Speaking on the occasion of a book release “Golden Yardstick: In Quest of Hockey Excellence” written by former Hockey Captain and Olympian Shri Balbir Singh, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calls for the revival of Indian Hockey.
Dr. Singh said that sportsmen of international stature are India's best ambassadors in an era of globalisation and role models of our younger generations. Talking about the golden era of Indian hockey, he said that Indian hockey had produced inspiring players, coaches, captains and legendary figures like Sardar Balbir Singh has to be recaptured.
Recalling his own school days, he said that very much inspired by Hockey and to the ordinary people of India games like Hockey and Football have much greater significance than cricket.
Distinguishing the importance of hockey as the national game, the prime minister urged the Sports Minister Shri Gill to do all possible means on behalf of government to revive the glorious chapter of Indian hockey.
In Manmohan Singh’s words: “These days people talk about globalisation and economic achievements but who is more qualified to talk about globalisation than our sportsmen of the calibre of Sardar Balbir Singh. Soon after India became independent, in 1948 he led our team as a captain, brought a gold medal; again in1956, and again the World Cup in 1975. These are people who are the role models for our younger generation.”
Termed it as government negligence or management slip-up, but it is probably the misfortune of Indian Hockey with a stream of bad performances in the recent past that bared its entry to the upcoming Beijing Olympic and the deplete situation of Indian hockey and hockey players.
Any slight change in terms of regime change in Indian Hockey Federation or sports ministry wake up is a positive sign to move foreword in the road of recovery. It is really, really hard to believe any Olympics game without India, the nation which had participated in every Olympics since1928.
Again Olympics is not the end of the road and hockey won’t die in the country, there is immense talent to put behind this lowest point and march towards fame, writing a new glorious chapter in the history of Indian Hockey.
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