved 29 September 2023.