Noted tennis Coach and state level kabbadi player and coach Arun Shankar Wakankar passed away at a city hospital today to cardiac arrest he was 72. Wakankar is survived by his wife, daughter Meghana and son Mandar and Grandchildren.
Wakankar retired as an officer from Bank Of Maharashtra after nearly 35 years of service , he was the coach of the Banks Kabbadi team and also of Sadhana Krida Mandal , he took to tennis later in his life and learnt the game well and played at the state level for many years and then in the veterans events later on. he was also the founder member of the PMDTA.
Wakankar took on to tennis coaching and trained over 3000 children in tennis over the last 30 years at SP College , Mukundnagar and the Hirabaug courts , a strict disciplinarian he was more than a coach to his students teaching them the nuances of life and discipline apart from the game of tennis.
He was actively involved in the administration of the sport of tennis and was involved in various capacities in over 150 local, state national and international level events held in Pune , he was actively involved with the Pravin Trophy , Karia Trophy right from its inception and was honored by Anil Khanna President of the AITA for his contribution to tennis a few years ago.
Wakankar was also awarded the life time achievement award by the MSLTA in 2004 at the hands of then Governor Mohd Fazal . He was also honored by the Lifetime Achievement award by the SP College Gymkhana a few years back.
Hundreds of his students and people from all walks of life were present at Vaikunth crematorium for his funeral