‘Saint’ of Indian hockey wore multiple hats

Bengaluru: Karnataka hockey went into a state of mourning on Thursday morning when the tragic news was received during the finals of the SJBHS Inter-school hockey tournament for the Centenary Shield and the Fr Eric Vaz Memorial.

A minute’s silence was observed twice during the event while several of the unaware budding hockey players learned of the sad demise of St Joseph’s laurel, Vece Paes, who passed away at the age of 80.

In that pin-drop silence, one could only feel goosebumps if one turned back the pages on the glittering history of the ‘saint’ of Indian hockey.

A true legend of Indian sport, Vece, born in Goa in April 1945, was the bronze medallist at the 1971 World Cup and the 1972 Olympics. Interestingly, the midfielder was studying for his MBBS while he won the two major accolades.

Post his hockey career, Paes became a sports medicine doctor, which was only a means to keep him close to the field.

A devoted lover of sports, he continued to serve Indian sports in various roles and different sports including cricket, tennis, football and rugby. This also notably included heading the sports science department of the BCCI in Mumbai until his retirement in 2018. Also, he served as the president of the Indian rugby union for six years (1996-2002).

His contribution to Indian hockey remains unmatched as former Indian captain and 1964 Olympics gold medallist Gurbux Singh Kohli (89) fondly recalled how it was difficult to keep him away from the hockey turf even when he was struggling with Parkinson’s.

“Until six months ago, he would always insist on going to the Hockey Bengal Ground (right in the heart of Kolkata at Maidan),” Gurbux told DH from Gurugram. “Hockey was his one true love, he would find peace in watching the young players in action during the local league matches and discuss the game in depth with me.”

Not to forget, he was the proud father of Indian tennis legend Leander Paes, who took up tennis only because his Vece would see that talent in his son, as per Gurbux. “I can fondly remember a 7 or 8-year-old Leander, who was not just a brilliant hockey player training at Mohun Bagan ground but also a great goalkeeper in football. His father, however, felt he should move to an individual game like tennis and pushed him towards taking up the game,” said Gurbux. Rest, of course, is history.

The father-son duo also have a unique distinction of winning Olympic medals with Leander winning an individual bronze at the Atlanta Games in 1996. 

Misplacing Munich medal

“Saint of a person, a true gentleman!” was the first thought that comes to the mind of 1972 Olympics medallist Ashok Kumar Singh (75), who was lost in his thought for a moment when he recalled his first meeting with Vece.

“We first met during the pre-Olympics camp for Munich, and I remember he was such a soft-spoken gentleman throughout,” said Ashok. “A scholar of a person, he was already studying MBBS when we met him at the camp.”

Vece Paes

Ashok grew further fond of the midfielder, who took him under his wings when Dhyan Chand’s son moved to Kolkata to play in the professional league for Mohun Bagan.

“Kolkata’s league was big those days, and moving to Mohun Bagan was important. However, moving to a new city never felt difficult as Vece always had my back on and off the field,” said Ashok, who remains in awe of Vece’s ability to create wrong-footed passes from the midfield.

That’s why Ashok felt obliged to help his former team-mate, who reached out to him with a unique request a couple of years ago. Turns out, Vece somehow misplaced his Olympic bronze medal and needed the medal from any of his team-mates to create a replica.

“An Olympic medal is the dearest achievement in any athlete’s career, but I gave it to him without a second thought. For the next five-six months, he approached several artsmiths to create a replica, but unfortunately, none could do it. He eventually returned the medal to me, but to me it feels like unfinished business, and it hurts more now that he is no more,” lamented the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award winner.

That said, Vece’s contribution to Indian hockey and beyond remains unparalleled and will not be diminished by a misplaced Olympic medal. His calm demeanour, magical wrong-footed passes and devotion to Indian sports for over six decades make him the saint of Indian hockey in a true sense.

Vece Paes with Leander Paes and Irfan Pathan. X