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1964 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Ali Sayeed is no more. He breathed his last on Saturday at his native place Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. He was suffering from old age related issues last one year, and succumbed in a hospital on Saturday.

The legend was 82.

The famed left winger, who was in the playing eleven all through his illustrious career, played for Aligarh Muslim University, an institution that produced so many hockey greats.

1964 Olympic gold medalist Ali Sayeed

“He was a classic player”, says Kothandapani Doraisamy, 85, doyen of Mumbai and Tamil Nadu hockey, who lives in the States nowadays.

“It was in the late 60s that I first saw him in Mumbai domestic circle. He was playing for the Western Railways. Such a classic player he had been”.

“Once I saw him using the crosses that a novice boy Babu sent from the right for fantastic goals in the Mumbai League. He had mastered an art of thrustful attacks even the winger on the other side is new and up and coming.”

He was destined to go places, which he did. Despite all the accolades he has got in his times, he was an unassuming, simple and lovable personality”, concludes Doraisamy.

Ahmad Rais Siddiqui, who lives in Delhi, recalls his senior in the iconic AMU. “He was my senior hockey player at AMU, Aligarh. I learnt the basics of hockey from him when I had the opportunity to interact with him 1964-65 when he represented India in the Tokyo Olympics”.

“He was an aggressive forward, had a nice personality, was very much loving and maintained a positive attitude all through his career”. 

“I have lost a great player and a loving elder brother”.

Ali Sayeed played, besides Tokyo Olympics, test series against Japan in Japan, against Kenya in India. He was also a member of the team that won the much acclaimed Lyons Cup in the run up to the 1964 Olympics.

He joined the Indian Railways in Mumbai and then moved to Bengal-Nagpur Railways headquartered in Kolkata. In Kolkata he partnered with Joginder Singh to roll out many wins for Bengal.