Vece Paes, Olympic hockey bronze medallist in 1972 Munich and Leander Paes’ father, no more

Vece Paes Passes Away at 80: Dr Vece Paes, who was part of the Indian hockey team which won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics, passed away on Thursday morning. He was 80 years old. Dr Paes was also the father of Olympics bronze medal-winning tennis ace Leander Paes.

Paes, who was suffering from advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease, was admitted to a city hospital on Tuesday morning, according to a report in the Press Trust of India.

Paes, who played as a midfielder in the Indian hockey team, later donned multiple hats in his long association with Indian sport. He is known to have played several sports such as football, cricket and rugby and served as the president of the Indian Rugby Football Union from 1996 to 2002. He was instrumental in managing the Asian Cricket Council’s and the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) anti-doping education programmes.

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Paes was a sports medicine doctor who worked as a medical consultant with several sports bodies besides the Asian Cricket Council and BCCI. He also served as the president of the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club.

Mourning his death, Hockey India called him an “unshakable pillar of Indian sports” and a “charismatic midfielder from the golden era of Indian hockey”.

Leander has often spoken about his father as his inspiration.

“My father is also my best friend,” Leander had said in an old interview, before talking about some of his fondest memories with his father: “When I was growing up, dad and I would watch Brazil playing in the World Cup together.”

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WATCH: When Vece Paes made Leander emotional

Paes had given a glimpse of his humorous side in a recorded video for a news channel to surprise his son after he won a mixed doubles title at the 2010 Australian Open. Back then, there was chatter about Leander retiring.

“People keep asking when you’re going to retire, but already in 2009, you’ve won two Grand Slam men’s doubles titles and reached the finals of two mixed doubles events. In 2010, you’ve already won the Australian Open mixed doubles title,” Paes senior started before saying: “You’ve impressed us and I’m sure you’re going to do well in tournaments like the Commonweath Games and London Olympics.”

Leander teared up after hearing his father saying that he had impressed him. “That’s the first time he’s ever said that I have impressed him.”

Paes senior then pulled his son’s leg over his “diplomatic” winner’s speech at the Australian Open ceremony, before ending the video with a couple of jokes that made his son burst out laughing.

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“The question I have here for you is, only you know when you’re going to retire from tennis. So when is that going to happen? Can you give us a hint? But more importantly, what are you going to do post-tennis? Is it going to be diplomacy? Then I feel sorry for all the diplomats out there, once you use your charm on them.”

(With inputs from PTI)

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