Canadian hockey's Indian connection

Surrey: Five Indo-Canadian hockey players will represent Canada at the Sydney Olympics that begins next month, 'The Link' newspaper reported. The three Indo-Canadian players from British Columbia are Bindi Kullar, Ronni Jagdav and Ravi Kahlon, while the two Indo-Canadian players from Ontario are Hari Kant, whose family hails from Delhi and Ken Pereira, whose family comes from Goa.

When Mohan Singh from Punjab's Sansarpur village, internationally known as a nursery for Indian hockey players, played for the Frontier Force Regiment of the Indian Army in the late 1930s and early '40s, the farthest he could go was to compete against a team led by India's hockey legend Dhyan Chand.

His son Paul Kullar, who now lives in north Delta in British Columbia, was a member of the Canadian national grass hockey team for a couple of years in the 1970s after immigrating to Canada.

So, when Mohan Singh's 24-year-old grandson Bindi Kullar leaves for Australia on September 3, to take part in the Sydney Olympics, he would not only be seeking to fulfill his own ambition but also his 80-year-old grandfather's mission.

"Though Bindi had been good at soccer and basketball, we encouraged him to take to field hockey as we wanted him to carry forward the legacy of Sansarpur," Mohan Singh says with pride.

"He was born in Richmond, British Columbia in 1976- the year India lost at the Montreal Olympics. So I vowed to encourage Bindi to shine in field hockey," Paul, who works in a logging factory in Vancouver, says.

It's no surprise then to know that Mohan Singh, Paul Kullar and the rest of the family, would be at hand in Sydney to cheer up Bindi and the rest of the Canadian hockey squad.

"It may cost us a lot but we have already got our air tickets since we do not want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," they told 'The Link' this week.

Bindi's uncle Sarge Dusang also represented Canada in the Montreal Olympics and in the 1978 World Hockey Cup in Argentina. Bindi has been playing field hockey since he was eight. He can play both as a forward (left-inside) and in the defence.

Similarly in Port Coquitlam, the Shiv Jagday family is in an equally euphoric mood and is preparing to fly to Sydney to see son Ronni Jagday play for Canada. Ronni is the son of Shiv Jagday, a former Canadian national team coach, who now coaches the American field hockey squad.

Born in Vancouver in March 1978, Ronnie started playing filed hockey from the age of 13. His family hails from Ludhiana in Punjab. The euphoria within the two families is genuine as both Bindi and Ronni led Canada to the Pan Am gold against the US in the finals in Winnipeg, Manitoba, last year.

In Victoria, British Columbia, Navroop Kahlon too has got his air ticket ready for Sydney to see his eldest son Ravi Kahlon play for the country. A former captain of Canada's junior hockey team, Ravi was recently named to the senior squad.

Ravi too has hockey in his blood and was propelled into the game by his father, who hails from Bhagowal village near Batala in Punjab's Gurdaspur district. Shiv immigrated to Canada in 1977. In fact, Ravi's younger brother Sunny too is a member of the junior national team.

"In fact, I played along with Shiv Jagday and Paul Kullar for the India Club in Vancouver from 1978 to 1985," Navroop Kahlon told 'The Link' in an interview, adding that having passed on the game they were now keenly watching their second generation play.

Ken Pereira, who was born in Toronto, has been playing field hockey since he was aged 16. Hari Kant is the goalkeeper of the national team for the first Olympics of the 21st century. Besides, the team's video technician is Bubli Chohan, another Indo-Canadian.

India Abroad News Service