Walter D Souza Biography 
Walter D'Souza was a field hockey player of Indian hockey team which won gold at 1948 Summer Olympics in London. He is best remembered as a team member of Indian hockey team in 1948, which gave the first Olympics gold medal to free India. Till then Indian team played as British India. Akshay Kumar starrer 2018 Bollywood film, Gold is based on the true events related to free India’s historic first gold medal win at Olympics in hockey event through based on a fictional script.
Interestingly India beat Great Britain in the finals of Olympics, with a score of 4-0. India fully dominated the finals, and it was India’s revenge to the colonial rule of British in India. Till then India played as British India, and has won many achievements too. One of the greatest Indian players in hockey, he is a true inspiration to younger generations.
Walter D'Souza was born on 16 December 1920 in Mbale, Eastern, Uganda, then known as East Africa. His father worked for the British government in Mbale. Later to ensure good education for Walter, the family moved back to India and got settled in Bangalore. He started playing hockey during his schooldays at Saint Josephs in Bangalore. In the early 1940s he played for a local club called Bangalore Blues.
After studies he moved to Mumbai and worked in Times of India, and pursued a career in hockey as well. He joined the Lusitanians - a Goan hockey team, from which many players were chosen to play for national team in Olympics in free India. Leo Pinto, Maxi Vaz, Reggie Rodrigues and Amir Kumar are other national players who played with the same club. Marked his debut in 1943, his career lasted for next two decades, and also won many tournaments for India. He was tthe selector of the Indian National Hockey Team that won its first Hockey World Cup in 1976.
Published: February 03, 2019
Updated: February 03, 2019
