Three-time National table tennis champion V. Chandrasekar was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Rotary Club of Madras T. Nagar at the Taj Connemara here on Tuesday.
India tennis legend Vijay Amritraj, who was the chief guest, presented the award.
Golfer Amit Luthra was felicitated with the Vocational Excellence award.
In his acceptance speech, Luthra recalled how one of his caddies, whom he used to pay ₹5 per training hour, went on to become a successful golfer and started earning around ₹1 crore per annum. Chandrasekar, in his acceptance speech, referred to this anecdote and said, “I was aghast when I listened to the number!” to have the audience in splits.
“Even today, a table tennis ball costs only around ₹60, and in my days it used to cost just ₹4,” he added.
He said that table tennis in the country has gone big with the National league Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) and the participation of top players like Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan, Amalraj and Manika Batra.
