John Peter (field hockey)

Victor John "V. J." Peter (19 June 1937 – 30 June 1998) was an Indian professional field hockey player. A three-time Olympian who played as a halfback, he was a part of the Indian national team that won the silver, gold and bronze medals respectively in the 1960, the 1964 and the 1968 Olympic Games.[1] Peter's brother Victor Philips was a member of the 1975 World Cup winning team.[2]

John Peter
Personal information
Full name Victor John Peter
Born (1937-06-19)19 June 1937
Madras (now Chennai), Madras Presidency
(now in Tamil Nadu), British India
Died 30 June 1998(1998-06-30) (aged 61)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Playing position Halfback
Senior career
Years Team
Madras Engineer Group
Services
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
India
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing  India
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1960 Rome Team
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo Team
Bronze medal – third place 1968 Mexico Team
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1966 Bangkok Team

Born in Madras (now Chennai), Peter represented his employer Madras Engineer Group, and Services at the club level.[1] He was renowned for his "dribbling skills, ball control and playmaking" and was called by former teammates Harbinder Singh and Inam-ur Rahman as "one of the best inside-rights India ever produced". Another former teammate Gurbux Singh credited him as having been the "architect of India's triumph over Pakistan in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics final." Peter was also instrumental in India's gold medal winning campaign at the 1966 Asian Games.[3] Following his death in June 1998, another former teammate Charles Cornelius recalled, "Peter was pure magic, and I will never forget the combination of Mohinder Lal, Joginder and Peter." M. P. Ganesh felt he was a "very artistic player and his passing was accurate and well-timed."[4]

References
  1. Swamy, V. Narayan (4 August 2011). "Peter's family struggles to make ends meet". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  2. "1964 Tokyo Olympics". Bharatiya Hockey. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  3. "Peter remembered". The Indian Express. 2 July 1998. Archived from the original on 19 June 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  4. "Hockey Olympian VJ Peter no more". The Indian Express. 2 July 1998. Archived from the original on 23 May 2001. Retrieved 5 December 2018.


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