Leander Paes' father, Vece, a member of the 1972 Munich Olympics bronze medal-winning hockey team, breathed his last at the age of 80 in Kolkata. Dr. Vece Paes was suffering from an advanced stage of Parkinson's disease and was admitted to the hospital in the city on Tuesday, August 12. Dr. Paes was a midfielder in the hockey team, which had a dream run in the early 70s, winning the 1971 World Cup bronze, following it up with a bronze in the Summer Olympics the next year.
"Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital deeply mourns the passing of Dr Vece Paes, 80, a distinguished member of India's bronze medal-winning hockey team at the 1972 Munich Olympics, renowned sports medicine specialist, and father of tennis legend Mr Leander Paes. Dr Paes started his medical practice at NRS Medical College and Woodlands Hospital in the 1960s," said the hospital in a statement.
"Dr Paes was admitted to Woodlands Hospital late on August 12, 2025, under the care of Dr Soutik Panda, in charge, critical care Medicine, with multiorgan dysfunction due to lower respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract infections. A regular patient at Woodlands Hospital, he had been under the Woodlands Home Care Service for the past ten months. A long-term patient of Parkinson's disease, he had been bed-bound for an extended period. Despite the best medical efforts, Dr Paes breathed his last in the early hours of August 14, 2025," the statement further read.
Dr. Paes had a successful career both on and off the field. While he was popular for hockey, having represented his country, he also played football, cricket and rugby, while excelling in the medicine field. Dr. Paes championed sports medicine after studying at Presidency College in Kolkata in 1964-65, helping several Indian athletes and later went on to become a medical consultant with several sports bodies, including the Asian Cricket Council, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Indian Davis Cup team.
He was also a key figure in devising anti-corruption educational programmes for the coaches, sportspersons and athletes to use beyond the field.
Born in Goa in 1945, Dr. Paes was also part of several sporting bodies in administration. Dr. Paes served as the president of the Indian Rugby Football Union from 1996 to 2002. He also held the position at Calcutta Cricket and Football Clubs.
Dr. Paes is survived by his wife, Jennifer Dutton, the great-granddaughter of Bengali writer Michael Madhusudan Dutt and their son, Leander Paes. Paes, a winner of 10 Grand Slams and an Olympic bronze medallist at the 1996 Olympics. Leander Paes was the first individual medal winner at the Olympics in India's Summer Games history.
