THE HINDU - 11/03/2005

His love for the game keeps him going An exceptional basketball couple - Prasannakumari and Jayashankar Menon.

There cannot be a better person than C. Jayashankar Menon, 37, to talk about Indian basketball. The first Asian Allstar player from India, who was in the main continental team that participated in Seoul (South Korea) in 1997, has seen the `Darker Period' of national basketball.

When he was at his best the Basketball Federation of India's administration hit the rock bottom, ignoring the welfare of the players and promotion of the game. In fact, for about 10 to 12 years the BFI just `existed' as a national body and the Indian team's participation in international competitions was erratic and without any interest. It was just a routine thing sometimes. But Jayashankar did not lose even that limited opportunity and showed his class to be considered for the Asian Allstar squad. The towering Bank man was the member of the Indian team for the 14th (Bangkok, 1987), 15th (Beijing, 1989), 16th (Kobe, 1991) and 18th (Seoul, 1995) ABC championships and he also captained the team in the 18th ABC tournament. This apart, the Indian Bank centre was the member of the Indian squads that won the SAF Games gold medals at Colombo and Chennai and played in Malaysia, Syria, U.S. and Indonesia.

Even his domestic record is quite impressive as he played in 13 senior National championships (five title victories), three National Games, six Federation Cups and two inter-zonals, in which he was the `Most Valuable Player.'

As a recipient of `Outstanding Player Award' from Indian Bank in 1992 and from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in 1993 he expected to collect the Arjuna Award. But it was a big let down by the BFI because the recommendation of his name was not properly handled. It is for this reason he has formed the Kerala Sports Persons Association (KESPA) to take up the cause of deserving sportspersons. He and his wife, Prasannakumari, also a basketball international, are running the Professional Basketball Academy (PBA) in Chennai, which trains youngsters and conducts inter-school tournaments regularly.

Normally, in basketball, the former internationals hardly do anything for the promotion of the game. This is also one of the reasons for the game's struggle for survival in the country. But this couple is an exception. In fact, Indian basketball needs more such people to strengthen it and take it to higher level. Excerpts:

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