Balbir Singh Sr. adjudged best Sikh hockey player

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) Legendary Balbir Singh Sr, a triple Olympic gold medallist, pipped great players like Udham Singh, Harbinder Singh, Prithipal Singh and Ajit Pal Singh to emerge as the best Sikh hockey player of all time here today.

A 10-member jury, headed by former Chief Justice of India J S Verma, today named the top 10 Sikh players, led by Balbir Singh Sr and followed by Udham Singh, Harbinder Singh, Prithipal Singh, Ajit Pal Singh, Dharam Singh Sr., Balbir Singh (Railways), Surjit Singh, Pargat Singh and Col. Balbir Singh (Services).

Visibly elated after topping the table, Balbir Singh Sr, thanked his parents, team mates and coaches and said he cherished memories from his good old days.

''I have so many stories to tell that I'm working on a second autobiography. It's great honour to get this award,'' said the Padmashree awardee who was adjudged Player of the Century in a 1982 poll.

Late Udham Singh's award was accepted by her sister Mandeep Kaur, who recalled how the boys of Sansarpur used to follow her illustrious brother.

Harbinder Singh recalled how he honed his skills in Sansarpur, the cradle of Indian hockey, where his father was posted.

''My father played with the legendary Dhayn Chand and all of my brothers followed in his footprints. Even my sons kept alive the tradition and they play for the Railways,'' he said.

Ajit Pal Singh, whon led India to its only World Cup triumph in 1975, was asked why he did not push his son to take up hockey and instead he opted for tennis, much like Vace Paes and son Leander.

''In those days, it was hockey alone and there was no television in the village but things change soon. My soon opted for tennis and I welcomed his decision,'' he said.

Dharamjit Singh's award was collected by his son who reminisced the lessons he learnt from his father.

Late Surjit Singh's wife was also present on the occasion and she thanked the Government of India and Punjab government.

''Surjit was given Arjuna award posthumously and the village was named after him. There is a tournament, a stadium and an academy too named after him. I thank all for keeping his memory alive,'' she said.

Pargat Singh was his modest self and when asked to recall his spectacular solo goal cutting through the German defence during a Champions Trophy match, Pargat said, ''I think it was by sheer chance. I was moving up with the ball and did not find a forward to pass it. Surprisingly none of the German defenders tackled me and I had the goalkeeper at my mercy and I beat him to score the goal.

That was it.'' Col Balbir Singh, an Arjuna awardee right-half, was also asked why he did not encourage his son to take up the sport.

''I was fortunate to grow in Sansarpur where it was rather uncommon not to play hockey. But he was not. He was in Dehra Dun and now he is a paratrooper. But I'm glad that he took up mountaineering and scaled the Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. He is scaling great heights in other sorts at least,'' he added.

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