Hockey India (HI) felicitated the 13 living
members of the 1975 World Cup winning team at a glittering ceremony in New
Delhi. The captain of the 1975 World Cup winning side Ajit Pal Singh, Ashok
Kumar who scored the winning goal in the final, Aslam Sher Khan, Brigadier
(retd) Harcharan Singh, Leslie Fernandez, Varinder Singh, Ashok Diwan, Michael
Kindo, BP Govinda, Brigadier (retd) HJS Chimni, VJ Phillips, Onkar Singh and
Kaliah PE were each honoured with a cheque of Rs.175,000.
The cash rewards were seen as a recognition
coming too late in the day for their magnificent efforts 39 years back.
Three players – Surjit Singh and Shivaji
Pawar and Mohinder Singh – who passed away during this period were represented by their family members on
their behalf. The widows of Surjit Singh and Shivaji Pawar and the brother of
late Mohinder Singh collected the cheques.
Surprisingly, legendary Balbir Singh
Senior, who was the chief coach of the 1975 World Cup, was not part of the
felicitation programme.
BJP stalwart and Hockey India League
advisory board member Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha,
Ajit M. Sharan, secretary Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Jiji Thomson,
Director General Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Rajeev Mehta, secretary
general Indian Olympic Association (IOA) graced the function.
One hopes the recognition of these
stalwarts will pump up the Indian senior men’s team for the upcoming World Cup.
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