V BHASKARAN

Captain of the Indian Hockey team, which won the Moscow Olympic gold medal in 1980, V Bhaskaran, is the first Indian to successfully complete the Federation of International Hockey Coaches course.

After a career in Hockey, from 1969 to 1982, V Bhaskaran took to coaching.  Soon after his playing days, he began by coaching for Southern Railway.  Though involved with the junior hockey team since 1987 he took over as coach only in 1995. 

The former coach of the Indian senior team and India junior team's most memorable experience as the coach came when the junior team won the Silver medal at the Junior World Cup at Milton Keynes in 1997 and when India triumphed in the four-nation hockey tournament, featuring Australia, Germany and South Africa, at Perth, with Dhanraj Pillay scoring the winning goal barely a minute before the final whistle. He also coached the Indian team that won the Azlan Shah Tournament by defeating Germany.

He is the recipient of the Padmashri award from the Government of India. Hockey is his passion, which is reflected in every aspect of his life. He has even named his house as 'Hockey House'. His home is something like a landmark for young 'hockey hopefuls', for whom he stands as a role model of inspiration. Known more as the man who led India to a gold in the 1980 Olympics, he got the image of being a supercoach when the national junior hockey squad returned from England with a silver medal in the World Cup; an achievement that came out of the blue putting his name back once again in the headlines.

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