Farewell To A Hockey Champion Who Engraved His Name In The History Books
RIP Balbir Singh, the Balbir Senior
Indian hockey legend Balbir Singh Dosanjh popularly known as Balbir Senior breathed his last at the age of 95 on 25th May 2020 after battling multiple health issues for a long time. He was hospitalised in Mohali on May 8 and has been on ventilator support.
In January last year, Balbir Sr. was discharged from PGI after spending 108 days in the hospital, where he underwent treatment for bronchial pneumonia.
Balbir (Sr) was a three-time Olympic gold medallist. He inspired India's triumph at the 1936 Olympics. Let’s have a look at his dazzling career.
How It All Started?
He was first spotted as a promising hockey player by Harbail Singh, who was the then coach of the Khalsa College hockey team. It was Harbail who repeatedly insisted that Balbir transfer from Sikh National College, Lahore to Khalsa College, Amritsar. Later, Harbail coached the successful Indian national hockey team at the Helsinki and Melbourne Olympics.
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 and 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. 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.
After disturbances started to arise due to the partition of India, Singh moved his family to Ludhiana, where he was posted in Punjab Police. He captained the Punjab Police team during 1941–1961.
His First Gold:
Singh had his first taste of gold at the 1948 London Olympics. Balbir (Sr) scored a brace and helped India beat Great Britain 4-0 in the final. Four years later at the Helsinki Olympics, Balbir (Sr) was appointed as the Indian team's vice-captain. He scored a hat-trick against Great Britain in the semi-finals and followed it up with a stunning five goals in the final against the Netherlands. Indian won 6-1 and Balbir (Sr) bagged his second Olympic gold.
His name is engraved in the history books by setting a new Olympic record for most goals scored by an individual in an Olympic men's hockey final. His world record remains unbeaten till date.
His world record for most goals scored by an individual in the men’s hockey final of the Olympics still remains unbeaten. He had scored five goals in India’s 6-1 victory over the Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Helsinki Games. Under his captaincy, India scored 38 goals and conceded none on its way to the gold medal in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Why 1948 London Olympics Win Was The Greatest?
For Balbir, the victory in the 1948 London Olympics remained the greatest moment of his career as it India's first Games as an independent nation where it beat England 4-0 in the final. He said, "There was no greater joy for me than seeing the tri-color going up. The National Anthem and the fact that we beat our rulers (British) on their home soil to win and retain the Olympic hockey gold can never be forgotten. Never.”
In his career from 1947-1958, Balbir Sr. won 61 international caps and scored a whopping 246 goals. He also coached the Indian team to its first and only World Cup win in 1975 in Malaysia.
Accolades:
Balbir (Sr) was awarded several honours after his retirement. In 1957, he received the first Padma Shri award in the sports category.
- He and Gurdev Singh were featured on a stamp issued in 1958 by the Dominican Republic to commemorate the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
- 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 2006, he won the 'Best Sikh Hockey Player' award.
- In 2015, he was conferred with ‘Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award’.
Family:
Balbir Singh got married to wife Sushil Singh who was from Model Town, Lahore in 1946. They had a daughter Sushbir and three sons Kanwalbir, Karanbir, Gurbir, and are settled in Vancouver, Canada. In the ‘Walk the Talk’ program, he revealed to Shekha Gupta that his three daughters-in-law are from China, Singapore, and Ukraine respectively.
A Wrangle:
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.”
One of the greatest center-forwards ever, Balbir Singh has left behind a treasure full of memories.
We will never let the shine fade away that he imparted on the Indian flag with his historic victories. R.I.P Sir Balbir Singh.
