Ten days ago, three-time hockey Olympian Baljit Singh Dhillon visited Sukhbir Singh Gill, Chandigarh’s first hockey Olympian, at his residence here. The midfielder spent more than three hours with his former Sydney Olympics teammate, Sukhbir Singh Gill, who was suffering from a recurrent brain tumor. Despite the hopes for recovery, the 48-year-old Gill passed away on Friday after a 17-year battle with the brain tumor, evoking a flood of memories for Dhillon. “I met Sukhbir Singh Gill for the first time at Sector 42 Academy, where he was a trainee. Like any other kid, he was passionate about hockey and would ask us about the game. Later, when he made it to the Indian hockey team, he would always call us ‘Paaji.’ We would sometimes tell him to call us by our name, but he would always address all the team members, including captains Dhanraj Pillay and Ramandeep Singh, as sir. The entire Sydney Olympics Indian hockey team pays tribute to Gill, and he will always be remembered as the squad’s younger brother,” said Dhillon, who played in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics. Gill, who lost his father at the age of four, began playing hockey at Shivalik Public School Sector 41 and trained at Sector 42 Hockey Stadium. Gill featured in Chandigarh teams for junior nationals, showcasing his talent and putting Chandigarh hockey on the Olympics map, as remembered by coach NS Sodhi. Selected in the Indian U-21 team for the four-nation tournament in Belgium in the late 1990s by coach V Bhaskaran, Gill soon made it to the Indian team for the 1998 World Cup. He continued to contribute to the Indian hockey team, participating in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the Champions Challenge-winning Indian team in 2002, the Hockey World Cup in the same year, and the Champions Trophy in 2002. “During the Sydney Olympics, he got his chances too while Baljit Singh Saini played mostly at the right-half position. He never saw Saini or other players as his competitors and played with passion. He was happy in whatever chances he got,” says Dhillon. On December 10, 2006, Gill was diagnosed with a brain tumor, leading to an operation on December 19, 2006. One year later, Gill returned to the hockey turf, captaining Chandigarh Dynamos in PHL and playing in successive editions of the league wearing a protective headgear. “As trainees of Sector 42 Academy, we got a chance to meet Sukhbir paaji on his return from the Sydney Olympics. Seeing him made us feel that we too had played in the Olympics. He was called Thabad (Gutsy) by fellow players, and we also used to call him that. When he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he made the hockey world see him as Thabad (Gutsy) once again as he made a comeback,” says former Indian captain Rajpal Singh. Former Indian forward Prabhjot Singh, who made his Indian team debut in 2001, played alongside Gill for some years and remembers his inspiring words. “I met him for the first time in the camp for the Sydney Olympics, and his humility inspired me. I was a very aggressive player on the field, but he would always tell me to play with a cool mind. During his playing days, he would always cheer us up, and we always saw him smiling,” said Singh. Gill, employed with BPCL, trained at the Sector 42 Sports Complex and Sector 18 Hockey ground, coaching young hockey players. The Olympian organized the Dharam Singh Memorial Hockey Tournament in Chandigarh, arranging funds for the event. In 2021, Gill's tumor became aggressive, leading to multiple operations. Bedridden for the past six months, Gill is survived by his mother Daljeet Kaur, wife Gurpreet Kaur, and two children. Regrettably, Gill reportedly received no assistance from the Chandigarh Administration during his final days. Former Indian captain Rajpal Singh expressed his disappointment, stating, “What has Chandigarh lost with Gill’s passing? Nothing. They never treated Gill as their own, and they did not help him when he needed it the most. Gill will be part of Indian hockey history, and his fight will inspire many youngsters,” said Singh.
