Beighton Cup - Big Names

Big Names

Leslie Claudius was the biggest name in Kolkata hockey — he played for Customs in Kolkata, and won 4 Olympic medals from 1948-1960 (3 gold, 1 silver).

Trevor Vanderputt, a former Rangers captain and Bengal selector, went on to become the Director of Coaching in Australia; Pat Jansen, an inside-left with a deadly reverse flick, played for India in the 1948 Olympics, before he immigrated to Australia. There was the brilliant BNR trio of Carl Tapsell, Dicky Carr and Joe Gallibardy, all great Olympians. While Carr dazzled with his stickwork, Gallibardy and Tapsell were penalty-corner pioneers – Gallibardy being the first player ever to push the ball in rather than hit it, and Tapsell the first penalty-corner goal-scoring specialist in the game. Gallibardy, who immigrated to Spain, lived with the regret of missing out on another gold in 1948 when at his peak.

There was the outstanding Keshav Dutt at centre-half, also a classy badminton player. 1968 captain Gurbux Singh, an Aligarh University blue, has served the game for close to five decades. In spite of an in-form Vece Paes, the hugely gifted Ashok Kumar and the legendary Aussie Ric Charlesworth, on the field Gurbux was everyone's choice for Man of the Match; and he was 40 at the time. Garney Nyss, who according to Dhyan Chand was a player from heaven, could well have made it to four Olympics. He didn't make it to even one - twice thanks to the second World War, once due to an injury, and once courtesy Pankaj Gupta. While Nyss never forgave Gupta for keeping him out of the team, there were many who called Gupta “Mr Hockey”. A man who loved life and a drop of whisky, he gave his life for the game, as a manager, administrator and even a referee.