Vece Paes, Olympic hockey bronze medallist, dies at 80

Vece Paes, a member of the bronze medal-winning Indian hockey team at the Munich 1972 Olympics and father of tennis icon Leander, died in Kolkata on Thursday. He was 80 years old.

Born in Goa on April 30, 1945, Vece Paes made his debut for the Indian hockey team at the Hamburg International Cup in 1966 when he was still a medical student at the Presidency College in Kolkata.

A skillful midfielder, Vece would go on to become a cornerstone of the Indian team which won a bronze medal at the 1971 Hockey World Cup in Barcelona and followed it up with another podium finish at the 1972 Olympics.

Beyond his athletic achievements, he was also a doctor of sports medicine and served as president of the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club.

Vece also played divisional cricket, football and rugby. His love for rugby led him to become the president of the Indian Rugby Football Union from 1996 to 2002.

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