Surjit Singh

Indian Hockey has been going through a bad phase. We covered the Indian Hockey tragedy recently in our blog .  We are glad that anger of all Hockey fans is showing some positive results as was visible in just concluded Azlan Shah tournament. Though India was not succesful in winning the cup but second place results were still encouraging after recent debacles.  We hope the glorious days seen by Indian Hockey will be back soon and Jalandhar will again be brought to world map as was done by one of our Jalandhari gem “Surjit Singh”.      Born on October 10, 1951, Surjit Singh played for Lyallpur Khalsa College under Guru Nanak Dev University and later for Combined Universities team as deep defender. Surjit Singh made his international debut in the second World Cup Hockey Tournament in Amsterdam in 1973. He was a member of the Indian team which under the leadership of charismatic leader Ajit Pal Singh won the third World Cup Hockey Tournament at Kuala Lumpur in 1975. He also participated in the fifth World Cup Hockey Tournament, the 1974 and 1978 Asian Games, 1976 Montreal Olympic Games Surjit Singh was acclaimed as one of the best full backs in the world. In 1973 he was included in the World Hockey XI. Next year he was a member of the All-Star Hockey XI. Surjit Singh was also the top scorer-both in the Esanda International hockey Tournament at Perth in Australia and the 1978 Asian Games. During his hockey career Surjit Singh was concerned about players cause. Surjit Singh served the Indian Airlines for a few years. Later he joined the Punjab Police. It was tragic that Surjit Singh, after his retirement from the game, died in a road accident near Kartarpur in Jalandhar district. In Jalandhar a hockey stadium is named after him. A hockey academy named after him is also being run with Pargat Singh as Vice Chairman. The society’s fine functioning has given such impetus to the game in the region that bright and talented players are coming up in every age group. What better tribute will be to Surjit Singh who always considered it a sacred duty to fight for the cause of hockey and the players’ rights. We salute the great Indian Hockey hero.