By Dil Bahra.

I was delighted and honoured to be invited as one of the Guests of Honour at a virtual conference for Kenyan hockey Olympians on Sunday 30 May 2021. The invitation was extended by Hilary Fernandes, Kenya’s triple Olympian, and Raphael Fernandes, a Kenyan Los Angeles 1984 Olympian.

Raphael co-ordinated the event bringing together players from different parts of the world – no small feat with the time zones. For those in Calgary it was a 07:00 start; in Toronto and USA it was 09:00; United Kingdom 14:00; Kenya 16:00; Pakistan 18:00pm and a very late 23:00 start for those attendees in Australia!

The conference was attended by around 20 Olympians and ran for 3.5 hours.

Slide from Dil Bahra’s presentation showing the location of Kenya’s Olympic hockey exploits since 1956.

Presenting on Kenya’s Olympic history, I heard first-hand about their recollections of the Games. We were all delighted that Reynold D’Souza, who played at Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games, was with us and he was able to tell us how the game was played in those days and the long-lasting friendships made with other athletes. Reynold told us that although he did not play at Rome 1960, he still went to the Olympic Games and four years later he was selected for Tokyo. He mentioned meeting the players who had played in Melbourne.

Avtar Sohal, Hilary Fernandes and Silu Fernandes recalled the quarter final match at the Rome Olympic Games which went into extra time. They played eight periods of extra time with Great Britain scoring the winning goal in the 127th minute.

Sohal, Hilary, Silu, Edgar Fernandes and Reynold D’Souza all played in the famous match in Jabalpur in India on 26 April 1964 when Kenya defeated India 3-0 during Kenya’s tour of India. In so doing they inflicted India’s biggest defeat in 184 international matches. Hilary remembered the goal scorers after 57 years. Three months later India won the gold medal at Tokyo. Avtar, Hilary and Silu also recalled when Kenya defeated Pakistan 3-1 in Nairobi before Pakistan went on to win gold in Rome.

Silu Fernandes showed the Olympic Diploma the Kenya team were awarded for finishing sixth at Tokyo Olympic Games and proudly showed everyone his collection of memorabilia in three framed display panels for each of the Olympic Games he played in.

Ajmal Malik was able to recall the last pool match against Pakistan in Mexico. He mentioned that Kenya only needed a draw to go into the semi-finals of Mexico Olympic Games in 1968 but lost by the odd goal, forcing a pool play-off match against Australia. His colleagues in that match, Hilary and Silu agreed that they should have won this match and still progressed to the semis. Another missed opportunity.

The tone for the afternoon was set and the presentation covered each of the seven Olympic Games that Kenya had participated in with everyone contributing their recollections.

Slide from Dil Bahra’s presentation showing the Kenya Olympic Team bus from the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games.

The conference participants included:

From the UK: Reynold D’Souza – Melbourne 1956 and Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games; Brajinder Daved – Munich 1972 and Los Angeles 1984; Surjit Singh Rihal, Harvinderpal Singh Sibia and Jagmel Singh Rooprai – Munich 1972; and Manjeet Singh Panesar – Los Angeles 1984.

From Kenya: Avtar Singh Sohal – Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964 (captain), Mexico 1968 (captain) and Munich 1972 (captain).

From Australia: Edgar Fernandes – Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964.

From Canada: Hilary Fernandes and Silu Fernandes – Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964 and Mexico 1968; Amar Singh Mangat – Tokyo 1964; Raphael Fernandes – Los Angeles 1984.

From Pakistan: Ajmal Malik – Mexico 1968 and Munich 1972.

From the USA: Ranjit Singh Sehmi – Munich 1972.

There were other Guests of Honour including Shuaib Adam (General Secretary of Kenya Olympic Association), Norman Da Costa (Canada) and Cyprian Fernandes (Australia). The latter two guests were both distinguished hockey journalists in Kenya during Kenya’s heyday.

An Absent Friend

Parminder (Kake) Singh Saini, who played for Kenya at Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988 Olympic Games had confirmed his attendance at this conference. Sadly, he passed away in Kenya that evening, some three hours after the conference had ended. None of us were aware of this and only found out afterwards.

Kake played for Slough Hockey Club from 1976-79 and is the younger brother of former England international, Bal Saini.

Click here to read his obituary.

Dil Bahra
1 June 2021

Please note: Interested parties can view the majority of Dil Bahra’s presentation on Kenya’s hockey Olympians on Cyprian Fernandes’s personal blog. Please click here.