Passing away of Chennai’s legendary star Susainathan has saddened the heart of triple-olympic gold medalist, Balbir Singh Senior.

Balbir was the captain when susainathan made his international debut in 1954

“I am shocked to learn about the sad demise of dear Susainathan, a brilliant inside left of Indian hockey’s Golden Era.

I convey my heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family. May his soul rest in peace!”

“Susainathan was an important member of the team that I lead to Malaya (now Singapore and Malaya) in 1954. Dr. B. L. Gupta Secretary General IHF was our Manager.”

“If I remember correctly, we played 16 matches and scored 121 goals.”

stick2hockey.com adds:

This is the full Indian team of the 1954 Malaysia- Singapore tour

Balbir Singh (captain),
RS Gentle (Vice-captain),

Bakshish Singh
Leslie Claudius
RS Bhola
Raghbir Lal
R Francis (gk)
O P Malhotra
M Rajagopal
Bhaskaran (Mysore)
Susainathan
Ram Prakash gk
Abid Ali
Joe De Mellow
RS Rana
Middlecoat

Susainathan scored 11 goals in that tour

Picture caption:

SUSAINATHAN is standing at the centre of front row, to the right of his captain Balbir Singh Sr.

Pic Courtesy: Balbir Singh Sr.