Hockey India cash awards for stalwarts
BANGALORE: Hockey India will do a BCCI, in a much smaller scale though, when it honours 34 gold-winning Olympians in New Delhi on June 24.
Balbir Singh (Sr) and Leslie Claudius, who were part of the Indian teams which won gold medals at three successive Olympics from 1948, head the list of veterans who would be honoured with cash awards of Rs 2 lakh apiece.
At 87, Balbir Singh Sr. is the oldest of the Indian Olympic gold medallists. Keshav Dutt, G Nandy Singh, Jaswant Singh, Raghbir Lal and Col Haripal Kaushik have been part of two gold medal winning teams. “It is our way of recalling the contribution of these legends to our sport and to the country,” Hockey India secretary-general Narinder Batra said.
“The London Games hockey competition will be the first Olympics after the Formation of Hockey India and we want to avail the opportunity to celebrate their gold medal winning feats,” he said.
The Indian team, currently training in Pune, will reach Delhi on June 23 and HI has planned to club its send-off with the felicitation function. “I am sure the presence of legends will boost the Indian team that will leave for France and Spain to prepare for the Games. The sight of the gold medals can be most inspirational,” Batra said.