Hardeep Grewal, the lucky charm of hockey team

Naveen Kalia, TNN

NEW PREM NAGAR: He played as central half for Indian hockey team in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, apart from many other major international hockey tournaments in which Indian team performed well. In other words, olympian Hardeep Singh Grewal had been the lucky charm of the team when he played hockey for India from year 1983 to 1990.

At the age of 50, Grewal still plays hockey on weekends at hockey ground in Punjab Agricultural University. He also visits Guru Nanak Dev Stadium for motivating budding players in their respective games. Grewal feels proud that he was part of the Indian team in Olympics that gave him great exposure and memorable moments of his life. He said they played under the captaincy of renowned Indian captain Zafar Iqbal and their team was 5th in the competition.

Olympian Hardeep Singh Grewal said the decade of 80s was very memorable for him, as after his participation in the Olympics in 1986, he played the World Hockey Cup in London, England, and Asian Hockey Cup in Seoul, North Korea, under the captaincy of Mohammad Shahid.

Resident of New Prem Nagar, Grewal said he played champions trophy for India twice, once in Perth, Australia, in 1985 and for the second time in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1986. Then came the wow moment when he played World Hockey Cup at Lahore in Pakistan in 1990. Grewal was fascinated by hockey ever since he was a child and started playing hockey at the age of 14 under the supervision of coach, Baldev Singh.

He was a student of Arya College, Ludhiana, and part of college team and participated in many inter-college and university-level competitions. He said he used to take fitness guidelines from Teja Singh Dhaliwal. Grewal lamented that hockey is losing sheen and the scenario has totally changed in Ludhiana, as the city does not has proper infrastructure for the game. He said when he was student, various schools and colleges had their own hockey teams but now there are very few institutions where this game is practiced. He said he used to play hockey on PAU Astroturf but now that the stadium is under renovation, he wants the work to end soon.