Former int’l hockey player passes away

Gadag: International hockey player Bhimsingh Balu Bhat, 86, who has played the sport with legends like Major Dhyan Chand, Kishan Lal and others, died after prolonged illness here on Wednesday.
Bhat had represented the Indian hockey team against Sri Lanka in 1963 and 1964. He had played matches against Pakistan and Japan between 1964 and 1968. He had played at the national level for four years, test matches in 1963 and 1964 and had played inter-railway hockey for eight years.His sports career started with the Gadag-Betgeri Sports Club in 1955. Being a class 7 pass out, he was appointed in the Railways under sports quota in 1962. After retirement, he was a coach with the youth affairs and sports department.
He had also played with other international players like Bandu Patil, Laxman, Balbeer Singh, Uddam Singh, Gurubhaksh Singh, V J Fitter, Mahammad Shaheed, Pritipalsingh, M P Ganesh and V Bhaskaran.