Unbeaten record holder Balbir Singh Sr lost his final journey; dies at 96
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
Balbir Singh Sr. a legendary former hockey player died in a Fortis hospital, Mohali ,few minutes ago .
He was hospitalised on May 8 with high fever and breathing trouble, at Fortis Mohali and was in a “semi-comatose condition”. He was 96 years old. His condition was critical for nearly a fortnight.His COVID-19 test came negative.
Balbir Singh Dosanjh (born 31 December 1923)is a former hockey player from India. He is a three-time Olympic gold champion having played a key rolein India’s wins in London (1948), Helsinki (1952) (as Vice Captain), and Melbourne (1956) (as Captain) Olympics. He is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time, a modern-day Dhyan Chand, a legend of the sport and is widely regarded as the sport’s greatest ever centre-forward. His Olympic record for most goals scored by an individual in an Olympic men’s hockey final remains unbeaten. 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.
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 was the head coach of the Indian team for the 1975 men”s World Cup, which India won and the 1971 men”s World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal.
Unbeaten record holder Balbir Singh Sr lost his final journey; dies at 96.He and Gurdev Singh were featured on a stamp issued in 1958 by Dominican Republic to commemorate the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Personal Life
His paternal grandparents are Dosanjh from the Punjabi village of Pawadra and maternal grandparents are Dhanoa from the village Haripur Khalsa. Both are in Tehsil Phillaur in District Jalandhar in Punjab. Balbir’s father Dalip Singh Dosanjh was a freedom fighter. Balbir’s wife Sushil was from Model Town, Lahore. They got married in 1946. They have a daughter Sushbir and three sons Kanwalbir, Karanbir, Gurbir and are settled in Vancouver, Canada. In Walk the Talk program telecast on NDTV on 02/07/06 he revealed to Shekha Gupta that his three daughters-in-law are from China, Singapore, and Ukraine respectively.
May,25,2020 (8;25 AM)
