It is six months into 2024. India has won a cricket World Cup, Spain has been crowned football champs in the Europian Championship, and a young Carlos Alcarez has bagged yet another Wimbledon title.
Come July 26, the world’s sporting community will eagerly tune in to the happenings at Paris, which will host the Olympics. Metroplus goes down memory lane with three former hockey Olympians, who will be felicitated by the Chennai-based company, SharonPly, next week. Excerpts from the conversation:
Charles Cornelius, V Baskaran and Muneer Sait | Photo Credit: Thamodharan B
Vasudevan Baskaran
Baskaran is no stranger to the Olympics. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Baskaran captained the Indian side to a historical gold medal, a proud moment for the entire sporting community in the country.
V Baskaran | Photo Credit: V RAMAMURTHI
It is during his time at the Olympics village that he bumped into popular boxer Muhammad Ali and sprinter Carl Lewis. “Apart from playing in the highest level, this is a place where you meet the who’s who of every sport. There’s nothing like the Olympics,” he says.
Which is why Baskaran is headed to Paris next week, making it his tenth time at the Olympics. He will catch a few games live – Baskaran has already booked tickets for the crucial games in hockey and football – and hopes to add to his rich repository of the Olympics experience. “India will hopefully reach double digit figures in the medal tally,” he says.
He remembers the time when he was selected as the Indian hockey team captain by All India Council of Sport, then headed by Sam Manekshaw. “We struggled with limited resources, compared to other teams. We did not have advanced video analysis, but adapted by studying available footage and strategising. Despite being underdogs, we used our strengths effectively to succeed,” recalls Baskaran.
Baskaran grew up in Chennai and hails from a family that encouraged sports – four of his brothers played for India, and his father was a pole vault champion. “When I was in school, every kid getting on the school bus carried a hockey stick with him. I must have played hockey in about 5, 000 villages across India, and that helped shape my sporting culture and discipline. Hockey – and sport itself – is all about communicating effectively.”
The State Bank of India hockey | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
Muneer Sait
The Olympics bronze medal finds pride of place in Muneer Sait’s house in Chennai. It was a medal he won back in 1968, at the Mexico City Olympics, during which he was the goalkeeper of the team.
He feels a tad disappointed that they missed out on the gold – hockey fans will recall how India fielded two captains for the 1968 Olympics due to an internal rift – but Muneer was among the heroes of those times, having stopped a whopping 12 penalty corners against Spain. All this when the game was played without face masks or chest pads. “The standard of the game was so high in the sixties that each position had almost ten players vying for the same spot,” recalls Muneer, “In fact, I retired after the Olympics, because I felt that my dream had come true.”
The bronze medal is still a draw among sports fans. “It is unique. I play a lot of squash now and wherever I go, people want to see the bronze medal. Its value has gone up tremendously now and it feels precious,” he beams.
The 84-year-old, who keeps himself active by playing squash, is unperturbed with cricket’s massive following in the country. “It (cricket) is well administered, unlike hockey that is riddled with politics. We were lucky those days to be managed by people who devoted time for the game. When we played the Rangaswamy Cup, the stands used to be full of supporters, with more than 20,000 people cheering the players. During the Bombay Gold Cup, film stars like Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Padmini used to attend our matches. Today, hockey has largely lost its charm,” says Muneer. He rates the current hockey team’s fitness highly, something that augurs well for it in Paris 2024.
Charles Cornelius | Photo Credit: Thamodharan B
Charles Cornelius
Competition is nothing new for Charles Cornelius.
His early years were in Sansarpur, a village in Jalandhar district (Punjab) known for its sporting heroes. “Everyone was an Olympian there. I was the only South Indian in a place filled with sardarjis, and it was initially very difficult.”
But Charles’ skills on the hockey field grabbed the attention of many. He became a goalkeeper by choice as that was the only way he could find a spot in the Punjab hockey team.
There was no looking back. “A goalkeeper’s primary job is to stop the ball. In the international level, however, just stopping the ball will not suffice as it might end up being a pass to the opponent.”
He considers the bronze medal in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games among his most memorable sporting moments. “The toughest game to play is not the finals. It is the game for the third place, which happens after we have lost the race to the top spot. We won the bronze that year, but that was not enough for a lot of people. A lot of players from the team actually stayed elsewhere in a friend’s place, as they could not face their friends and family back in Jalandhar who expected us to win gold,” chuckles Charles, “I remember going out on the streets with a cap and covering my face. For six months, I could not step out in public, because everyone would shame me for getting just a bronze medal and not the gold.”
Charles is hopeful of the current hockey team faring well in Paris 2024 but is, however, downbeat about youngsters taking up outdoor sports seriously. “Today, no one wants to play sports that require strength, endurance and speed. Everyone wants to take up chess, archery and shooting. Unfortunately, no one wants to run.”
