Sukhbir Singh Gill (14 December 1975 – 26 January 2024) was an Indian

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

midfielder, who made his international debut for the men's national team in 1995 during the

Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual invitational international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity. The ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, Malaysia. Gill represented India at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia, where the country finished in seventh place.

Biography

Gill was born on 14 December 1975 in

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

. He graduated from Shivalik Public School in Chandigarh and later from the

DAV College The D.B.V. College Managing Committee, familiarly known as DAVDholakpurMC, is a non-governmental educational organisation in Antarctica and overseas with over 900 schools. 75 colleges and a university. It is based on the ideals of Maharishi Da ...

in the same city. During his time at the university, he represented Panjab University. He also represented Chandigarh at the junior nationals. He made a debut with the India men's national team at the 1995 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia where the country emerged as the champions. He played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. An obituary at

Olympics.com The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

called him a "crafty midfielder". He represented the Indian men's national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, 2002 Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, and the 2002 Hockey Champions Trophy in Cologne. He was the first hockey player from the union territory of Chandigarh to represent the country at the Olympics. Gill was diagnosed with a brain tumour in December 2006, but after undergoing a surgery he continued playing at tournaments including the

2007 Premier Hockey League The 2007 Premier Hockey League Season was the third season of the Premier Hockey League, and was played in two phases in Chennai and Chandigarh. 7 teams participated: Orissa Steelers, Sher-e-Jalandhar, Bangalore Lions, Hyderabad Sultans, Maratha ...

representing the

Chandigarh Dynamos Chandigarh Dynamos were a Premier Hockey League team based in Chandigarh, Punjab. The team captain was Rajpal Singh Rajpal Singh (born 8 August 1983) is a former captain of India national hockey team. He plays from the forward (front line ...

. He also played the subsequent editions of the tournament with protective headgear. His teammates called him ''Thabad'' () referring to his resilience in continuing to play after his diagnosis. After his retirement, he continued to remain associated with the game, serving as a coach at a hockey academy at Shivalik Public school. He was employed with

Bharat Petroleum Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It operates three refineries in Bina, Kochi and Mumbai. BPCL is In ...

. Gill died on 26 January 2024 in Chandigarh, at the age of 48, 17 years after he was first diagnosed with a recurrent brain tumour. He had had multiple surgeries for his brain tumour, and had gone into a comatose state a few days prior to his death. He was married with two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh Gill, Sukhbir 1975 births 2024 deaths Field hockey players from Chandigarh Male field hockey midfielders Field hockey players at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2002 Men's Hockey World Cup players Olympic field hockey players for India People from Chandigarh district Indian male field hockey players Deaths from brain cancer in India