Hockey fraternity mourns death of legendary Claudius

Parent body of Hockey in the country, Hockey India condoled the death of the Claudius.

"We had the good fortune of being able to honour Leslie Claudius along with the other Golden Greats before the Olympic Games earlier this year. His death leaves a void that will be hard to fill," HI President Mariamma Koshy stated.

Olympian Dhanraj Pillay described Leslie Claudius as the "God of Indian hockey" while the hockey fraternity mourned the death of three-time Olympic gold medallist.

"For me, he was the hockey God. It's difficult to imagine Indian hockey without him. He was not only a fine player but what stood him apart was his good nature," the former India captain and four-time Olympian told PTI.

"He was a very good human being and always soft-spoken, a quality through which he was always approachable. He never had any arrogance and encouraged the youngsters," the 44-year-old added.

"He's a legend as nobody could play the game like he did. I always met him whenever I came down to Kolkata. For every hockey player, he was a source of inspiration," Pillay paid glowing tributes to the man whose name is taken in the same breath as Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh Senior.

Star of 1970's and member of the World champion team Ashok Kumar recalled,"It was only a month ago, I visited Kolkata with other former Olympians as there was a friendly against BHA. We went to see him at the hospital.

"He was full of energy. He had promised to take us to his club, Calcutta Customs, one evening. He was very hopeful of getting over the phase and he was responding well to the treatment as well."