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Sikhs, Hockey and Olympics
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This is the story of
Sikh hockey Olympians in numbers. Perhaps these are the only
numbers we can talk about. To know more about these players and
their roles log on to www.sikhhockeyolympians.com. |
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 ● 136 Sikh
players have played hockey at Olympic Games since 1928.
● Sikhs have
been in the Gold Medal winning teams on 9 occasions (8 for India and
1 Great Britain).
● Sikhs have
represented 8 different countries at hockey at Olympics (India,
Kenya, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Canada, Uganda,
Tanzania, and Great Britain).
● Ajit
Singh of India set 2 records when scoring a single goal. He scored
the first goal in the opening game in 1976 in the Montreal games
against Argentina, which made him the scorer of the first Olympic
goal on an artificial pitch. And as his shot went into the net after
only 15
seconds it is also the fastest ever goal in Olympic history.
● Balbir Singh
'Senior' won three consecutive Gold Medals (1948
London,
1952 Helsinki & 1956 Melbourne).
 ● Balbir Singh
'Senior' is one of only two players to have won three consecutive
Gold Medals and being the captain of a winning side.
● Udham Singh
boasts the record of having won three Gold Medals (1952 Helsinki,
1956 Melbourne and 1964 Tokyo) and also a Silver medal (1960 Rome).
● Balbir Singh
'Senior' scored five goals in a 6 – 1 Gold Medal victory over the
Netherlands at Helsinki in 1952
● Brothers
Balbir Singh (Railways) and Gurbux Singh played in the same games in
1968 for India.
● Brothers
Harvinder Marwa and Amarjit Marwa played in the same games in 1972
for Kenya.
● Brothers
Harmik Singh and Ajit Singh played in the same games in 1972 for
India.
● Brothers
Rajinder Singh Sandhu and Amarjit Singh Sandhu; Kuldip Singh Bhogal
and Ajit Singh Bhogal; Jagdish Singh Kapoor and Upkar Singh Kapoor
played for Uganda at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
● The biggest
score in an Olympic hockey match is the 24 – 1 victory of India over
USA played on August 11, 1932. Gurmeet Singh scored 5 of these
goals.
● Balkrishen
Singh won Olympic Gold Medal both as a player and as a coach. He was
a member of the Gold Medal winning team in the 1956 Melbourne
Olympics and was the Chief Coach of the team that won the Gold Medal
in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
● Dharam Singh
'Senior' won Olympic Gold Medal both as a player and as a coach. He
was a member of the Gold Medal winning team in the 1952 Helsinki
Olympics and was the Chief Coach of the team that won the Gold Medal
at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.
● Balkrishen
Singh is the only person to have coached India in 4 different
Olympics – 1968, 1980, 1984 and 1992.
● Kenya's
Amarjit Singh Marwa and Canada's Sarbjit Singh Dusang are the only
Sikhs to have played in at Olympic Games. Amarjit played at the
Munich Games in 1972 and Sarbjit at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.
● India's
Prithipal Singh has won Gold (1964), Silver (1960) and Bronze (1968)
Medals.
● Sikhs have
played in every position at Olympic Games.
● Sikhs have
scored 242 goals at Olympic Games.
● Sikhs have
been in every Indian Team since 1928.
● 36 played at
the 1972 Munich Olympic Games representing Kenya, Uganda, India and
Malaysia.
● In the pool
match at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games (2nd September 1972) between
India and Kenya, there were 15 Sikhs on the field of play. 5 goals
were scored in that match, 3 by India and 2 by Kenya. All the goals
were scored by Sikhs (Mukhbain Singh & Harmik Singh for India and
Davinder Singh Deegan for Kenya).
● With the
exception of the 1928 and 1936 Olympic Games, Sikhs have scored in
every Olympic Games since 1928.
● Kuldip Singh
represented Hong Kong at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. He scored a
goal in the game against Canada. He later represented Canada at the
1976 Montreal Olympic Games.
● Avtar Singh
Sohal and Surjit Singh Panesar played in four consecutive Olympic
Games, 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich.
● Avtar Singh
Sohal captained Kenya at three consecutive Olympic Games (1964, 1968
& 1972). He was Kenya's coach at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
● Pargat Singh
is the only player to have captained
India
at two Olympic Games (1992 & 1996).
● Harpreet Kaur
Gill and Balwinder Kaur Bhatia became the first Sikh women to
represent India at Olympic Games when they played at the 1980 Moscow
Olympic Games.
● Gian Singh and
Harbail Singh umpired classification match, Italy v Japan on 10
September 1960
at Olympic Velodrome, the only time two Sikhs have umpired together
in a hockey match at Olympic Games.
courtesy:
www.sikhhockeyolympians.com
13 August, 2008
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