Arjuna award-winning former India table tennis player V Chandrasekhar died at a private hospital here on Wednesday due to COVID-19 related complications, family sources said.
He was 64 and is survived by his wife and a son.
Chandra, as he was popularly known, was a three-time national champion.
The Chennai-born player, who had reached the semifinals of the Commonwealth Games in 1982, was also a successful coach.
His playing career was cut short in 1984 following a botched knee surgery at a hospital here which led to him losing mobility, speech and vision. He fought back to recover and served the game as a coach.
He also fought a legal battle against the hospital and got a verdict in his favour.
Current Indian paddler G Sathiyan was among his trainees.
The table tennis fraternity in Chennai condoled his death, saying that the sport had lost a legend.