Balbir Singh Sr.

Balbir Singh Dosanjh (31 December 1923 – 25 May 2020)[4][5] was an Indian hockey player.[1] He was a three-time Olympic gold medallist, having played a key role[6] in India's wins in London (1948), Helsinki (1952) (as vice captain), and Melbourne (1956) (as captain) Olympics.[7] He is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time[8], a modern-day Dhyan Chand[9][10], a legend[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] of the sport and is widely regarded as the sport's greatest ever centre-forward[10][11]. His Olympic record for most goals scored by an individual in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten.[18] Singh set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6–1 victory over the Netherlands in the gold medal game of the 1952 Olympic Games. He was often called Balbir Singh Senior to distinguish him from other Indian hockey players named Balbir Singh.

Balbir Singh Sr.
Melbourne Olympic Victory Ceremony
Personal information
Birth nameBalbir Singh Dosanjh
NationalityIndian
Born(1923-12-31)31 December 1923[1]
Haripur Khalsa, Punjab, British India
Died25 May 2020(2020-05-25) (aged 96)[2]
Mohali, Punjab, India[3]
ResidenceBurnaby, Canada
Chandigarh, India
Alma materDev Samaj High School, Moga
DM College, Moga
Sikh National College, Lahore
Khalsa College, Amritsar
Sport
CountryIndia
SportField hockey
Event(s)Field Hockey Men's team
TeamIndia (International)
Punjab State (National)
Punjab Police (National)
Punjab University (National)
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing  India
Summer Olympics
1948 LondonTeam
1952 HelsinkiTeam
1956 MelbourneTeam
Asian Games
1958 TokyoTeam

Singh was the manager and chief coach of the Indian team for the 1975 Men's Hockey World Cup, which India won, and the 1971 Men's Hockey World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal. During the London Olympics in 2012, Singh was honoured in the Olympic Museum exhibition, "The Olympic Journey: The Story of the Games” held at the Royal Opera House.[19] The exhibition told the story of the Olympic Games from its creation in 776BC through to the London 2012 Olympic Games. He was one of the 16 iconic Olympians chosen[20] whose example "tells of human strength and endeavour, of passion, determination, hard work and achievement and demonstrates the values of the Olympic Movement".[21]

Singh died at the age of 96 in Mohali on 25 May 2020.[22][23]

Early years

Singh saw a newsreel on India's 1936 Olympic hockey triumph. He was spotted as a promising hockey player by Harbail Singh, who was the then coach of Khalsa College hockey team. It was Harbail who repeatedly insisted that Balbir transfer from Sikh National College, Lahore to Khalsa College, Amritsar. Finally, Balbir got the permission from his family to take the transfer to Khalsa College in 1942 and began intensive training and practice sessions under Harbail's guidance. Later, Harbail coached the successful Indian national hockey team at the Helsinki and Melbourne Olympics.

Khalsa College had four hockey pitches. In 1942–43 Singh was selected to represent Punjab University, which, at that time, covered colleges from a large region consisting of undivided Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Sindh and Rajasthan. The Punjab University team won All India Inter-University titles with Singh as Captain three years in a row: 1943, 1944 and 1945. Singh was a member of the last team of undivided Punjab that won the title in 1947 National Championships under the captaincy of Colonel AIS Dara. Singh played in centre forward position in this team. After this, disturbances due to the partition of India began and Singh moved his family to Ludhiana, where he was posted in Punjab Police. He captained the Punjab Police team during 1941–1961.

1948–1956

London Olympics (1948)

Singh's first appearance at the 1948 London Olympics was in the match against Argentina, India's second match. After that he played in Final against Great Britain. Singh scored the first two goals and India won by 4–0.

Helsinki Olympics (1952)

Singh was vice-captain of 1952 Olympic team, with K. D. Singh as the Captain. Balbir was India's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. He scored a hat trick against Britain in semi-final, which India won 3–1. He scored five goals in India's 6–1 win against the Netherlands setting a new Olympic record for most goals scored by an individual in an Olympic final in men's field hockey. The previous holder of this record was England's Reggie Pridmore with his four goals in England's 8–1 victory over Ireland in the 1908 Olympic final. Singh scored nine of the India's total 13 goals at the Helsinki Olympics, 69.23% of the team's goals.

Melbourne Olympics (1956)

Singh, captain of the 1956 Olympic team, scored five goals in the opening match against Afghanistan, but was then injured. Randhir Singh Gentle captained the rest of the group matches. Singh had to skip the group matches, but played in the semi-final and the final. India won the final match against Pakistan with a result of 1–0. In total of 8 Olympic matches he played he scored 22 goals for his nation

Post-1956

In 1957 Singh became the first recipient of the Padma Shri award in the sports category. He was also a member of the Indian hockey team that won the silver medal at the 1958 Asian Games. He coached the 1971 Indian hockey team for World Cup hockey, where India earned the bronze medal. In 1975 he was the manager of the victorious Indian World Cup hockey team. He wrote two books: his autobiography The Golden Hat Trick (1977) and The Golden Yardstick: In Quest of Hockey Excellence (2008).

Awards and achievements

Singh was the first sports personality to be honoured with the Padma Shri award, in 1957.[24] He and Gurdev Singh were featured on a stamp issued in 1958 by Dominican Republic to commemorate the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He lit the Sacred Flame at the Asian Games 1982 held at New Delhi. In the year 2006 he was named the Best Sikh Hockey Player. Describing himself as a secular nationalist, he stated that he was not convinced about the idea of having a religion-based list of players, but accepted the award since he believed it might be good for the promotion of Indian hockey.[25] Also, in a national poll conducted by the Patriot newspaper in the year 1982 he was adjudged to be the Indian Sportsperson of the Century. In 2015, he was conferred with the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award of Hockey India.

Erroneous reports

Although the record for most goals by an individual in an Olympic final belongs to Singh there have been many erroneous media reports over the years claiming that Dhyan Chand scored six goals in India's 8–1 victory over Germany in the 1936 Olympic final. In his autobiography titled "Goal!", however, published in 1952 by Sport & Pastime, Chennai, Chand wrote:

“When Germany was four goals down, a ball hit Allen's pad and rebounded. The Germans took full advantage of this and made a rush, netting the ball before we could stop it. That was the only goal Germany would score in the match against our eight, and incidentally the only goal scored against India in the entire Olympic tournament. India's goal-getters were Roop Singh, Tapsell and Jaffar with one each, Dara two and myself three.

Additionally, the International Hockey Federation records also attribute only three of the eight goals to Chand in the Berlin Olympic final.[26]

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See also

References
  1. "Olympic Captains of India". Hockey India. Archived from the original on 13 July 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  2. "Hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr dies at the age of 95". The Times of India. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  3. "Hockey Olympian Balbir Singh Sr passes away at a hospital in Mohali in Punjab". ANI on Twitter. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  4. "Triple Olympic Gold-winning Hockey Icon Balbir Singh Sr Passes Away". Republic World. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  5. Oldest Living Olympians
  6. "Singh on song for India". IOC. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  7. Balbir Singh Senior stakes claim for Bharat Ratna. The Tribune, 24 April 2012.
  8. Gillis, Charlie (6 March 2016). "The greatest hockey player ever". Maclean's Magazine. Toronto. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  9. "Champions of the stick and ball". IOC News. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  10. "Balbir (Sr.) — a class act". The Hindu. 14 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  11. "Legendary hockey star Balbir Singh takes you back... to 1948!". IOC News. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  12. "1948 Olympics: Record fourth gold medal for India". The Hindu. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  13. "Hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr meets MS Dhoni & co". The Indian Express. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  14. "Before Akshay Kumar's Gold, a look at his muse: Hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr". FirstPost. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  15. "Balbir Singh Sr: Forgotten legend of India's Olympic glory". The Times Of India. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  16. "Hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr. honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award". Zee News. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  17. "Hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr honoured in Canada". Hindustan Times. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  18. Most Goals scored by an Individual in an Olympic Hockey Final (Male). Guinness World Records
  19. The personal stories of 16 great Olympians
  20. One of the 16 iconic Olympians – Times of India
  21. The Olympic Journey: The Story of The Games
  22. "Hockey Legend Balbir Singh Sr Passes Away". OdishaTv. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  23. Sen, Rohan (25 May 2020). "Balbir Singh Sr December 31, 1923 to May 25, 2020: In honour of a legend who redefined Indian hockey". India Today.
  24. Padma Awards Directory (1954–2007) Archived 10 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Ministry of Home Affairs.
  25. Balbir (Sr.) gets the top accolade
  26. The International Hockey Federation website

Further reading
  • Blennerhassett, Patrick. A Forgotten Legend: Balbir Singh Sr., Triple Olympic Gold & Modi's New India (2016) online review
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