Haripal Kaushik

Olympic medal record
Men's Field Hockey
Representing  India
1956 MelbourneTeam Competition
1964 TokyoTeam Competition

Haripal Kaushik (2 February 1934 – 25 January 2018) was an Indian field hockey player, military officer and television commentator.[1][2]

Field hockey

He won gold medals in the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics. He was assistant captain of the team that won the gold medal in the 1966 Asian Games, and was later a field hockey administrator and television commentator.[3] He received the Arjuna Award for excellence in athletic competition in 1998.[4]

Military service

Commissioned into the Indian Army in 1959, Kaushik served in the 1st Battalion of the Sikh Regiment.

In the early days of the 1962 Sino-Indian War, Kaushik was commanding the forward company at the Battle of Bumla along the border between India and China when the Chinese People's Liberation Army invaded on 23 October. During heavy combat with much larger enemy forces, he led a successful retreat, saving the unit's heavy machine guns and mortars.[5]

Kaushik was awarded the Vir Chakra for "exemplary courage and self-disregard" on the battlefield. [4] He rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.[1]

Haripal Stadium at the Indian Army's Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre in Ahmednagar is named in his honor. [4]

Family and later years

He was married to Prem Bala Kaushik, who died before him. They had one daughter, Veronica. He died at his home in the Jalandhar cantonment, after suffering from dementia for several years.[1]

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 3 Khaira, Rachna. "Hockey Olympian Lt Col Haripal Kaushik passes away". The Tribune. Chandigarh. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Hari Pal Kaushik". database Olympics.com. 2006. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Hari Pal Kaushik". SR/Olympic sports. also was Assistant Captain in 1966 when India won the gold medal at the Asian Games. Nine times Kaushik played for the Service XI team in the All-India hockey tournaments, captaining the team four times. He later became a hockey coach for the Sikh Regiment Centre team. He also served as an administrator in the sport and a commentator on televised hockey games.
  4. 1 2 3 "Raising of the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre". SALUTE to the Indian Soldier. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Singh Kler, Gurdip (1995). Unsung Battles of 1962. Lancer Publishers. pp. 3, 224–233. ISBN 9781897829097.


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