Sir,

I was saddened to hear the news of Sanjay, one of the finest Kho-Kho players of mid-1990s, passing away at a young age of 40 (SOM dated Feb.27).  During our student days in mid 1990s, sports events were regularly organised in some of the schools in Mysuru, especially in St. Joseph’s, St. Philomena’s, D. Banumaiah’s and Mahajana High Schools.

Mahajana used to organise two-day sports events every year at its premises and Kho-Kho was one of the attractions. Students from nearby schools used to throng the place to witness the game. During this event, I came across this lad Sanjay representing St. Joseph’s High School Kho-Kho team. If I am not wrong, he was the captain of St. Joseph’s Kho-Kho team (1994-96). He was mercurial on the ground and used to play as a defender for full seven minutes of the game. He was also mightily good at chase. We, many of us, used to support St. Joseph’s School Kho-Kho team just because of Sanjay’s spirited play on the ground though we were part of Mahajana High School way back in 1994-1996.

I also happened to see him playing for Mysore University once or twice. He used to practice at the Oval Grounds and was unarguably one of the finest Kho-Kho players of that time. He was also good long distance runner. There were some news that he was selected to represent Karnataka in juniors and seniors at National-level.

When I recently came across the news that Mysore University, after three decades, emerged as the winner of All India Inter-University Kho-Kho Tournament, Sanjay’s name flashed through my mind. May his soul rest in peace.

– N.Vasantha Raju, Govt. First Grade College, Talakad, 28.2.2018

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