Former India hockey great Vece Paes died on early on Thursday. He was 80. The charismatic midfielder lit up the Kolkata Maidan and was part of the Olympic bronze medal winning team at the 1972 Munich Games. He had also won a bronze at the inaugural World Cup in Barcelona 1971.
Paes leaves behind a legacy of achievements both on and off the field, motivating countless athletes and sports admirers.
“It is a sad day for us in Hockey India. The passing of Dr Paes draws curtains on a great era of hockey. The Olympic medal in Munich is a testament to their grit and determination. I had the good fortune of meeting him a few times and I have always been inspired by his passion for sports in general,” Hockey India (HI) president Dilip Tirkey said.
“He was a great advocate of inculcating sporting culture in the country. We at Hockey India express our deepest condolences to his wife Jennifer, son Leander and their whole family. We stand together in their grief.”
Paes was the husband of former India basketball captain Jennifer Paes and father of tennis great Leander Paes. They are a rare Indian father-son duo which had Olympic bronze medals, Leander having won his in the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
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Paes was a physician by training who became an expert in sports medicine. He worked with different sports bodies including the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF). With BCCI and the Indian Super League, he was involved in their anti-doping programmes. With BCCI, Paes also worked in its age-verification programme.
At AIFF, he developed and conducted programmes to test strength and fitness of national teams. He was also East Bengal football team’s fitness consultant in the late 1990s.
HI secretary general Bhola Nath Singh said: “On behalf of Hockey India, we extend our deepest condolences to Leander, his mother and their family. His achievements in sports and sports science will always be remembered and his legacy will live on forever.”
Born in Goa in April 1945, Paes was exceptional in sport and academics. He lived a large part of his life in Kolkata, a city he loved deeply. It was Kolkata that made him a physician and an athlete, Paes said. He also served as the president of the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club.
In addition to hockey, he playing league cricket, football, and rugby. His love for rugby led him to become the president of the Indian Rugby Football Union from 1996 to 2002.
