‘I don’t like people calling me Leander’s father’
Beijing, August 13: For a father, there cannot be a better feeling than seeing his son taking the family graph even higher and Vece Paes says he cannot wait for that moment.
An Olympic silver medallist himself, Paes senior makes no bone about his disliking when introduced as Leander’s father but true to universal fatherhood, he wants his son to surpass him.
“I’m proud of whatever he has achieved and I want him to grab another Olympic medal to add to his Atlanta Games bronze,” said, Paes senior, part of India’s bronze medal winning 1972 Olympic hockey team.
Every father wants his son to grow even bigger and Paes senior says he is no exception. “Like a good teacher would always want his student to achieve more than what he or she has achieved, I too want him to do that. I’m both his teacher and father. I’m proud of his achievement but more than that, I’m more proud because he is such an amazingly joyful boy,” said Paes senior.
“The only time I don’t like it is when I’m introduced as Leander’s father,” he quipped. Looking back, Paes senior said Leander had come a long way since the Barcelona Olympic Games to play five Olympics which is, in no way, a mean achievement.
“When he started, we decided that he has to better Leslie Claudius’ four Olympic appearances. Though he went on to do that, I then realised someone has played in more!”
Here as doctor of the tennis contingent, Paes senior said Leander has tasted Olympic success and there was no reason why he cannot win his second medal.
“His bronze in Atlanta was a huge surprise for all. Now he is in his fifth Olympic and still hungry for a medal,” he said.
Though watching his son gunning for Olympic glory gives him immense satisfaction, the sorry state of Indian hockey, which reached nadir with the men’s team failing to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, hurts Paes senior.
“It’s emotionally our national game. At some stage, we won Olympic gold as a matter of habit. But what we forgot is that sports does not give you free right, you have to win it. See how Brazil struggled to qualify for World Cup soccer. Past glory counts for nothing. Indian hockey is in a complete mess. Unless we put our house in order, I don’t foresee a turnaround,” he said.