Balbir Singh Dosanjh (31 December 1923 – 25 May 2020) was an Indian

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player and coach. He was a three-time

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medallist, having played a key role in 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 Major Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player, widely regarded as one of the greatest field hockey players in history. He was known for his extraordinary ball control and goal-scoring feats, in a ...

, 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. He was often called Balbir Singh Senior to distinguish him from other Indian hockey players named Balbir Singh. Singh scored 246 goals from just 61 international caps Singh was the manager and chief coach of the Indian team for the

1975 Men's Hockey World Cup The 1975 Hockey World Cup was the third edition of the Hockey World Cup men's field hockey tournament. It was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In the final, India defeated Pakistan from a goal difference of 2–1. Surjit Singh scored the first cr ...

, which India won, and the

1971 Men's Hockey World Cup The 1971 Men's Hockey World Cup was the inaugural edition of the Hockey World Cup. It took place from 15 to 24 October in Barcelona, Spain. Pakistan were the inaugural World Cup winners, beating Spain in the final, 1–0. Participants The firs ...

, where India earned a bronze medal. During the

London Olympics in 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, Singh was honoured in the Olympic Museum exhibition, ''"The Olympic Journey: The Story of the Games,”'' held at the Royal Opera House. The exhibition told the story of the Olympic Games from its creation in 776BC through to the London 2012 Olympic Games. He was one of the 16 iconic Olympians recognized as an example "of human strength and endeavour, of passion, determination, hard work and achievement and demonstrates the values of the Olympic Movement". Singh died at the age of 96 in

Mohali Mohali, officially known as Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab (India), Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the Moh ...

on 25 May 2020.

Early years

Balbir Singh Dosanjh was born in a

Jat Sikh Jat Sikh (also known by the more conventional endonym Jatt Sikh) is a sub-group of the Jat people and the Sikh religious group from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab owing to their large land holdin ...

family to Karam Kaur and Dalip Singh Dosanjh. His father was a freedom fighter who was absent most of Singh’s early years due to being frequently jailed. At the age of twelve, Singh saw a

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...

on India's 1936 Olympic hockey triumph, which sparked his interest in hockey. He was later spotted as a promising hockey player by the coach of Khalsa College hockey team. While at Khalsa, Singh led the team to three consecutive championships as captain and was soon playing for the Punjab state team. He helped the Punjab state team win two consecutive national titles in 1946 and 1947.

1948–1956

London Olympics (1948)

Singh's first appearance at the

1948 London Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

was in the match against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, India's second match. After that he played in Final against Great Britain. Singh scored the first two goals and India won by 4–0.

Helsinki Olympics (1952)

Singh was vice-captain of 1952 Olympic team, with

K. D. Singh Kunwar Digvijay Singh (2 February 1922 – 27 March 1978), popularly known as "Babu", was an Indian field hockey player. He was born in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. He is widely known for his mesmerising passing ability and is considered by ...

as the Captain. Balbir was India's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. He scored a hat trick against Britain in semi-final, which India won 3–1. He scored five goals in India's 6–1 win against the Netherlands setting a new Olympic record for most goals scored by an individual in an Olympic final in men's field hockey. The previous holder of this record was England's Reggie Pridmore with his four goals in England's 8–1 victory over Ireland in the 1908 Olympic final. Singh scored nine of the India's total 13 goals at the Helsinki Olympics, 69.23% of the team's goals. In 1954, he captained the

Indian Hockey Federation The Indian Hockey Federation was the Indian branch of the International Hockey Federation. Background It was the apex governing body of field hockey in India. It was formed on 7 November 1925 in Gwalior. It was the first non-European team to ...

XI side that toured Malaya and Singapore. India won all 16 matches played, with Singh top-scoring for his team with 44 goals in the tour.

Melbourne Olympics (1956)

Singh, captain of the 1956 Olympic team, scored five goals in the opening match against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, but was then injured.

Randhir Singh Gentle Randhir Singh Gentle (September 22, 1922 – September 25, 1981) was an Indian field hockey player and coach. He was a part of the Indian team that won three consecutive gold medals in the Summer Olympics, from 1948 to 1956. Gentle is one am ...

captained the rest of the group matches. Singh had to skip the group matches, but played in the semi-final and the final. India won the final match against Pakistan with a result of 1–0. In total of 8 Olympic matches he played he scored 22 goals for his nation

Post-1956

In 1957, Singh became the first recipient of the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

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 The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games ( ja, 第3回アジア競技大会) and commonly known as Tokyo 1958, was a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958. It was governed by the Asian Games Federation. A ...

. He coached the 1971 Indian hockey team for the Hockey World Cup, where India earned the bronze medal. In 1975, he was the manager of the victorious Indian World Cup hockey team. He wrote two books: his autobiography ''The Golden Hat Trick'' (1977) and ''The Golden Yardstick: In Quest of Hockey Excellence'' (2008).

Awards and achievements

In 1957, Singh was the first sports personality to be honoured with the Padma Shri award. He and Gurdev Singh were featured on a stamp issued in 1958 by

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

to commemorate the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He lit the Sacred Flame at the Asian Games 1982 held at New Delhi. That same year, he was adjudged to be the ''Indian Sportsperson of the Century'' in a national poll conducted by the Patriot newspaper. In 2006, he was named the ''Best Sikh Hockey Player''. Describing himself as a secular nationalist, he stated that he was not convinced about the idea of having a religion-based list of players, but accepted the award since he believed it might be good for the promotion of Indian hockey. In 2015, he was conferred with the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award of Hockey India. On May 25th, 2021, the

Mohali International Hockey Stadium International Hockey Stadium is a field hockey stadium in Mohali, Punjab, India. This stadium serves as the home ground for the hockey club, Punjab Warriors, of Hockey India League. On May 25, 2021, the stadium was renamed the Olympian Balbir ...

was renamed the ''Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium'' in honor of his death anniversary.

Erroneous reports

Although the record for most goals by an individual in an Olympic final belongs to Singh there have been many erroneous media reports over the years claiming that Dhyan Chand scored six goals in India's 8–1 victory over Germany in the 1936 Olympic final. In his autobiography titled "Goal!", however, published in 1952 by Sport & Pastime, Chennai, Chand wrote: ''“When Germany was four goals down, a ball hit Allen's pad and rebounded. The Germans took full advantage of this and made a rush, netting the ball before we could stop it. That was the only goal Germany would score in the match against our eight, and incidentally the only goal scored against India in the entire Olympic tournament. India's goal-getters were Roop Singh, Tapsell and Jaffar with one each, Dara two and myself three. Additionally, the International Hockey Federation records also attribute only three of the eight goals to Chand in the Berlin Olympic final.The International Hockey Federation website
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References

External links

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Autobiography: The Golden Hat Trick
(1977) {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Balbir Sr 1923 births 2020 deaths Indian Sikhs Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Olympic field hockey players of India Field hockey players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Indian male field hockey players Olympic gold medalists for India People from Jalandhar district Field hockey players from Punjab, India Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1958 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 1958 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in field hockey Indian field hockey coaches Deaths from pneumonia in India Deaths from bronchopneumonia