The three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Balbir Singh Sr breathed his last on Monday at 95 years old at Fortis Hospital in Mohali. The news spread throughout the country like wildfire. And many prominent people and cricketers expressed their sorrow at the death of the hockey hero.
Bollywood director Reema Kagti directed a movie ‘Gold’ in 2018, in which Akshay Kumar played the role of the manager of Team India when he traveled to London in 1948. The late legend of hockey inspired a character named Himmat Singh.
Balbir Singh Sr scored two goals for the Olympic final in 1948, which helped India win the match by 4-0, against host England. The first Olympic Gold Medal won after Independence of India was the biggest day in the history of the country. He also played an important role during the Olympics of 1952 and 1956, where he won consecutive hockey golds on the national side.
Balbir Singh Sr has been one of the greatest sportspersons: Sachin Tendulkar.
He was also appointed as the National Team Manager for some time after saying goodbye to the game. The legendary player died with multiple health problems. There is no doubt that he was a fighter who fought for two weeks before he took his last breath on Monday.
He was the first sports personality to be awarded the Padma Shri Award in 1957. He also holds the record for most of the goals in the Olympic final (5). This milestone reached against Holland in 1952.
The Cricket fraternity was shocked by the death of Balbir Singh Sr. And, a lot of cricketers came out and gave a tribute to the hockey hero for giving the country such beautiful memories.
Current Indian skipper Virat Kohli took off his Twitter account and expressed his condolences, saying, “Saddened to hear about the passing of the great, Balbir Singh Sr. In this time of grief, my thoughts and prayers go out to his family @BalbirSenior.
