News for 12 August 2020
All the news for Wednesday 12 August 2020
Six hockey players in hospital
Mandeep’s oxygen level had dropped, others too taken to hospital as a precaution
Vinayak Padmadeo
The camp is scheduled to start on August 18. File photo
The Indian hockey squad’s six players, including Mandeep Singh, have been shifted to SS Sparsh Multi-speciality Hospital in Bengaluru as a precautionary measure after Mandeep’s oxygen level dropped below normal.
Mandeep was the first player to be moved to the hospital around 2:30 am today morning. Five others — captain Manpreet Singh, defenders Surender Kumar, Jaskaran Singh, drag-flicker Varun Kumar and goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak — were moved to the same designated Covid facility as a precautionary measure in the evening.
All six had tested positive after they were put through the quantitative RT-PCR test after Manpreet and Surender displayed Covid symptoms while in quarantine.
Constant monitoring
“All six athletes in NCOE Bengaluru who tested Covid positive, were being monitored constantly and their vitals were being checked four times everyday — in the morning, afternoon, evening and in night before sleep,” SAI said in the statement.
“During night monitoring of vitals on August 10 (Monday) it was found that Mandeep Singh’s blood oxygen level was dropping below normal which indicated that he is moving from mild to moderate severity of COVID,” the statement said, adding: “SAI authorities on campus took an immediate decision to shift him to SS Sparsh hospital as a precautionary measure. His condition is currently stable.”
However, after moving Mandeep to hospital, SAI authorities decided to shift the others Covid-positive players as well as a precautionary measure. Like Mandeep, they are said to be stable. Officials are in touch with the players via video chat over the phone.
Camp under cloud?
The six Covid cases have put a question mark over the continuation of the national hockey camp in Bengaluru. The camps for both men’s and women’s teams are to start on August 18, after the players and staff complete their mandatory 14-day quarantine. With reports that the men’s Asian Hockey Champions Trophy — scheduled to be held from November 17 to 27 in Dhaka — is set to be postponed, many are privately questioning the need to continue with the national camp. SAI, however, is holding fort as the officials feel calling off the camp will mean risking the players’ health as they may catch the virus while travelling back. SAI is expected to take a decision on whether to go ahead with the camp in the coming days.
The Tribune
After Mandeep, five other COVID-positive hockey players shifted to hospital as precaution
Manpreet Singh, too, tested positive for COVID-19 last week after reaching Bengaluru for the national camp, which starts on August 20. - K. Murali Kumar
Five COVID-19 positive hockey players have been shifted to a hospital in Bengaluru as a precautionary measure after striker Mandeep Singh was transferred to the facility following a dip in his blood oxygen level, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) said on Wednesday.
Mandeep is asymptomatic but was hospitalised at the SS Sparsh Multispeciality Hospital in Bengaluru on Monday night after his blood oxygen level dipped. Five of his teammates were also admitted to the same hospital on Tuesday.
”...the Sports Authority of India decided to shift the other five players, to SS Sparsh Multi-speciality hospital in Bengaluru on Tuesday afternoon, as a precautionary measure,” the SAI said.
Mandeep, national captain Manpreet Singh, defenders Surender Kumar, Jaskaran Singh, drag-flicker Varun Kumar and goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak tested positive for COVID-19 last week after reaching Bengaluru for the national camp, which starts on August 20.
“The decision to hospitalise them was taken so as to ensure that the players were attended to at all times and could be given the best possible treatment. All six athletes are in good health and recovering well.”
According to SAI, the players contracted the disease, in all probability, while travelling to Bengaluru from different parts of the country after a month-long break.
Their vitals are being checked four times everyday, the SAI stated. All six players tested COVID-19 positive during SAI’s mandatory testing upon arrival in Bengaluru. All the women players have, however, tested negative and are on track to resume training.
Sportstar
Hockey men's camp uncertain after six players test positive for COVID
File photo of Manpreet Singh after scoring a goal during the Hockey World Series Finals in Bhubaneswar. - Biswaranjan Rout
The upcoming training camp for India’s men's hockey players in Bengaluru looks uncertain after six tested positive for COVID-19 but the women can resume practice after all of them tested negative.
Six Indian men’s team players -- skipper Manpreet Singh, striker Mandeep Singh, defenders Surender Kumar, Jaskaran Singh, drag-flicker Varun Kumar and goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak -- have tested positive after reaching Bengaluru for the national camp, scheduled to start on August 20.
Of these, Mandeep has been hospitalised after his blood oxygen levels dropped on Monday.
“The men’s camp is in doubt after six positive results, more reports are still awaited from the state government,” a SAI source told PTI.
“But the women’s camp is still on course after all the players tested negative. They are currently under 14-day quarantine period and the light intensity camp will begin once its over,” the source added.
Currently, 33 male and 24 female players are in Bengaluru for the camp.
The six COVID positive players -- were part of a 10-member group that travelled together from New Delhi.
According to sources close to the developments, the number could rise as all the test reports of the men’s team are yet to come.
The light intensity national camp was supposed to start in the last week of August after a month-long break and was expected to continue till September 30.
It is learnt that SAI approved the camp after a request from Hockey India, which is among the 57 de-recognised National Sports Federations (NSFs).
“Resuming national camps is not solely SAI’s decision. We take feedback and inputs from every NSF before deciding anything because they are more aware than us. We just give them support in terms of opening up our infrastructure,” a SAI source said.
“We are in deliberations with respective authorities, including Hockey India on the resumption of men’s camp and a decision on this matter will be taken shortly.”
Reports have alleged that the men’s team players, during their break, did not follow health safety protocols as strictly as they should have been.
India’s only World Cup-winning hockey captain Ajit Pal Singh criticised the Punjab-based players for travelling together while saying that the fault also lies with HI, which should have kept a tab on its players during their time at home.
“The men’s team players ought to be more responsible. They are national icons and they should set right examples for the future generations. If they were required to follow quarantine rules, they should have followed them strictly,” Ajit Pal told PTI.
“The federation officials also need to take some responsibility. They should have ensured that the players adhere to quarantine rules at home. Look at the girls, all of them tested negative which shows that they are more responsible and disciplined than their male counterparts,” he added.
Ajit Pal also questioned the need for the resumption of the training camp at this time as the Indian hockey teams don’t have any major tournaments lined up this year, except for the men’s Asian Champions Trophy in November in Dhaka.
That too looks set to be postponed due to the pandemic.
“Life is more precious than any sport at this time. I don’t understand the logic behind resuming the camp now because we don’t have any tournaments lined up till April next year (FIH Pro League),” the 1975 World Cup-winning skipper said.
“We are only putting all the players and everyone involved at risk by doing this. We have to keep that in mind.”
Sportstar
Messages and lessons via WhatsApp keeps hockey players positive amid COVID-19 halt
Forward Sunil reveals how hockey players in quarantine at Bengaluru are using the tool to cope during worrying times
By Swaroop Swaminathan
Indian hockey striker SV Sunil
CHENNAI: Ever since the hockey players went home, the men’s team’s WhatsApp group has been inundated with messages aimed at spreading positive vibes. The volume of such messages has only increased after six members of the group tested positive for Covid-19. “Most of the messages in the (WhatsApp) group are like ‘be positive, don’t worry about other stuff’,” says SV Sunil to this daily. “Focus on the guidelines given to you by SAI officials.
The main concern for the players”, he says, “is all of us just want to be fully fit and fine.” Sunil, one of the longest serving members of the team, has been doing his bit, sending messages aimed at spreading positivity. Currently in quarantine at the Sports Authority of India campus at Bengaluru, he is also learning about India’s sporting legends across all sports.
That’s one of many activities the hockey team has been prescribed by the officials to ensure they spend the two weeks in isolation doing different things. On Tuesday, for instance, Sunil had to read up about PT Usha. “So we have been split into 4-5 groups and each group will have to read up about legends before presenting a few things we picked up about the legend,” he says.
“We have to read up about how they struggled, how they coped with difficulties in their life, what kept them going and so on. Today (Tuesday), I discussed how close Usha came to winning an Olympic medal. Sessions like these are good.” When the 31-year-old isn’t presenting (his group also contains PR Sreejesh and Kothajit Singh), ‘I analyse old match videos or do some juggling and dribbling inside the room’.
Living in solitary confinement for two weeks can be a challenge — Sunil, like everybody else who reported back to the SAI campus, has finished one week — and it can be a challenge for some, especially when they are required to take temperature and blood oxygen readings once every four hours, a constant reminder of the so called ‘new normal’. “We have been given those machines and we have to take those readings and log in our readings once every four hours.” Earlier, they were at least let on to the athletics track.
This time, they can’t step out of their room, save to pick up the food that’s kept outside the room by one of the members of the staff. If the players decide to go rogue, cameras constantly monitor the aisle and common area for movement, so this is the dictionary definition of solitary confinement. But the Olympian isn’t complaining. “I must say SAI and the staff are taking good care of us, they are working extremely hard. “They keep the food outside the door and ring the bell. We have to pick it up after five minutes. Once we are done with it, we have to keep it in pre-given dust bin covers and place it outside.” That’s not all, they have to wash their own clothes, something elite athletes do not usually do.
When the conversation shifts to the six positive tests, the soft-spoken wide forward says that’s ‘a negative sign’ but he doesn’t think that will be a big problem going forward. “I think everybody has good immunity power so nothing to worry about. We just have to take care of ourselves...” He should know because he had memorised all of the guidelines when he had gone to stay with his wife and his little daughter during the break in June and July.
“It was close to 50 days, it was the first time in my career that I had spent that much time. The start was a bit scary because my daughter is too young. After some time, I adjusted to it.” Once quarantine is complete, he hopes they will be allowed back on the pitch but there is no set plan yet. As the conversation winds to a close, it’s time for another temperature check. Elsewhere in the quarters where the players are kept, a distant doorbell goes off. And in their WhatsApp group, another message appears. “Don’t worry,” it says.
The New Indian Express
Revival of hockey is among top priorities, says DG SBP
LAHORE-Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh has said that hockey is our national game and its revival is among top priorities to help the country regain its glorious past.
He said this while talking to Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Secretary Asif Bajwa, who called on him at his office here on Tuesday. Director Admin Javed Chohan, Director Sports Hafeez Bhatti and SBP Chief Consultant Shahid Faqeer Virk were also present on this occasion.
Aulakh and Asif Bajwa discussed the launching of a hockey academy for the training of young emerging hockey players to tape new talent and to groom it on modern lines. Aulakh said that the SBP has always offered every kind of cooperation to the PHF for the revival of national game, which was ruled by the country for many decades.
“We will continue to provide every possible assistance to our national game in future as well. Our country has plenty of hockey talent and we just need to find and groom them,” he said and added: “New sports grounds are also being built in the province. These venues will be very helpful in the revival of hockey in the country.
“The revival of hockey is a joint mission for all of us. We will have to join hands for this great task. Pakistan will regain its lost hockey glory in near future. The passion of hockey is still alive in our youth just like it was 30 years ago. Our young players just need good grooming and facilities, and in response, they are capable of winning international glories for the country,” added the PHF Secretary.
The Nation
Hockey Australia launches Kookaburras and Hockeyroos Alumni
The first official Alumni for Australia’s national men’s and women’s hockey teams, the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos, have been established.
Hockey Australia, together with a host of current and former players, have driven the initiative to connect and reconnect those who have donned the green and gold at senior level in field hockey for their country.
The Alumni are for players who have represented Australia at hockey and been ‘capped’ as a Kookaburra or Hockeyroo at a sanctioned international match or tournament.
“We are really excited about getting this Alumni project activated for all past and current players,” said Hockey Australia CEO Matt Favier.
“This Alumni will strengthen links with past, current, and emerging players to create mutually beneficial opportunities for individuals, while honouring and celebrating the past and those who were involved.’
“For the sport of hockey in Australia, which has such a rich history, with remarkable people and an incredible international performance profile, the establishment of an official Alumni for the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos is long overdue and we are thrilled to launch them.”
“The primary focus is to foster and support meaningful engagement with past and present national team players and build on their connection of having played hockey for Australia at one time or another.”
Kookaburras and Hockeyroos Alumni Committees, comprising past and present players, will be created to oversee the concept.
“The players that have played over time are so diverse and dispersed, and the journeys for each of the Men’s and Women’s national teams is different,” said Favier.
“While this Alumni project encompasses both the Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos, it is fitting to have separate groups. I want to thank the two working groups who have provided invaluable assistance.”
The initial Kookaburras Alumni working group includes David Wansbrough OAM, Stuart Carruthers, Scott Fitzpatrick, Matt Swann, Trent Mitton, Johan Durst and Tyler Lovell.
The Kookaburras’ most decorated player, Jamie Dwyer OAM, said he is delighted that Hockey Australia has shown the initiative to get this Alumni started.
“To get this Alumni together so we can keep or get in contact with past or present players is really important,” said Dwyer.
“When you’re an athlete you’re giving everything to be the best athlete you can be, so once you finish playing, to be able to connect with others, build friendships with other guys who played for the Kookaburras and have them help to guide and support you after sport is great.”
The Hockeyroos Alumni working group comprises Juliet Haslam OAM, Sharon Buchanan OAM, Louise Dobson OAM, Lorraine Hillas, Jane Claxton, Jodie Kenny, Steph Kershaw and Rachael Lynch.
On being part of the Hocekyroos Alumni working group, Triple Olympian and gold medallist Buchanan said, “For me, the establishment of the Hockeyroos Alumni is a wonderful opportunity to reconnect through our shared and different memories and experiences.”
“I’m excited to be a part of bringing generations of Hockeyroos together and celebrating incredible sporting women.”
Current Hockeyroos co-captain Jodie Kenny said, “There is something really special about being a Hockeyroo and it forms a huge part of your identity.”
“It’s going to be amazing to be able to connect with the absolute legends of our game who have given this sport and the Hockeyroos brand such an amazing legacy to live by.”
“As a current player we have so much to learn from these former players, but we also have a lot to share so I’m really excited to be part of this Alumni.”
There will be dedicated private LinkedIn and Facebook pages set up for both groups, in addition to regular e-newsletters and various planned events and gatherings when possible throughout each year.
Any former Kookaburras and Hockeyroos are encouraged to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. respectively to register their interest and provide/update their details.
At present, 431 people have represented the Kookaburras, while 504 have taken the field for the Hockeyroos.
Hockey Australia media release
Bowdon ‘surprised’ at England Hockey league outcome decision
One of the national league clubs hoping to keep their Premier Division ambitions alive following the curtailment of the 2019/20 season has been left “disappointed and surprised” at England Hockey’s decision to reject their appeals.
Bowdon men and Leicester women – together with Wapping HC – had lodged appeals following EH’s decision to conclude the season in April, with the former the first to make a statement.
With no dispute resolution reached, a drawn out appeal began, with a decision finally reached on Monday which went against the three clubs.
EH said the decision was “well within the range of reasonable decisions that could have been made in the circumstances and is both fair and necessary for the proper administration of the EHL.”
In response, a Bowdon statement read: “Bowdon Hockey Club has been notified that its appeal against the process and conclusion of the 2019/2020 season has been unsuccessful.
“We are disappointed and very surprised by EH’s decision. Nevertheless, the Club do not intend to take the matter any further. We are now focused on the upcoming season and a safe return to our sport following COVID-19.”
The Hockey Paper has contacted Leicester and Wapping for a statement on the appeal.
The 2020/21 fixtures have yet to be released by EH, with the Premier Division set to start on Sep 19/20 nd a week later for all other divisions, dependant on the Return to Play roadmap, which was published in detail by EH last week.
Help keep independent journalism alive in these uncertain times. Ahead of the new season, please subscribe in print or in digital format.
The Hockey Paper
On this day: India bags first Olympic hockey gold post independence
It was India's first hockey gold medal post independence, when it beat Great Britain 4-0 in the final of the 1948 London Olympics.
Balbir Singh Sr. in action during the 1948 Olympics hockey final match between India and Great Britain. - The Hindu Archives
India beat Great Britain by four goals to zero in the final of the Olympic Hockey Championship and thus retained the world title.
Pakistan drew with Holland earlier the match to decide the third place in the championship, each side scoring once.
G. Singh opened the scoring in the first half for India, in the third minute. Seven minutes later, Jansen got the second goal. The teams changed over with India leading 2-nil.
G. Singh secured the third goal for India after 20 minutes in the second half. Trilochan Singh netted the fourth goal 11 minutes later. India's superiority was never in dispute. Despite the heavy muddy turf and the light rain, which fell for a considerable time during the game, the Indians outclassed the British team with the superb ball-control, accurate passing and intelligent positional play.
Great Britain put up stern opposition but they could not cope with the lightning thrusts by the Indians. Long before half-time, it was evident that India should win comfortably. If England had had any other goal-keeper but Brodie, India might have doubled their score. He made save after save and turned India back from what appeared to be certain scores.
From the opening whistle, India gave 10,000 spectators in the Stadium a 70-minute exhibition of intelligent and fast play which never for a moment gave the British a chance of equalising, let alone winning.
The victorious team moved like clock work from the first bully-off to the final whistle. They forced the game, they ran circles round a slow, duller British team; in fact they played one of the fine games ever seen in Britain. But, their task was by means easy.
Despite the precision of the team work, a few of the Indian stars shone just a little brighter than the others. In the first half, it was G. Singh. He was always on hand at the right moment and it was he who sent in his country's first goal. Jansen, who put India two goals up, was another factor who early established the supremacy of the Indian side. The second half brought its own particular heroes. Well up among them was the Indian right-back, Trilochan Singh, who not only rallied his backs around him but on occasion reinforced the forwards and it was he who sent in the final goal after G. Singh had put the third ahead.
At outside-right, Kishenlal worried the English goal-keeper constantly and only magnificent play by Brodie kept the Indian score down to four.
India had come through to the finals after a superb run in the preliminaries and the final goal-aggregate of 25 for India and 2 against them was one of the best ever achieved in Olympic hockey.
(This article was first published in The Hindu on August 13, 1948)
Sportstar
'There's nothing like victory,' 70 years later, Balbir Singh Senior remembers independent India's first Olympic gold
'As our tri-colour slowly went up. I looked at the flag, and I felt that with it, I was also rising from the ground,' recalls Balbir Singh Senior.
Shantanu Srivastava
Balbir Singh Senior sits in his languid stupor, allowing his mind to race backwards. Between sporadic recollections, he stares blankly at the glass window in front of him, as if piecing together vignettes from his illustrious career into a cohesive tale of triumphs and tears. The wax in his left ear is troubling him, the memory is somewhat sketchy, but once the grand old man of Indian hockey is nudged, he is hard to stop.
It is 70 years to that day, and Balbir remembers 12 August, 1948 in all its glory. Why wouldn’t he, for he was the throbbing heart of a pulsating forward line, and the highest scorer for his team despite playing only two matches.
Balbir Singh Senior scores India's first goal in the final of 1948 Olympics against Great Britain in London. Image Courtesy: Balbir Singh Senior
“Well, 1948. What do I say? What a day! It’s very difficult to explain what I felt. The entire world was at our disposal. Independent India, first Olympics, first gold. It was unbelievable. Of course, beating England, our former masters, on their turf in the final made it all the more special,” he says, glistening with pride.
“I remember the soft strains of our national anthem as our tri-colour slowly went up. I looked at the flag, and I felt that with it, I was also rising from the ground. It’s unreal, but that is how I felt.”
For a nation that had recently been witness to the most bloodied mass migration in human history, for its people who were torn between celebrating their new-found freedom and grieving their dead, for an economy that needed to be built from the very beginning, for the dying and destitute, the defeated and dreamless, the hungry and homeless, the importance and impact of a gold disc measuring 51.4 mm in diameter can’t be stated enough. Sports are an integral part of nation-building, and on that heady Thursday, a stuttering nation found its first sense of hope and belief.
Professor Dr Sudesh Kumar Gupta, sports historian and sociologist and a close friend of Balbir, puts that achievement in perspective.
“We were ruled by British for 200 years. Our social settings and attitudes change a lot in 15 years; imagine being ruled for 200 years. 1948 was the first time when our flag went up, and the real socio-cultural importance of that gold was the Queen and the entire paraphernalia standing up to salute us, barely 10 months after we became an independent nation,” he says.
Balbir Singh Senior scores India's second goal in the final of 1948 Olympics. Image Courtesy: Balbir Singh Senior
Dr Gupta would know. Thanks to his historical research and rich tales from his late father - Dr BL Gupta, the founder-head of Department of Physical Education, Punjab University who also served as the secretary-general of Indian Hockey Federation – Sudesh is privy to the deepest secrets of Indian hockey.
“Not many people know, but there were subdued discussions of fielding a joint India-Pakistan team for the London Olympics, primarily because the strong team of undivided India ceased to exist after Partition. However, the proposal didn’t come through, and we had separate India and Pakistan teams,” he informs.
Things were different a year before the Olympics, when in June-July, a full-strength Punjab team won their second successive National Championships in Bombay, beating hosts in the final. Months later, India and Pakistan endured the horrors of Partition, and Balbir, a policeman, witnessed the carnage from close quarters.
“It was ghastly; blood and bodies everywhere. We worked round the clock to quell riots, but it was just too much. I literally saw rivers of blood,” he says.
The challenge, in terms of hockey though, was to deal with the exodus of talented players to Pakistan. Maqbool Hashmat, Aziz, Shahrukh, Ali Iqtidar Shah Dara and Khurram had opted to stay in the new country, leaving India with the enviable task of building a new team. Dara, in fact, was part of the team that won gold at the Berlin Olympics in 1936.
Balbir Singh Senior ended the 1948 Olympics as India's leading scorer.
“Maqbool (Hashmat) was my senior and my right wing. An excellent player, and an even better human being. He taught me to look left and pass right. Aziz was my left wing. Those were very fine players, maybe better than me,” Balbir had told Firstpost in an earlier interaction.
However, in Sant Prakash Singh and Ashwini Kumar, Punjab found two police officers who were equally passionate about hockey. Sant was independent Punjab’s first Inspector-General, while Ashwini was Superintendent of Police. A new Punjab Hockey Association was formed in Ambala, and Sant and Ashwini organised multiple camps across the state to create and identify fresh talent pool.
Before the Olympics, a preparatory camp was held in Bombay, and Balbir, despite playing a key role in Punjab winning their last two Nationals and being a part of the team that toured Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) the previous season, was curiously not invited.
He was called two weeks later, after an Anglo-Indian player raised the issue and the press began to write about it. Balbir sensed something amiss when he was not allowed to play as a centre-forward – “not even for a day,” he insists – and instead was asked to play at the unfamiliar inside-right position.
He eventually made it to the 20-member squad that flew to London. The 79-member, all-men Indian contingent were to take part in 39 events across 10 sports.
Upon landing at the Heathrow Airport, the team was greeted by Balbir’s former boss at Punjab Police, Sir John Bennett.
“In India, he would not have talked to me, but there as a host, he came with a garland. I was shocked. He also gave me a very important tip. He said, ‘Tell your teammates, Indian grounds are hard and the ball comes to you fast. But here, the grounds are soft and soggy, so the ball sometimes slows down before it reaches you. So don’t wait for the ball. Run for the ball.’ It was my first visit to London, the city of our former masters. As rulers, the British were very strict, but as hosts, they were excellent. People invited us to their homes for tea and dinner.”
Balbir met his now-Pakistani friends at the opening ceremony in Wembley Stadium, and was taken aback by their lack of warmth.
“Niaz Khan, Dara, Shahrukh, Mehmood and Aziz saw us, but I was surprised to notice that our old friends were deliberately trying to keep a distance from us. The openness was missing; our feelings were mixed,” Balbir writes in his autobiography The Golden Hat Trick.
India were led by Kishan Lal, and KD Singh ‘Babu’ as captain and vice-captain respectively, while AC Chatterjee and Pankaj Gupta were joint managers of the hockey team. Those were the times when managers and senior players doubled up as coaches, and terms such as analysts, think-tanks and strategists were unheard of.
Balbir was not played in the first match against Austria, that India won 8-0 with Patrick Jensen sounding the board four times. He finally got his chance in the next game, against Argentina. Playing in his desired position as the centre-forward, 24-year-old Balbir pumped in six goals as India routed the South American nation 9-1. It remains the record of most goals by a player on Olympic debut.
Balbir’s daughter Sushbir, who played hockey at the University and state-level, explains her father’s game. “Dad’s playing style was strange. By strange I mean he made everything look so easy.”
“He always looked so sure of scoring. His opposition would always have 2-3 players marking him, just to make sure he doesn’t get the ball near the ‘D’. They knew if he gets the ball, he will score. He was a complete player.”
India next played Spain, and Balbir, despite being listed in the initial playing XI, was dropped. Grahanandan ‘Nandi’ Singh was fielded as Balbir’s replacement, but the former failed to make an impact in India’s hard-fought 2-0 win.
The story repeated itself in the semi-final against Holland, where after trailing 0-1, India scrapped to a 2-1 win. Balbir, in fact, was pulled out as he was about to bully-off with the opposing forward.
“We had hopped on to the field and the match was about to start when our captain Kishan Lal tugged my shirt and said, ‘Bhaiya aap aj nai khel rahe.’ I still remember those words. Fir bhaiyya kya karta? I walked back. Imagine a jam-packed stadium, the crowd waiting for the start, your name is on the team sheet, you have created an Olympic record in your previous game, and then this drama. Dukh to hota hai, and thoda gussa bhi aata hai, but to control your anger is also part of a sportsperson’s job,” he says.
While Balbir refrains from going on record about the motives behind this dubious call, Dr SK Gupta offers an explanation.
“In those days, the rule was that if a team finishes on the podium, only those members of the squad who had played a match used to get the medal, not the entire squad. So instead of fielding the best XI, here we were, trying to ensure everybody gets a medal, if we win one,” he says.
Balbir’s replacement, Gerald Glacken, could convert only one of the many chances that came his way. The other goal was scored by KD Singh.
India’s insipid performance and a near-loss to Holland created a stir in the Indian community and the press in London. A delegation of Indian students and fans took the matter to India’s High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, VK Krishna Menon, and it was only after his intervention that Balbir could get a place in the playing XI for the final.
The final was played against hosts England, who had refrained from playing India all these years, partly because the British thought it undignified to play their colony, and largely, as Dr Gupta believes, from saving themselves the ignominy of losing to India, who had bagged Olympic gold in each of their previous appearances at the Games (1928, 1932, 1936).
Before the final, the team talk revolved more on infusing 'josh' in the squad than debating strategies and formations.
“We wanted the tiranga to fly high in Great Britain. Our managers, Mr Chatterjee and Mr Gupta asked us to give our best. They said, just do it for India, do it for our people. Such simple, but strong words. We were so full of josh.”
The final was played right after the third-place playoff between Pakistan and Holland, which meant the ground was not in the best of shape.
“I remembered Sir Bennett’s advice: Run for the ball. The stadium was brimming with people, and everyone was chanting for the home team, but after I scored in the seventh minute, they started shouting, ‘Come on, Balbir!’ I must appreciate their sportsmanship,” he remembers.
Balbir scored again in the 15th minute, both his goals coming from the top of ‘D’ via passes from Kishan Lal and KD Singh ‘Babu’ respectively. Drizzle arrived twice during the match, making the ground heavier, and the Indians shunned their natural short-passing game and went for long, pinpoint passes. The English public was treated to a spell-binding display of aerial passing, and soon Kishan Lal and Babu began to play barefoot, much to the spectators' amusement.
“The Englishmen couldn’t believe what they saw. We simply ran away with the game. And the English crowd, well, they started cheering for us. They shouted our names. It was so overwhelming.”
India led 2-0 at the half-time, and Balbir believes he could have scored more had he not been asked to go easy.
“After I scored the two goals, suddenly everyone from the team started shouting ‘defend karo’, so I had to slow down. Otherwise, I would have scored a few more,” he chuckles.
India kept up the pressure in the second half, and soon enough, two more goals arrived. Trilochan Singh scored through penalty corner, and Pat Jensen, India’s second highest scorer in the tournament after Balbir, rounded off India’s incredible campaign with another field goal.
4-0, the scoreline read, but what it doesn’t spell is that a nation that was yet to complete a year of its independence had beaten its erstwhile master who had ruled them with impunity for close to 200 years. It was not an upset; instead, all the years of suffering and servility, of being enslaved at your own home, of being systematically divided and ruled, of being brutally robbed of dignity and purpose, all the blood, sweat and gore of freedom struggle, the throes of the birth of a nation and partition had come alive in that singular moment.
“That win told the world that India can do it, that we are good enough at the highest level,” says Dr Gupta.
The scenes at Wembley, Balbir recalls, were “unbelievable”, and the team celebrated like “bad boys.” A victory lap and a standing ovation followed.
“We were surrounded by fans. They all wanted to touch us, see us. After the match, our High Commissioner VK Krishna Menon came to the ground. We were thrilled to meet him. He held a grand reception for us at India House,” says Balbir.
Back then, the concept of prize money didn’t exist, but the Olympic champions were sent to a goodwill tour of mainland Europe. They explored the wonders of France, Czechoslovakia, and Switzerland for a fortnight, before returning to Liverpool, from where they took a ship for a 26-day voyage to Bombay.
“Parties, everywhere parties! We danced and sang and partied on the journey. I think it was low tide in the Arabian Sea when we returned, and the ship could not come close to the harbour, so we waited in the sea for few more days.”
The team set foot in India to a rapturous, red-carpet welcome. Indian Hockey Federation chief Naval Tata greeted the team on arrival, and a large crowd turned up to catch a glimpse of their heroes.
Balbir's wife Sushil was expecting their first child when he had left for London, and by the time he returned, he was the father of Sushbir.
"I got two rewards that year. One was the Olympic gold, the other was my daughter," he tells us.
Balbir Singh Senior being felicitated by then Governor-General of India, C Rajagopalachari.
The team then flew to New Delhi, where then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, and then Governor-General C Rajagoplachari hosted another reception. They played an exhibition match in capital’s National Stadium, with the Prime Minister and a full house of 70,000 in attendance. Fittingly, Balbir scored the only goal in that match.
“Wherever we went, we were accorded great welcome. It was humbling. There is nothing like victory, really,” he says. Quite a departure from 1936 Olympics, when only two members of Punjab Police had turned up to send the team off to Berlin, from where they returned with another gold medal.
“Time never stops. 70 saal ho gaye, wakai. It’s hard to believe. Once upon a time, our average age was 35-40. Imagine! It feels nice to be part of history,” Balbir, one of the two surviving members from that team (the other is Keshav Dutt, who resides in Kolkata), remarks.
For a change, he breaks his stare from the glass window and looks at me.
“Do you know what is my most dear trophy?” he asks. And before waiting for your correspondent to take an educated guess, points loosely towards a tiny Cup placed on the penultimate row of one of his many overflowing trophy cabinets.
“Yes, that one,” he exclaims, as I hold it delicately, trying to study what makes it so special.
“I won it for my school, Dayanand Memorial School, in Moga. My first.”
Firstpost
For independent India, how hockey made a new beginning at 1948 London Olympics
It may have been a fourth-consecutive Olympic gold for the Indian hockey team but this one was special for more reasons than one.
By Rahul Venkat
The Indian hockey team that won gold at London 1948. Photo: Twitter/Team India
There are two major reasons why the Indian hockey team’s gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London is considered to be the most epochal one in its storied history.
Firstly, that it helped discover its identity as an independent nation and provided solace to a country ravaged by a bloody partition.
Secondly, the London Games saw the birth of a new gem in Balbir Singh Dosanjh, who would go on to become a true legend of the sport.
On August 12, 1948, the Indian team landed its fourth-consecutive Olympic gold medal. It was the first under the Indian tri-colour as opposed to the Union flag unfurled in the previous editions.
Beating Great Britain - the colonial rulers - in front of mainly English fans in the capital city was the icing on the cake for a rampaging Indian team that won by four goals to nothing in the final at the iconic Wembley.
A free India but a nation divided
The year before the 1948 Olympic Games was a bittersweet one for India. While the country had managed to gain independence from the British, Pakistan separated out to become an independent nation.
The split affected the composition of the hitherto undivided Indian hockey team as some of the most skilful players from Punjab – Niaz Khan, Shah Rukh Muhammad, Aziz Malik and Ali Shah Dara, who was a part of India’s Berlin 1936 Olympics squad, chose to play for Pakistan.
So, the Indian hockey team that was picked for the 1948 London Olympics was formidable no doubt but picked from different parts of the country.
To help the team gel together, then Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) chief Naval Tata arranged for the squad to play a number of practice matches and attend camps in Bombay.
This meant that the Indian team would reach London much later than the other nations and Tata agreed to fly them out to the UK, a faster route than sailing by ship, and bore the extra costs. All this to ensure that they were best prepared to win the Olympic gold.
The 15-man team, earlier dominated by players from Punjab, now had as many as eight members from Bombay, including skipper Kishan Lal.
Vice-captain KD Singh Babu was considered the lynchpin of the team. Prominent players like Leslie Claudius, Keshav Dutt, Randhir Singh Gentle and goalkeeper Ranganathan Francis formed the core of the 1948 Olympics Indian hockey team.
Balbir Singh Sr., who was prolific in the national championships, top-scoring for Punjab in their twin title wins in 1946 and 1947, had initially missed the Olympic hockey squad due to internal squabbles over regionalism.
However, the veteran Dickie Carr, who won gold with the Indian hockey team at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, rallied for Balbir Singh’s inclusion and the IHF finally had to give in.
It proved to be a masterstroke as the Indian hockey team soon found out.
The unbeaten gold-winning campaign
At the 1948 Olympics, the Indian hockey team was drawn in Pool A along with Austria, Spain and Argentina.
In its first match against Austria, India comfortably won 8-0. The scoreline was emphatic but the heavy grass surface seemed to be a challenge.
However, India were back to their silky best against Argentina in the next game. Greeted by a dry, hard turf this time, the Indian hockey team, propelled by six goals from debutant Balbir Singh, routed the South Americans 9-1.
Spain managed to hold off the Indians and lost 2-0. India’s third straight win pitted them against the Netherlands in the semi-finals. The Indian hockey team beat the Dutch 2-1 to progress to the final.
Two reasons impacted India’s rhythm in the matches against Spain and the Netherlands.
First, the London rain rendered the hockey pitch muddy and that impeded India’s play largely based on individual skill and pace.
And second, the Indian hockey team did not utilise Balbir Singh’s ability to the fullest.
Despite having scored six goals on his debut, Balbir Singh Sr was dropped against Spain and was held back at the last instant in the semi-final against the Dutch.
A few Indian students studying in London, protested to the Indian High Commissioner VK Krishna Menon, demanding Balbir’s inclusion and that made the team management change its mind on the young Punjab striker for the final.
“If not for those students, who knows if Nanaji would have reached the heights he eventually did,” Kabir Singh, the late Balbir Singh’s grandson, told the Olympic Channel.
As it turned out, it rained a day before the final and Balbir Singh did start at the 25,000-strong Wembley stadium. He scored two goals to help India beat Britain 4-0.
The Indian hockey team had adapted well for the final. They wore boots with studs that helped them grip the pitch better. A perfect gameplan that included oodles of skill, speed and accurate passing left the British dumbfounded.
For a team where all players were debutants, the gold was something to cherish. An unbeaten Indian hockey team conceded just two goals in five games. It proved that an independent India knew how to defend its territory.
“It was a matter of pride that we had beaten England,” Balbir Singh Sr. summed up years late. “It was thrilling. And now the world saluted our flag.”
The story of this historic victory was narrated in the movie ‘Gold’, starring Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar.
The 1948 London Olympics victory started a new period of dominance for the Indian hockey team. They went on to win gold medals in the next two Olympics and firmly etch their name in the game’s history books.
Olympic Channel
Keshav Chander Dutt: Lone survivor of a legendary team
KESHAV DATT Lone surviving member of 1948 Olympic gold
Today marks a momentous occasion for Indian sports. On this day, 72 years ago, India won its fourth Olympic gold medal. But it was the first for independent India.
Field hockey was at its best in London in August 1948 when India won gold with an all win record.
Of the 20 players who made headlines in London, a lone soul is alive today. We are fortunate to have amidst us one of the London legends. A lone immortal in Kolkata. He is Keshav Datt, the lone surviving member of the 1948 Olympic hockey team that clinched India’s fourth and significantly Independent India’s first gold medal.
On this day at Wembley stadium in London, the Indian team and two officials saw the Tricolour go up as the national anthem played with pride.
A nation that was under colonial rule came out with vengeance and, within a year of gaining independence, beat their masters in their own backyard.
Balbir Singh, was in Delhi last year to witness the special release of Gold, a fictionalized version of the struggle and story of the London Olympic Gold.
Balbir, who passed away at 95 a couple of months ago, was not initially selected for the 1948 Olympics but was later included after a public outcry.
He played the first and last matches at London, scoring six goals in the first phase and then a valuable two in the grand final. Datt was a natural choice for the team as an impact making right-half.
His hometown Lahore was in flames when he was in Bombay to play the National Championship. Khurram, his colleague in the Punjab team, was to save him from mass fury when he had to go there a while later.
A RARE PIC: Double Olympic gold medalist Keshav Datt (r) with 1964 Olympic goldie Gurbux
Datt, a flamboyant midfielder with an awe-inspiring physique, stayed at his brother’s place in Bombay to play for the state in the 1948 Nationals. He helped his team finish second behind Bhopal.
Datt played several sports and was Bengal’s National champion in Badminton. He later joined Port Commissioner before permanently settling into his personal business.
ONLY Keshav Chander Datt, Tarlochan Bawa, Kunwar Digvijay Singh Babu, Captain Kishen Lal and goalkeeper Leo Pinto played all five matches in London.
Balbir Senior went on to play two more Olympics, making it a golden hat-trick.
Datt played at Helsinki 1952 but could not avail of leave for Melbourne 1956 which would have been his third Olympics. Similarly, KD Singh ‘Babu’ also played in the next Olympics as captain.
Keshav married a foreigner and lives in Kolkata out of the public glare. He is taken care of his loving son and daughter.
He is very nearly bedridden and rarely meets visitors.
Stick2Hockey.com
Stanley Shoveller: The greatest English hockey player ever?
By Mike Haymonds | The Hockey Museum
This is potentially a very subjective claim but can anyone put forward a stronger case than this one for Stanley Howard Shoveller (1881-1959)?
To be the best amongst one’s contemporaries is perhaps the first requirement for this accolade. There cannot be much doubt about that. He played for his school 1st XI – what is now Kingston Grammar School – from the age of 14 and was a prolific goal scorer. He was playing for Hampstead Hockey Club before he left school and for Middlesex the year after.
Three years later (1902) at the age of 21, which was very young in those days, he first played for England. In the following 19 years he played 35 times for England, for a decade as captain. He also fought in World War One, rising to the rank of Captain in the Rifle Brigade and being awarded a Military Cross.
His international career spanned two Olympics, 12 years apart, London 1908 and Antwerp 1920, winning gold medals in both – in Antwerp when approaching his 40th year. He remains the only Briton to win two Olympic hockey gold medals. In London he was the tournament’s second highest scorer (seven goals) and in Antwerp the top scorer with 12 of GB’s 17 goals, including eight in the final 12-1 win over Belgium.
That in itself is an achievement unlikely to be equalled again by a British player. His official England record shows that he scored 79 goals in 35 appearances, including 17 hat tricks, an average of more than 2 goals per match.
It is possible that this tally could be posthumously increased as “Shove” as he was affectionately known, captained the England team that played in an International Tournament in Hamburg in 1912 as a substitute for there being no hockey at the Stockholm Olympics. At this event he scored four times against Germany and three against Austria but at present these two matches do not appear in the England records.
To make Shoveller’s record even more remarkable he did not play in 23 England matches because his work as a stockbroker did not give him the freedom to do so. What an amazing record it might have been had he played in all the 60 matches of his era.
At the time of his death aged 77 his estate was valued at £98,000, equivalent to around £2 million in today’s money.
In his obituary in The Times he was described as “having an impeccable style that ensured that he had fewer ‘off’ days than most players. He was fast, with excellent ball control and had a first-class shot at goal. In addition to this he had a most deceptive body swerve that made him difficult to mark. He was the ideal model for any aspirant to copy.”
No wonder he was called the W G Grace (the celebrated cricketer) of his time and therefore must qualify him to be the greatest English hockey player.
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