Balbir Singh Senior was a member of three Olympic gold medal winning Indian hockey teams – London (1948), Helinsky (1952) and Melbourne (1956).
Balbir gained inspiration to play hockey after he saw a newsreel on India’s performance at 1936 Olympics. In 1942, he was selected to represent Punjab university. Under his captaincy, the university won the All India Inter-University titles for three years in a row – 1943, 1944 and 1945.
Post independence, Indian hockey was scheduled to take part in the 1948 Olympics that were to take place in Britain. Balbir was selected in the team. He made a remarkable debut when he scored six goals in India’s 9-1 victory over Argentina. He maintained his good form in the final as he scored two goals in India’s 4-0 win against Britain. This was India’s fourth consecutive Olympic gold in as many appearances.
In 1952, Balbir Singh was named vice-captain of the Indian squad. He lived up to the responsibility he was given. India beat Netherlands 6-1 in the finals and Balbir found the back of the net five times. He still holds the record for scoring most goals in an Olympic final.
He was named captain of Indian Olympic squad of 1956. In the final, India inched passed their arch-rivals Pakistan 1-0 as Balbir and co secured sixth gold medal for India.
For his unrivalled contribution to sports, Indian government conferred upon him the honour of Padma Shri. Balbir is the first sportsman to receive the honour.
He was also the manager of Indian hockey team that won the world cup in 1975, the only time India won the world championship. Balbir Singh is an icon who contributed as a player, a captain and a coach.
Video editor: Mohd Ibrahim