Udham Singh Kular (4 August 1928 – 23 March 2000) was an Indian Hockey Player from

Sansarpur Sansarpur is a village in Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab. Demographics India census, Sansarpur had a population of 4061. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Sansarpur has an average literacy rate of 75%, h ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. He played in

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He shares the distinction of being one of only two Indian players to win four Olympic medals, the other being

Leslie Claudius Leslie Walter Claudius (25 March 1927 – 20 December 2012) was an Indian field hockey player from Bilaspur. He studied in South Eastern Railway (Now SECR) English Medium School Bilaspur which has produced many national sportsmen. Leslie Clau ...

Early life

Udham was born on 4 August 1928 at Sansarpur, a small village near the

Jalandhar Cantonment Jalandhar Cantonment is a cantonment town in Jalandhar District in the Indian state of Punjab. The Cantonment is located between latitude 30° 18' and longitude 75° 37' on the southwest and at a distance of 2 km from Cantonment Railway S ...

of Punjab. He studied at Victor High School and DAV College, Jalandhar. Although Udham had a short stature of 5 feet 6 inches and weighed only 58 kg, it never affected his game.

Domestic Hockey

In 1947 Udham was named the Captain of his College Hockey team and was recruited by the Punjab Police the same year, which had one of the best Hockey teams in the nation at the time. For a period of 18 years he played for Punjab Police, and led the team a couple of times during the tenure. Udham was named the Captain of the State Hockey team of Punjab in 1954.

International Hockey

Udham Singh would have made his Olympics debut in London in 1948, but due to a finger injury he missed the chance. He played in a Hockey Series against Afghanistan in 1949, contributing to India’s victory. Udham was a part of the Indian Hockey squad at Helsinki Olympics in 1952 where Captain K.D. Singh Babu led the Indian team to a Gold Medal win, and at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 where Balbir Singh Senior successfully led the Indian team to save the Gold Medal. Udham also played in the Rome Olympics in 1960 and at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, his last Olympic games. At Rome,

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 ...

defeated India in the Finals, while the Indian team snatched its Gold Medal back from Pakistan in Tokyo defeating the opponents by 1-0. Udham delivered his best performance at the Tokyo Asian Games in 1958 but still couldn’t get India the Gold as Pakistan beat India on the basis of better goal average. Udham Singh is one of the two hockey players to win 3 golds and a silver in the Olympics, the other being

. He was also awarded 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 ...

by the

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...

. He was a Half Back but had the adaptability to play from Left Inside, Right Inside, Center Forward and Center Half positions as well.

Captaincy

He was named the Captain of 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 ...

team that went to a Warsaw tour in 1955 and to

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

in 1959. Udham also led the Indian squad to World Cup Hockey held at Lyons, France.

Coaching

Udham Singh served as the Coach of the Indian Hockey team and successfully got the team a bronze Medal at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 and the silver medal at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1970. After his retirement from playing hockey, he turned to coaching young male teams.

Awards

in 1965.

References

sports-reference

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Udham Olympic field hockey players of India Recipients of the Arjuna Award 1928 births 2000 deaths Olympic medalists in field hockey Olympic silver medalists for India Olympic gold medalists for India Field hockey players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in field hockey Field hockey players at the 1958 Asian Games Field hockey players from Punjab, India Indian male field hockey players Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 1958 Asian Games