Indian Hockey & Sansarpur Hockey

Sl.No

No. of  respondents who mentioned the name

Name

Playing      Position

Outstanding         technique

1.

09

Balbir Singh ( Railways )

R. O.

Speedy right winger

2.

04

K.D. Singh Babu

R. I.

Schemer

3.

04

Prithipal Singh

F. B.

Pleanty Corner Specialist

4.

03

Shankar Laxman

G. K.

Outstanding Goal Keeper

5.

03

Ashok Kumar

R. I.

Schemer

6.

02

Dhyan Chand

C. F.

Complete Hockey player

7.

02

Joginder Singh

R. O

Skillful Right winger

8.

02

Mannual

L. I.

Scorer

9.

02

H. J. S. Chimni

C. F.

Scorer

10.

02

Surjit Singh

F. B.

Pleanty Corner Expert

11.

01

A. I. S. Dara

R. I.

Good Right In

12.

01

Kishan Lal

R. O.

Good right winger

13.

01

R. S. Gentle

F. B.

Pleanty Corner Expert

14.

01

Trilochan Singh

F. B.

Good defender

15.

01

R. S. Bhola

L. O.

Reverse Flick Specialist

16.

01

V. J. Peter

R. I.

Outstanding Inside right

17.

01

Harcharan Singh

L. O.

Skillful Left out

18.

01

Surinder Singh Sodhi

C. F.

Scorer

19.

01

Rajinder Singh

F. B.

Pleanty Corner Specialist

20.

01

Jagbir Singh

C. F.

Scorer

 

      Seven respondents did not mention the name of any players as their favourite among Indian non Sansarpuri hockey players.

       It may also be noted that most of the respondents have mentioned the names of their contemporary players as their favorites, which was but natural.  This may help in explaining the fact that the name of such a great hockey player like Dhyan Chand was mentioned by two of the respondents only as others might not have watched him at all.                   In the response to the question asking respondents to name the Indian hockey players not belonging to Sansarpur who have fascinated them most, Balbir Singh   (Railways ) was cited by the highest number of respondents i.e. 9 of them ( 18% ).  Prithipal Singh, Kanwar Dig Vijay Singh Babu were mentioned by 4 respondents each and Shankar Laxman and Ashok Kumar were named by 3 ( 6% ) respondents.  Dhyan Chand, Joginder Singh, Mannual Chimni And Surjit Singh were named by 2 players each and the names of Dara, Kishan Lal, R.S. Gentle, Trilochan SinghBhola, Peter, Harcharan Singh, Sodhi, Rajinder Singh, Rajbir Singh were mentioned by one respondent only.

      Balbir Singh ( outside right ) was named by 9 of the respondents as their favourite non Sansarpur Indian hockey players.  The special features\techniques of his game which were adored by these respondents include: His speed, dribbling and positional play.                         Some other remarks were also made by the respondents, which are given below:

       Among Indian players not belonging to Sansarpur, Gurjit Singh Kullar considers Trilochan Singh Bawa, Full back as one of the greatest Indian hockey player of his era.  Gurjit Singh Kullar said that Trilochan Singh Bawa was very accurate with his hit and also very good and effective at checking the opponents.

      Among the Indian players not belonging to Sansarpur, Darshan Singh Sethi has highest regards for full back R.S. Gentle.  Darshan Singh Sethi says that R. S. Gentle possessed a very hard accurate and fast hit.  He was so skillful that he did not have to employ the brute force to hit the ball as he used to play with light stick and made use of wrist to impart the necessary power and speed to his hit.  He was so skillful that it was difficult for even the best of an opponent to give him a single dodge.

      Among Indian international players Darshan Singh Kullar  named K.D.Babu.  Darshan  Singh Kullar says Babu’s distribution of passes was a treat to watch and his especiality was that he used to receive ball on wrong foot.

      Karnail Singh Kullar is highly impressed by right in K.D. Babu.  Karnail Singh Kullar  says that Babu’s stick work was close to perfection and his passes were so accurate and measured that even a novice could play alongside him very easily and score easily on his passes.

      In the words of Mohinder Singh Padani, Joginder Singh, who was a member of 1964 Olympic gold winning Indian team.  He was a right out of highest order.  His dribbling and ability to dodge opponents was of super quality.  He used to play on the sidelines which provides more space for attack by opening the field.  Only a very skilled player can play on the sidelines as it requires great control over the ball.  He played a key role in 1964 Olympic final against Pakistan.  Joginder Singh’s father was the motivating source and had a significant role in moulding Joginder Singh into a player of highest quality.  His father used to watch all his game and thus provide him the guidance.

      Among the Indian players who do not belong to Sansarpur, Jaswinder Singh Kullar has highest regards for H.J.S. Chimni who represented in 1975 World Cup winning Indian hockey team (Kuala Lumpur ) as centre forward.  Jaswinder Singh Kullar says that he had a long association with Chimni as both of them studied in the same school.  Chimni also lived in Sansarpur during his early days ( 1954 ).  Later, when Jaswinder Singh Kullar joined army, Chimni was his officer and both of them played together for S.R.C.( Meerut).  Jaswinder Singh Kullar says that Chimni was a very good centre forward and he was an effective scorer.  When ever Chimni could enter the opponents D, a goal was almost certainly.  He was a team man according to Jaswinder Singh Kullar and used to play a selfless game.  Jaswinder Singh Kullar has high regards for Chimni not only as a great hockey player but also as a true sportsman.  Jaswinder Singh Kullar says that in army teams, it is a general practice that a senior officer leads the team, but Chimni inspite of being an officer, on several occasions gave chances to his juniors to lead the team. At present, Chimni is Major General in the Indian army.                    

      According to Parkash Singh Kullar, Dhyan Chand’s is of course unrivaled the most beautiful aspect of his game was cleanliness of his shots.  He could hit the ball cleanly in first attempt with such a precision that a hit taken by him was a certain goal.  His game was a real treat to watch.  He possessed the natural talent which only a truly gifted player can have.  He used to take normal diet, had no formal coaching and was a pleasant personality having a smiling face and used to lead a clean life, even though he earned highest laurels in his life time but these successes did not take him away from the people.  He was a true sportsman.  He had highest appreciation of Sansarpur hockey as he played a lot of hockey with Sansarpuri’s, he was well aware of their artistery and had highest regards for Sansarpur hockey.  He had no hesitation in praising a piece of good hockey and a good hockey player.  He often use to say that Gopal Singh Kullar is a better player than himself.  Only a Sportsman of highest order can make such a comment.  He also had highest regards about the game of Mohan Singh Aassi, Sadhu Singh Kullar and Aatma Singh Kullar as he had played against them in Military units tournaments where these people provided him a tough competition.  These games were so hard fought that the margin of defeat was very narrow and any team could win on a given day.  Dhyan Chand did not face such a strong field even in International hockey where he was a prolific scorer.  It speaks volumes of his greatness and sportsmanship that he always openly acknowledged this fact. 

      Among Indian players other than Sansarpuri’s, Lal Singh Sohal has highest regards for Shankar Laxman whom he considered best goal keeper India has ever produced.  Shankar Laxman representation India in 1964 Olympics gold medal winning team at Tokyo and Captained 1966 Asian Games team.  Lal Singh Sohal says that Shankar Laxman used to reserve his best for the tournaments.  He possessed such a great fighting spirit that he could always draw from his reserves at crucial moments, and many a times saved the day for India.  Lal Singh Sohal narrated an incident which relate to 1964 Olympic final against traditional rivals Pakistan.  He said that in this game, Laxman was completely beaten by a short as he fell down in trying to save the goal but he made a second attempt and could clear the ball.  This speaks volumes for his never  say die spirit and quick silver moments.   

Filed under: Factors