Jamsetji Merwanji

Jamsetji Merwanji (also spelled Jamsetjee; born 1871/2^{[n 1]}) was an Indian professional racquets player, who was world champion of the sport from 1903 to 1911.

Profile

He was a Parsi who worked as a "marker" (club professional) at the Bombay Gymkhana. In 1903 in England, he played Gilbert Browne^[2] at Queen's Club and Prince's Club for the vacant world title, winning by five games to one.^[3] The world title was contested by challenge, and the distance between India and Britain or America meant he never had to defend his title until 1911.^[1] His closest rival in India was his brother Padanji, who was a marker in Pune.^[1] He was finally challenged in late 1909, for 5,000 rupees, by Charles Williams, who had beaten amateur E. M. Baerlein to become English champion.^[4] The contest did not take place until 1911, when several Indian sports teams journeyed to Britain around the coronation of George V and 1911 Imperial Conference.^[5] Jamsetji easily beat Baerlein in a warm-up match,^[6] but Williams, 17 years Jamsetji's junior, beat him at Queen's Club by five games to nil.^[5][7][1]

Footnotes

1. He was aged 39 in February 1911.^[1]