Dr. Vece Paes, father of tennis great Leander Paes and a part of the Indian hockey team that won bronze at the 1972 Munich Olympics, passed away in Kolkata on Thursday morning. He was 80 years old.
On Tuesday morning, Paes was brought to a city hospital with an advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease.
Throughout his lengthy involvement with Indian sports, Paes played a variety of roles. He was a midfielder for the Indian hockey team. In addition, he was a football, cricket, and rugby player. From 1996 to 2002, he presided over the Indian Rugby Football Union.
As a physician specializing in sports medicine, he served as a medical adviser for the Indian Davis Cup squad, the Asian Cricket Council, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Paes was married to Jennifer, a former Indian basketball player who captained the national team.
Paes’ last rites are likely to be held on Monday or Tuesday, with the family awaiting the arrival of his daughters from overseas.
With 18 Grand Slam trophies, including eight men’s doubles and 10 mixed doubles titles, his son Leander became the most successful tennis player in Indian history and elevated Indian sports to unprecedented heights.
Leander continued the family legacy of winning a medal at the quadrennial showcase by taking home the bronze in the men’s singles competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
