Nora Margaret Polley ( Fischer; 29 July 1894 – 1988) was the first woman to represent

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

when she competed in the

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

events at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

. Nora Fischer was born in

Budaun Budaun is commonly pronounced Badayun is a city and a seat of Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located near the Ganges river in the centre of Western Uttar Pradesh. Budaun was the capital of Delhi Sultanate for four years from 1210 C ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, records show that in 1901 she was living in Scotland before going to boarding school in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

in 1911, she would later marry Sydney Trepess Polley in 1915, who had been serving in the Indian Army since 1902 and would later be promoted to Major. Polley competed in both the women's singles and

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...

tennis events at the

which were held in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, she had prepared for the event by reaching the semi-finals in a tournament in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

. In the Olympic women's singles she received a bye in the first round before meeting

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

player Lena Valaoritou-Skaramaga in the second round, she eventually won in three sets, in the third round she was up against Spanish player

Lilí Álvarez Elia Maria González-Álvarez y López-Chicheri, also known as Lilí Álvarez (; 9 May 1905 – 8 July 1998), was a Spanish multi-sport competitor, an international tennis champion, an author, feminist and a journalist. Life She was born at the ...

, unfortunately she was totally outplayed and lost in straight sets 0–6, 3–6. In the

she teamed up with

Sydney Jacob Sydney Montague Jacob (28 October 1879 – 14 February 1977) was an Anglo-Indian tennis player who represented India at the Davis Cup and Olympic Games. He competed in the singles event at the 1924 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarterfinal in ...

also from India, they received a bye in the first round, then in the second round they lost to the Irish pair of Edwin McCrea and

Mary Wallis Mabel Hilda Wallis (12 November 1900 – 8 December 1979) was an Irish tennis player. Wallis reached the final of the Irish Championships at Dublin for the first time in 1921 where she lost to Elizabeth Ryan. She won the Irish title in 192 ...

in three sets. In the same summer after the Olympics, Polley traveled to England and played a couple of more tournaments in the south of England, including the Tunbridge Wells Tennis Tournaments, and an event in

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish situated in the county of East Sussex in South East England. An ancient town and part of the local government district of Rother, Bexhill is home to a number of arc ...

, after this no more records can be found. Nora Polley died in 1988 in

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polley, Nora 1894 births 1988 deaths Anglo-Indian people People from Budaun Indian female tennis players Olympic tennis players for India Tennis players at the 1924 Summer Olympics Sportswomen from Uttar Pradesh Racket sportspeople from Uttar Pradesh Indian emigrants to England British people of Anglo-Indian descent Sportspeople from Leominster