Rui Saldanha

Rui Saldanha

Personal information
Born	(1947-10-21) 21 October 1947 (age 77)
Height	171 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)
Playing position	Right half
Senior career
Years	Team
1966–1978	Blackheath
1969–1970	Durham University
1972	Oxford University
National team
Years	Team	Caps	Goals
	Great Britain
	England

Rui Ninnian Saldanha (born 21 October 1947) is a British field hockey player of Indian descent. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1972 Summer Olympics. ^[1]

Biography

Saldanha, originally from Saligao, India and of Goan ancestry, was educated at St Joseph's Boys' High School, Bengaluru ^[2] and spent time in Kenya, where he was selected for the Kenyan national hockey team. ^{[3] [4]}

When he came to England he joined Blackheath Hockey Club and studied medicine as a student at London Hospital Medical College. ^[5] He graduated from Durham University (Hatfield College) with a degree in Economics and Psychology in 1971 – his academic finals having been delayed for one year because of his commitments with the England hockey team and his election as President of the Durham University Athletic Union (DUAU). ^{[6] [5]}

Saldanha then attended the University of Oxford and while there represented Great Britain at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. ^[7] Saldanha later competed for England at the 1978 Men's Hockey World Cup. ^[8]

In May 1989, Saldanha, now working for the New York Life Insurance Company at their office in Des Moines, Iowa, married Indian actress and former Miss India Persis Khambatta at the Polk County Courthouse. ^[9]

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rui Saldanha Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
2. "Eminent Old Boys & Girls". St Joseph's Boys' High School, Bengaluru. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
3. "U.A.U. hockey team for Crosby" . Liverpool Echo. 21 September 1967. Retrieved 22 June 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "England are the underdogs" . Birmingham Daily Post. 19 September 1969. Retrieved 22 June 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. Moyes, Arthur (2007). Be The Best You Can Be: A History of Sport in Hatfield College, Durham University. Durham: Hatfield College Trust. p. 224.
6. "Results of Final Examinations held in June 1971". Durham University Gazette (18): 13. 1971. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
7. "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
8. "England select Taylor but Mallett waits" . Birmingham Daily Post. 15 February 1978. Retrieved 22 June 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Connelly, Sherilyn (2021). Presenting Persis Khambatta: From Miss India to Star Trek--The Motion Picture and Beyond. McFarland. p. 155.

External links

• Rui Saldanha at Olympedia