Hockey legends make London tube station list
Hockey legends make London tube station list
The Indian hockey greats will be treated as first among the very best that world sport has ever seen. (AFP Photo)
MUMBAI: Dhyan Chand passed away in 1979. Thirty-three years have flown by since then, and the Indian government is still not sure if hockey’s greatest player ever deserves a Bharat Ratna.
His younger brother, Roop Singh – also a part of the same all-conquering Indian hockey side of the 1930s – died two years earlier than him, in 1977. Very few in India are even aware of him. The Germans, though, named a street after the famed inside-left for his mesmerizing play in the historic 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
Leslie Walter Claudius is another hockey legend who helped India win gold thrice. But he too quickly faded into oblivion; the 85-year-old is currently ailing in Kolkata.
The three pioneering sportsmen might never get due recognition in India; but thousands of miles away, in London, they will be treated as first among the very best that world sport has ever seen.
Their names will ring in London, along with 358 other past and present Olympic heroes, as the Games organizers have managed to rename all the tube stations in London after them in the run-up to the Games, starting on July 27. The Transport for London has brought out a special ‘Olympic Legends Map’, detailing all 361 tube stations. Only six stops have been named after hockey players, with the three Indians – Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh and Leslie Claudius – cornering the majority.
The other three are Stephan Veen (from The Netherlands), Carsten Fischer (from Germany) and Rechelle Hawkes (former Australian women’s hockey player). While Watford Junction has been renamed after Dhyan Chand, Watford High Street has been rechristened after Roop Singh, and Bushey after Claudius.
“It’s great news for Indian hockey. Hockey legends have no value in our country. So it’s indeed heartening. Our gold at the 1948 London Games was like a revival for Indian hockey, for it came after a 12-year gap. We went on to win four more gold after that,” Ashok Kumar, Dhyan Chand’s son, told TOI from Bhopal.
Ashok Kumar, who was part of the World Cup-winning side in 1975, felt his father would have been happier had he been accorded such recognition when he was alive. “He became more famous after his death. But then, that’s the way it is in this country,” he added.
Claudius, the only living star among the three, was also excited. “Kab se rah dekh rahe the… Bachpan mein nahin aya, budhape mein kuch khusi mili (I have been waiting for so long… Didn’t get it in youth, have something to smile about at this age),” the octogenarian said from his home in Kolkata.
The names in the list include swimming star Michael Phelps, boxer Muhammad Ali, tennis ace Rafael Nadal, athletes Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis, basketball greats Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, and gymnast Nadia Comaneci. The list was drawn by sports writer Alex Trickett and sports historian David Brooks.