Surjit Singh Randhawa

Surjit Singh
Personal information
Born (1951-10-10)10 October 1951
Wala, Batala, Gurdaspur, Punjab, India
Died 6 January 1984(1984-01-06) (aged 32)
Kartarpur, Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing  India
Hockey World Cup
1973 Amsterdam Team
1975 Kuala Lumpur Team
Asian Games
1978 Bangkok Team

Sardar Surjit Singh Randhawa (10 October 1951 – 6 January 1984) was an Indian field hockey player, who played for India national field hockey team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.[1] He was a full back and captain of India field hockey team.

Early life and education

Born in Batala, Punjab, Singh studied in Guru Nanak School, Batala, and later at Lyallpur Khalsa College at Jalandhar, where he started playing university level hockey tournaments.[2]

Career

After finishing college he joined the Punjab Police Force for a few years. He made his debut in the second Hockey World Cup in Amsterdam in 1973. He also played for India in the Munich Olympics in 1972, the 1974 and 1978 Asian Games, the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1978, and the 1982 World Cup held at Bombay. He was also the part of the winning team in 1975 Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. He was included in the World Hockey XI in 1973 and the All-Star Hockey XI the next year. He was also the top scorer-both in the Esanda International hockey Tournament at Perth in Australia and the 1978 Asian Games. In his career he was able to score 4 Olympic goals. Initially he worked briefly with Indian Railways and Indian Airlines and finally with Punjab Police.[2]

Personal life

His wife Chanchal Randhawa was also international field hockey player, who led India women's national field hockey team in the 1970s.[3] His Son Sarbrinder Singh Randhawa was a world-level Lawn Tennis Player, who represented India in various international tournaments across the world. He is also an Asian Games Runners up which were held in Indonesia.

Death and legacy

Singh died in a car accident in 1984 near Kartarpur in Jalandhar district after his retirement from the game. The hockey stadium in Jalandhar, the Surjit Hockey Stadium, is named after him. A hockey academy named after him is also being run by the Government of Punjab. In 1984, after his death, the Surjit Hockey Society was established in Jalandhar, and it organizes the annual Surjit Memorial Hockey Tournament in Jalandhar, every year,[4][5] In 2012, in an effort to revive the sport in the state, Government of Punjab announced its decision to support the society.[6] He was posthumously awarded the Arjuna Award in 1998.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Surjit Randhawa". Sports Reference.
  2. 1 2 Surjit Singh Randhawa Archived 2 February 2013 at Archive.is Sikhhockeyolympians
  3. ↑ "Kartar Singh's appointment as sports director challenged". The Times of India. 15 February 2002.
  4. ↑ History of society Archived 29 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Surjit hockey tourney begins from October 11". Indian Express. 22 September 2012. organized every year in memory of former Olympian Surjit Singh Randhawa
  6. ↑ "Plans to revive hockey – in hues of pink and blue". Indiatimes.com. August 2012. memory of former Olympian Surjit Singh Randhawa
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
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