Olympian Sukhbir Singh Gill passes away

Olympian Sukhbir Singh Gill, suffering from a recurring brain tumour that was first detected in 2006, passed away after prolonged illness in Chandigarh on Friday.

Sukhbir Singh Gill of India in action. (right) | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Olympian Sukhbir Singh Gill, suffering from a recurring brain tumour that was first detected in 2006, passed away after prolonged illness in Chandigarh on Friday. He was 48.

Gill, the first hockey Olympian from the Union Territory and a teammate of current Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey at the 2000 Olympics and the 2002 World Cup, had been semi-comatose for the last few days and being cared for at home only. Survived by his wife, mother, a 19-year old daughter and a 14-year old son, Gill was considered among the most talented players of the golden generation in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

READ | FIH Women’s Hockey5s WC: India beats New Zealand 11-1 to enter semfinals

Diagnosed with a brain tumour on December 10, 2006 after complaining of breathing troubles, he was operated on nine days later and even returned to the field next year, playing regularly for his employers Bharat Petroleum and the Chandigarh Dynamos in the Premier Hockey League – the precursor to Hockey India League started by the erstwhile IHF and the first private franchise-based sports league in the country -- wearing a protective headgear.

Gill started his hockey training at the Shivalik Public School and Sector-42 Hockey Stadium before playing for Chandigarh at the junior nationals. First selected in the Indian Under-21 team for a four-nation tournament in Belgium by coach Vasudevan Baskaran, Gill made his India team debut at the Azlan Shah Cup in 1995, finishing first and soon became a permanent member of the national side.

A soft-spoken midfielder par excellence who could also play attacking hockey when needed, he was among the earliest players in Indian hockey who were flexible according to the situation and did not stick to a fixed position on field.

Since quitting hockey, he had been running an academy at Shivalik Public School in Mohali and also organised an annual hockey tournament in the city. However, the tumour re-surfaced in 2021, necessitating a series of major surgeries since 2021 but the disease gradually rendered him bedridden. His last rites will be held on January 27.