Mumbai: It is a sad day for sports journalism as the fraternity lost one of its accomplished writers A T P Sarathy late on Saturday night in Mumbai.
Sarathy, who had reported on several sporting disciplines with distinction during his long career, died at the age of 93. He tested positive for malaria and was under treatment in the ICU. He passed away because of lung infection and cardiac arrest.
He is survived by two sons and two daughters, one of whom A T Jayanti, is the Editor of the Deccan Chronicle. His wife Padma Parthasarathy had died in April, 2012.
Sarathy, who graduated from Annamalai University, worked for Bombay Chronicle, Bombay Sentinel. He was the former sports editor of The Indian Express and after superannuation he took up the same post in the now-defunct Mumbai morning tabloid 'The Daily'.
He was also a former president of the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai and the Sports Journalists Federation of India.
A T P Sarathy with his wife Padma Parthasarathy
Sarathy was well-known for his acerbic wit and no-holds-barred pithy comments during coverage of sports, both on and off the field. He was especially known for his reporting of the national game of hockey during India's peak period of dominance of the game and then its decline from the top pedestal.
He also wrote for 'The Hindu’ group’s Sport and Pastime, The Illustrated Weekly, under a pseudonym 'PAT Sarte’. He was the author of the 93-page biography, 'Billiards King, Wilson Jones' in 1977.
Sarathy was also a radio commentator for games like hockey and football. The 1986 Asian Games in Seoul was one of the major events that he covered.
