Victor Philips Biography 
Victor Philips is a well-known hockey player in the 20th century, who played for national team in the 1970s, when Olympics era just started to decline. An Olympian, he has represented India for many international tournaments. He was a member of the 1975 World Cup winning team and bronze medal-winning squad at the 1972 Munich Olympics. His elder brother John Peter, better known as V. J. Peter was a star hockey player during the glorious era of Indian hockey in the 1960s. He played Olympics three times and his team managed to get Olympics medals in all these three seasons. He played as a halfback when Indian national team won the silver, gold and bronze medals in the 1960, the 1964 and the 1968 Olympic Games respectively.
Victor John Philips, shortly called Victor Philips was born in Chennai in 1950, as the younger brother of star hockey player John Peter. His father also played hockey, and his younger brother Thomas too. In a very rare sight, the three siblings took part in the goodwill tour to New Zealand. Peter served as the coach, while Philips and Thomas were in the squad. Though Victor Philips couldn’t succeed like his elder brother, he also established his name in the field of Indian sports. He was a team member of 1972 Munich Olympics, which won bronze and it’s indeed an achievement. He represented India at Asian games and World Cup in the 1970s. He was an integral part of the Indian team till 1980. He was one of the best outside rights India ever produced – says Mir Ranjan Negi.
His most memorable year in his professional career was 1975 when he was selected for the team to play World Cup. When it was converted to the biggest win in the form of World Cup title, it was nothing short of a sweet memory. He was given the `World Cup Hero' award for being the top scorer with seven goals, and it remains his most memorable series till now. He was honoured with an Arjuna Award (lifetime achievement) only in 1999, 19 years after his retirement. Sadly his elder brother and the legendary player passed one year before.
Published: February 03, 2019
Updated: February 03, 2019
