The Insiders Of Grand Slam

Tennis itself is an exhilarating sport. It becomes more interesting with an expert’s subtle observations. Society interviews Atul Premnarayen over the tennis minute details and the world of Grand Slams.

- Vani Krishnan

Sports can be ranked in increasing order according to an individual’s favourites. But one that grabs instant attention is the Tennis Grand Slams. While we enjoy listening and witnessing them from India, we forget that this is because of journalists reporting day and night from the respective field. To be able to report correctly in an appealing manner to the audience is no child’s play. Atul Premnarayen is one such media professional. He was the only Asian to have covered a total of 80 Grand Slam.

Atul’s uncompromising love for sports comes from him playing tennis at every level. He also has commentated and broadcasted along with his playing moments. His Grand Slam reporting began soon after the 1980 Wimbledon Men’s Finals. “I did several national and international televisions and radio sports assignments. I always relished broadcasting live sporting action which was the real challenge. I was confidently ready to be a Grand Slam broadcaster and reporter within a year.”

Fortunately several media agencies wanted live coverage and he went live for them from the four venues along with giving daily updates. He did assignments for BBC Hindi and Urdu Service in London for more than 25 years. Back then the All India Radio Grand Slam Voicecast had a 7.30 AM fixed slot for 15 minutes daily during Wimbledon and later at the other three Grand Slams. “These had millions of listeners across India for the entire Grand Slam fortnight. The great satisfying challenge was doing 36 live assignments in just a day!”