KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia lost one of its first hockey Olympians, when 1956 Melbourne Games left inside Aman Ullah Karim passed away on Sunday.
He was 85.
Aman was a ‘terror’ in his days, and his schoolmate at the Government English School, Tapah, Datuk R. Yogeswaran, remembers well his mentor and hero.
Yogeswaran, coach of the famous 1975 World Cup team, said one his fondest memories was of when Aman gave him his hockey stick.
"He was my senior in school, and I used to look up to him as my mentor and hero in those days because he was such a terror in Perak. One day, after training, he gave me his hockey stick, which was one of my best moments with him," said Yogeswaran.
Aman later moved to Anderson School.
Yogeswaran also remembers him as one of the best left insides in the country in his days.
"He was referred to as 'half of the Perak strikers' for his speed. When he moved into the semi-circle, the defenders and goalkeeper used to panic," said Yogeswaran.
Aman made his mark at the Olympics, being one of the scorers in Malaya’s 2-2 draw against Great Britain, their first game.
“In the end, he scored a total of eight goals for the nation in our maiden Olympics," said Yogeswaran.
Aman was an all-rounder as he played cricket, golf and tennis as well.
"After the Melbourne Olympics, he started playing golf and was active at Kelab Golf Negara Subang.