Chandigarh’s first hockey Olympian Sukhbir Singh Gill no more

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, January 26

48-year-old Chandigarh’s first hockey Olympian, Sukhbir Singh Gill is no more.

The former Indian midfielder, who was battling an aggressive brain tumour, breathed his last at his Sector 49 residence, on Friday afternoon.

Gill is survived by his handicapped grandmother, wife, a 19-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son. Gill, who was semicomatose in his last days, underwent some major surgeries for curing brain tumour, which was detected in December 2006. Despite undergoing a number of operations, including Gamma Knife radiosurgeries, since 2021, the disease had rendered Gill completely bedridden.

Gill, who first experienced some trouble breathing in 2006, was diagnosed with a brain tumour through a series of CT scans and an MRI test. He first underwent an operation for the same on December 19 the same year.

It was followed by a four-year-long uphill battle as he struggled to make his comeback in hockey. After recuperating, he tried playing in the 2007 edition of the Premier Hockey League.

He had honed his skills at Shivalik Public School in Sector 41 and later moved to DAV College in Sector 10. He represented Panjab University in the All India Inter-University Hockey Championships before cementing his place on the Indian team. After hanging his boots, Gill ran an academy at Shivalik Public School in Mohali and organised hockey championships every year to provide a platform for the budding and professional players.

His hockey’s journey includes donning Indian colours at the Sydney Olympics (2000), the Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur (2002), and the FIH Champions Trophy in Cologne (Germany) in 2002.

His last rites will be held on January 27 (12 noon), at the Sector 25 Cremation Ground.