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Yuri Ouvarov with tennis champion Martina Hingis at Wimbledon in 2006 |
Tennis coach found hanged in park where he worked until school shut
‘It was a definite statement…he could no longer do the job he lived for,’ says friend
THE body of a respected tennis coach has been found hanging from a tree in Regent’s Park, where he worked for 16 years at a sports school forced to shut earlier this year.
Yuri Ouvarov’s death came nine months after the closure of his beloved Regent’s Park Golf and Tennis School, which had its lease terminated by the Royal Parks Agency.
The body of the 54-year-old Russian – whose pupils included actress Amanda Holden and television presenters Dr Gillian McKeith and Des Lynam – was found at the school, based in the park for 99 years.
“It was a definite statement,” said Chris Meadows, the school’s owner, who considered himself a “brother” to Mr Ouvarov.
“I have no doubt that Yuri’s decision to hang himself in the park was in response to the depression brought on by losing his job as head tennis pro at the school.
“He died looking towards the tennis school and it is clearly linked to his frustration that he was no longer able to do the job that he lived for. The guy has committed suicide because his life was taken away.”
A Royal Parks Agency spokesman said: “This is obviously a tragedy and we extend our deepest sympathies to Yuri’s family and friends in what is clearly a difficult time.”
The agency ended the school’s lease in March because it wanted the site to be vacant before an application to open a five-a-side football complex was heard last week.
The application was rejected on Thursday night following a three-year campaign backed by journalist Sir Simon Jenkins, BBC broadcaster Sue MacGregor and 1,200 members of the Friends of Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill.
But as campaigners toasted victory that night, a tragedy was unfolding near the site of the proposed complex in the park, where Mr Ouvarov’s body was found at 11pm.
Mr Meadows said: “There are a lot of questions that need to be asked, like why the Parks closed down the profit-making school before the application for the new development went through?
“Why have they made themselves so unpopular? If I run a business I don’t kick out my customer before knowing who’s coming in next. It was an incredible piece of mismanagement and now they have blood on their hands.”
He added: “I spoke to Yuri on Tuesday and told him it was unlikely the school would reopen. The Parks have made clear for a long time now that the site would be returned to parkland if the football plan failed. I did not want to build false hope – it was difficult to imagine any different outcome.”
Mr Ouvarov came to England after leaving St Petersburg in 1991. He was immediately appointed head coach at the Regent’s Park school.
Known to Russia’s prestigious tennis stars, he lived with his wife Tatiana in Golders Green. He had three children, Maria, 14, Michael, 24, and Alla, 26, a former pupil of Hampstead School who lives in St John’s Wood and is to marry next month.
She said: “It is such a shock. The school was great. When it closed he got depressed. It was not his whole life but it is hard to think of any other reason why he would do this.”
Mr Meadows is calling for the Royal Parks Agency to “take responsibility” and for it to reopen the school in Mr Ouvarov’s honour.
He said: “The Parks cannot stand away from this. They should reopen the school in Yuri’s name and they should help us set up a trust fund for his youngest daughter.
“He was known and respected by so many. With the closure of the school, he felt his life’s work had been taken away from him. He was a wonderful teacher of children and will be dearly missed.”
A spokesman for the Royal Parks Agency said it was unable to set up a trust fund because it is a government-funded body and that it was unlikely the school would reopen.
Mr Ouvarov’s funeral is at 3pm today (Thursday) at Hendon Cemetery, in Mill Hill. |
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