Vijayawada: 4 members of family succumb to Covid-19

Vijayawada:Tragedy struck the family of SM Sultan, senior vice-president of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), as the Covid pandemic claimed four lives in the family in the span of less than 10 days. The 61-year-old advocate breathed his last on Saturday due to Covid-19. Tragedy struck the Sultan family 10 days ago when his mother became the first COVID victim.

Even before they could recover from the shock, Sultan, his wife Lubana Moosavi and son Javed Moosavi were all admitted to the hospital together. Unfortunately, she died. Later, Sultan also died. On Sunday, Javed Moosavi, the 20-year-old son of Sultan too succumbed to the pandemic while battling in a corporate hospital in Vijayawada.

M Sultan is associated with table tennis in Andhra Pradesh and India for more than 30 years.

TTFI president Dushyant Chautala said in a condolence message that there cannot be a terrible tragedy than this. "I lost a good friend, an able administrator and a very good organizer. His wisdom and knowledge-sharing had always come in handy for us in TTFI and we will miss him badly. I pray to God to give his daughter and other family members the courage to bear this loss."

Recalling his interaction with Sultan, a grief-stricken secretary general MP Singh said the news was surreal for him. "We knew he was hospitalized and were hopeful that he would come out unscathed. But I couldn't digest the tragic incident.

Sultan's association with table tennis goes as far back as a junior player who represented the then undivided Andhra Pradesh as a state player and then when he played for his university. Even after completing his law degree and becoming a successful lawyer, his passion for the sport never withered.

A successful lawyer, handling both civil and criminal cases, was always loyal to his clients and cared for them. He could have become a great professional if only he had left Vijayawada and moved either to Hyderabad or New Delhi, but the diehard table tennis fan in him never allowed Sultan to compromise with the sport, he said.