Balbir Singh

After the Berlin Olympiad in 1936 the following quadrennial Olympic championship could not be held in 1940. Nor in 1944. The 2^nd world war had turned the world topsy-turvy. 

India had won the hockey gold medal at Amsterdam in 1928, followed by Los Angeles in 1932 and the last one in 1936 at Berlin. Obviously India was considered by the other nations as the ‘favourite’ to retain the hockey gold medal. But in India there were grave doubts about the quality of the team that would go to London to defend the title.

After the partition of India, many prominent players from the Muslim community had opted to settle in Pakistan. Numerous outstanding talents from among the Anglo-Indians migrated to foreign lands. These hockey players were the nucleus of the three previous gold medal-winning teams.

During the war years, although hockey championships were held in India at the domestic level, were we able to unearth top-quality players? Would they be able to uphold the legacy of Dhyan Chand and company at the highest international level? How will they be able to take the strain without adequate international exposure?

The anxiety was genuine. All the new players bound for London would be debutants at the international stage. Will the young, inexperienced men be able to take the pressure of winning on foreign soil? Do they possess the skills we were famous for? Will they be able to withstand the pressure of being the defending champions?

At the end of the London Olympics, every hockey follower heaved a sigh of relief. New heroes emerged almost overnight. Young men of almost no international experience revealed that they did not lack the magnificent skills or the tough mentality of their predecessors.

Skipper Kishen Lal was magnificent on and off the field. The brilliant KD Singh ‘Babu’ was an inspiration with his stick-work and distribution. Young Leslie Claudius gave every hope of becoming a future ‘great’. Leo Pinto with his huge pads was a perpetual stumbling-block. And one young Sardar made the world sit up and take notice. He was Balbir Singh, an inspector of Punjab Police.

Fortunately for India a man of formidable presence went as the joint-manager of the team, Pankaj Gupta. Gupta in close confidence with his skipper Kishen Lal planted the concept of ‘one nation, one aim’ among the players as he had done earlier with Dhyan Chand’s men. They chopped and changed the team depending upon situations. But more so to give every youngster the opportunity to experience the international sphere. Ultimately India’s worry was over as skipper Kishen Lal, KD Singh ‘Babu’ and their mates went up to receive the gold medals round their necks.

The magnificent centre-forward Balbir Singh began with 6 goals in the first match only to find that he was sidelined for the next two matches! The reason was that Gupta did not want to expose his trump card to the opponents. Balbir was brought back for the final, scored two more goals and finished the championship with 8 goals in just 2 matches. A hero was born.

The other forwards were no push-overs. Later Pankaj Gupta once recounted, “In the 3 matches that Balbir did not play, our other forwards scored no less than 12 goals. We played as a team called ‘India’. We helped one another to succeed. We did not think of personal considerations. Our trump-card Balbir did his duty for the nation as did everybody else.”

In the 1952 Olympic Games at Helsinki again India was at the top. Balbir Singh was superlative, as always. His stick-work, his body feints, his final ‘finishing’ all had the ‘cobra strike-symbol’ in action. He was a general on the field: perpetually encouraging and attacking, always dangerous, fatal as a finisher. A magnificent specimen of a hockey player. An ideal man to take over the crown that Dhyan Chand had worn.

At Helsinki in 1952, India hardly played 3 matches to reach the final. Every match was a knock-out fixture. There was no question of anyone being ‘nursed’ or someone else being ‘rested’ as had happened at London in 1948. Here again the combination of skipper KD Singh Babu and the world-class striker Balbir Singh had the oppositions in no end of anxiety.

In 1952 at Helsinki yet again the magic of Balbir Singh continued. He proved again and again that he had no parallel as far as goal-scoring ability was concerned. He was by far the best in the world. Warmed up against Austria with a goal and then against Britain repeated his 1948 hat-trick. As if this was not enough, in the final Holland could not withstand India’s blitzkrieg as Balbir scored 5 of the 6 goals.

Now came 1956. Melbourne Olympics was a stunner with a huge stadium to beckon one and all. This time Balbir was the captain of the team.  In the first match Balbir sounded the board 5 times. But a very serious injury to his hand kept him away from the next two matches. Came back against Germany in the semis with pain-killers and again scored the match-winner. In the final, a close encounter with Pakistan gave India the gold medal through a penalty corner conversion by Randhir Singh Gentle.

Balbir Singh retired from active hockey on his return. He joined the Punjab Government bureaucracy and did outstanding work as the Director of Sports. His splendid service to the nation resulted in being awarded the Padma Shree award in 1957. His sterling inspiration helped the State of Punjab to promote sports and encourage sportspeople.

The great patronage of the House of Patiala from the early 20th century continued with the active encouragement of the government of Punjab. The triple gold medalist in three Olympic Games – like Dhyan Chand and Richard Allen earlier – authored an excellent book The Golden Hat-trick: My Hockey Days.

Balbir was born in 1923. As a youngster he revealed exceptional prowess at hockey. After finishing his college studies at Lahore, where he met his future wife, Balbir went across to Amritsar to train under Harbail Singh. His reputation grew as his college and club teams prospered. The exploits of the India team in the pre-war Olympic Games held him in awe. He was inspired by the magical stick-work and the finishing touches of Dhyan Chand and Roop Singh.

The handsome Sikh was a strong man physically and mentally. Once, as a teenager, it is said that the Punjab Police threatened him of arrest unless he played for them! When no response was coming from Balbir, the Inspector General of Punjab Police John Bennet had him hand-cuffed and brought to Jalandhar, “If you do not join Punjab Police, you will be arrested right now! Now decide your future.”

Thankfully Balbir realized that discretion was the better option than valor and did not go into the pros and cons. From all angles, the forcible recruitment appears to be an extremely praiseworthy move on the part of the inspector-general!

During the partition days Balbir was based at Lahore and was at the heart of the violence. Two great stalwarts of Pakistan hockey team – Shahruk and AS Dara – helped Balbir and his wife to cross the border without any problems. The great rivalry on the field actually gives rise to great friendship off it. This is a stirring example of camaraderie between the hockey players of India and Pakistan.

In 2014 he was conferred with the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award by Hockey India. Settled in Canada, he kept travelling back to his Chandigarh residence. Last week of May 2020, he breathed his last at the age of 96. A wonderful person; among the greatest of players; and an able administrator. A treasure to cherish.