Former India basketball player and a stalwart of the Tamil Nadu team in the 60s, K Suryanarayana Raja passed away here on Monday. He was 73. Suryanarayana is survived by wife Vanaja and only son S Ramkumar, who is based in the USA. The cremation will take place on Wednesday.
The tall, athletic and handsome Suryanarayana was pick of the Tamil Nadu players in his heydays. Suri, as he was affectionately called, had a swift movement, was sharp at passing and nibble footed.
“He was a dashing and debonair player. His biggest contribution to Tamil Nadu basketball was aggression. At a time when basketball was slow, he was very fast on the court and captured the imagination of the crowd,” said MS Venkatraman, who played with Suri and was also the secretary of the state basketball association.