AMN
Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the country’s highest civilian honour the Bharat Ratna for hockey legend Balbir Singh senior.
Mr Amarinder, in his letter to Modi yesterday called the 95-year-old legend, an outstanding sportsperson of his era.
He was conferred with Padma Shri in 1957. Capt Amarinder recalled that Balbir Singh senior was the only Indian in a list of 16 legends chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) across the modern Olympic history.
His world record for most goals scored by an individual in the men’s hockey final in an Olympic Games still remains unbeaten. Balbir Singh had scored five goals in India’s 6-1 victory over the Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Helsinki Games. He was also the manager of India’s World Cup-winning team in 1975.