John Peter (field hockey) explained

John Peter
Full Name:Victor John Peter
Birth Date:19 June 1937
Birth Place:Madras (now Chennai), Madras Presidency
(now in Tamil Nadu), British India
Death Place:Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Position:Halfback
Clubs1:Madras Engineer Group
Clubs2:Services
Nationalteam1:India

Victor John "V. J." Peter (19 June 1937 – 30 June 1998) was an Indian professional field hockey player. A three-time Olympian who played as a halfback, he was a part of the Indian national team that won the silver, gold and bronze medals respectively in the 1960, the 1964 and the 1968 Olympic Games.[1] Peter's brother Victor Philips was a member of the 1975 World Cup winning team.[2]

Born in Madras (now Chennai), Peter represented his employer Madras Engineer Group, and Services at the club level.[1] He was renowned for his "dribbling skills, ball control and playmaking" and was called by former teammates Harbinder Singh and Inam-ur Rahman as "one of the best inside-rights India ever produced". Another former teammate Gurbux Singh credited him as having been the "architect of India's triumph over Pakistan in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics final." Peter was also instrumental in India's gold medal winning campaign at the 1966 Asian Games.[3] Following his death in June 1998, another former teammate Charles Cornelius recalled, "Peter was pure magic, and I will never forget the combination of Mohinder Lal, Joginder and Peter." M. P. Ganesh felt he was a "very artistic player and his passing was accurate and well-timed."[4]

Notes and References

  1. News: Swamy . V. Narayan . Peter's family struggles to make ends meet . 5 December 2018 . The Times of India . 4 August 2011.
  2. Web site: 1964 Tokyo Olympics . Bharatiya Hockey . 5 December 2018.
  3. News: Peter remembered . 5 December 2018 . The Indian Express . 2 July 1998 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060619013023/http://expressindia.com/ie/daily/19980702/18350764.html . 19 June 2006.
  4. News: Hockey Olympian VJ Peter no more . 5 December 2018 . The Indian Express . 2 July 1998 . https://web.archive.org/web/20010523202341/http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/19980702/18350734.html . 23 May 2001.