Nripjit Singh Bedi (commonly known as "Nippy", born 1 June 1940) was a

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player who was a member of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n national team and competed in the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

-winning effort at the

4th Asian Games ) , Host city = Jakarta, Indonesia , Nations participating = 17 , Athletes participating = 1,460 , Events = 120 in 13 sports , Opening ceremony = 24 August 1962 , Closing ceremony = 4 September 1962 , ...

. Bedi received the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

from the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in 1962. The Indian athlete's volleyball career lasted for 23 years. He served as a Commandant with the Border Security Force (BSF) of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

before his 1995 retirement.

Early life

Bedi was born in Dhariwal in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab, India. He was the youngest of 6 siblings. He started playing at an early age of 9 when he used to watch others play in the fields at Dhariwal. He would watch the older players and picked up on the technique and tailored it into his unique style. He played for his school and college team. He played his first all India tournament match at Roorkee and Shahjhanpur Tata Nagar in 1956 at the age of 16 years. He was given the name 'Nippy' because he was very quick on his feet. His name became a name to be contended with and the opponents would get scared by the mere mention of his name!

Player

Nippy played volleyball with Punjab University from 1956 to 1958 including 59 international test matches against opponents such as

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Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, Russia (3 times), Japan, South Korea,

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, the

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, Israel,

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, France,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

(1959 to 1974). Nippy set a record for durability playing for Punjab State, Punjab Police and the BSF teams for 21 years (1959 to 1979) in total.

Highlights

At 5ft 10 inches, Nippy's height was not that of a typical attacker or smasher of the ball who averaged above 6ft. Not many know that he started off as a lifter but soon developed himself as a smasher and lifter by the age of 16 years. He worked hard at his technique, his physical ability and was very particular about his diet. Every day he used to practice on his jump to spike the ball. He managed to jump so high that he used to reach the height of 11ft 4inches, neck high above the net and spike the ball at will. He is the only spiker in Indian Volleyball who was able to turn his body in the air and spike the ball. Just as an aeroplane takes off at high speed and stays in the air for few seconds before it stabilised itself, Nippy was so fast in his run up to jump, he would stay in air for friction of a second, look at the opponents court and then smash the ball. And gracefully land on his toes first and then heel to absorb the impact of the landing and to the winning applause from the audience. Nippy competed at the 4th Asian Games in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

(1962) where the Indian national volleyball squad won the silver medal. There are many highlights from the championships, mainly the highly contested match semi final between India and Pakistan, which was a 5 set match. And India won it to face Japan in the finals. This is the highest medal won till date in the history of Indian Volleyball. Nippy also represented India at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

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(1966)). In Pre Olympic qualifying championships, the Indian team won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

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(1963), prior to the Tokyo Olympics held in the latter half of 1964. Nippy is the youngest recipient of the Arjuna Award in 1962 and is the first awardee from

state. He was also the first ever member of the Punjab Police and BSF to be a recipient for achievements in volleyball. Ministry of Sports Affairs and Sports, Government of India. Over a decade later, Nippy was declared "Sportsman of the Year" by the Punjab government in 1974. Under Nippy's leadership and captainship, the BSF was undefeated from 1968 to 1979 in National championships; All Indian Police Games and in open All India tournaments/championships in all over India. Nippy holds the record of playing the most all India Nationals from 1958 to 1979 continuously. He won 13 Gold medals, 5 Silver medals and 1 Bronze medal at nationals. In 1965 the Nationals did not take place due to the war between India and Pakistan. He served as a Commandant with the Border Security Force (BSF) before his retirement in 1995. His command took him all over India like Jammu Kashmir - Mendher, West Bengal - Raiganj, Malda, Rajasthan, Gujarat - Rann of Kutch, Punjab - Dera Baba Nanak, Fazilka. Nippy was the recipient of the President's Police Medal for meritorious service in 1992 and with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Punjab police, the latter given by the

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

of Punjab in 2007. Punjab Government honoured Nippy for his outstanding contributions towards Volleyball as part of the 550th birth celebration of Guru Nanak Dev ji in 2019. Melody Melo, the famous Anglo India, in his Book on World Sportsmen said "INDIA has produced only one NIPPY and there cannot be another NIPPY."

Coach

Nippy was the coach of the BSF Volleyball team along with its captain. Under his captaincy BSF team became an unbeatable force to reckon with. He remarkably balanced the responsibilities of a Coach and Captain at the same time. Nippy was appointed coach for the Indian volleyball team and led them to the

1983 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship The 1983 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship was the third staging of the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship, a quadrennial international volleyball tournament organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Japan Volleyball Associati ...

in Japan. He coached the Indian police team in 1967, 1974 and 1983 and filled the same position with the BSF team for a period of 15 years. Nippy trained many players who represented India, including Balwant Singh "Ballu". Nippy was a member of the Sports Council of India, a Sports Authority of India (SAI) selector and president of the DVA.

Retirement

Following his retirement Nippy is settled in

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

. He is still actively involved in providing free coaching to youngsters. He also attends coaching camps to provide tips to budding players in The field of Volleyball. His passion and dedication to Volleyball is admirable and second to none.

Awards

Individuals

* ''1962 Arjuna Award'' * ''1974 Sportsman of the Year; Punjab Government'' * 1992 President's Police Medal for Meritorious Services (Border Security Force) *2007 Lifetime Achievement Award by Punjab Police *2019 Honoured by Government of Punjab on the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedi, Nripjit Singh Indian men's volleyball players 1940 births Living people Volleyball players from Punjab, India Recipients of the Arjuna Award People from Gurdaspur Asian Games medalists in volleyball Volleyball players at the 1962 Asian Games Volleyball players at the 1966 Asian Games Military personnel from Punjab, India Indian volleyball coaches Panjab University alumni Medalists at the 1962 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India