Gurbux Singh
Encyclopedia
Gurbux Singh (born February 11, 1936) is a former field hockey
player from India
who was a member of the India national field hockey team
that won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics
. Four years later he captured the bronze. In 1976 he was the head coach of the Indian squad that finished in seventh place at the 1976 Summer Olympics
.
Gurbux Singh was born at Peshawar
but he grew up in Rawalpindi
, Pakistan
. After the partition, the family first moved over to Lucknow
, then to Mhow and finally to Meerut from where Gurbux Singh did his graduation. He moved to Calcutta in 1957, a city which was to ultimately become his permanent home and where his sports career was to take shape. Gurbux initially tried his hand at badminton but then started playing hockey for his school in Lucknow.
Gurbux started hockey at the age of 16. He represented Agra University in 1954 – 55 and a year later won the Obaidullah Gold Cup Hockey Championship. Gurbux Singh first played in the East Bengal Club in 1957, and was influential in their first victory at the Beighton Cup that year. He later joined Calcutta Customs, for which he played from 1957 to 1965, and played for Mohun Bagan from 1968 to 1980. His career in domestic hockey is highly distinguished, and it is still considered difficult to match his club career record.
A skilled full-back player, Gurbux Singh made his first international debut in a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1960, and also participated in the International Hockey Tournament in 1962. By 1963 he was captain, and led the team that won the Gold at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok. He was also a member of the 1964 team at the Tokyo Olymics, where India emerged as the champions. He shared captaincy with hockey veteran Prithipal Singh in 1968, where India came in third place.
He retired in 1968, and made his first forays into coaching and umpiring. Gurbux captained the team that won Gold at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok. He also led India on a tour to Hamburg Festival, Germany and Japan in 1966, Sri Lanka in 1967 and the Pre-Olympic tournament in London in 1967. He was the Joint Captain, along with Prithipal Singh to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, where India for the first time had to be content with a Bronze.
After retiring from the international scene in 1968, Gurbux Singh took to coaching and umpiring. He supervised the 1982 Asiad, was the coach of the French team in 1974 – 75 and trained the Indian team for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. A national selector in 1973 and again from 1980 – 85, he was the manager of the Indian team to the 1973 World Cup and the 1983 Champions Trophy.
Gurbux Singh was conferred with the Arjuna Award after the Indian team`s victory at the 1966 Asian Games.
He is one of India`s most dedicated hockey players, having served the game for over 50 years in various capacities, and is credited for doing much to better the state of Indian hockey, establishing him as a true luminary in Indian Hockey.
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
player from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
who was a member of the India national field hockey team
India national field hockey team
The India national field hockey team is the national men's team representing field hockey in India. It is the first non-European team to be a part of the International Hockey Federation....
that won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics
1964 Summer Olympics
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
. Four years later he captured the bronze. In 1976 he was the head coach of the Indian squad that finished in seventh place at the 1976 Summer Olympics
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
.
Gurbux Singh was born at Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
but he grew up in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. After the partition, the family first moved over to Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
, then to Mhow and finally to Meerut from where Gurbux Singh did his graduation. He moved to Calcutta in 1957, a city which was to ultimately become his permanent home and where his sports career was to take shape. Gurbux initially tried his hand at badminton but then started playing hockey for his school in Lucknow.
Gurbux started hockey at the age of 16. He represented Agra University in 1954 – 55 and a year later won the Obaidullah Gold Cup Hockey Championship. Gurbux Singh first played in the East Bengal Club in 1957, and was influential in their first victory at the Beighton Cup that year. He later joined Calcutta Customs, for which he played from 1957 to 1965, and played for Mohun Bagan from 1968 to 1980. His career in domestic hockey is highly distinguished, and it is still considered difficult to match his club career record.
A skilled full-back player, Gurbux Singh made his first international debut in a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1960, and also participated in the International Hockey Tournament in 1962. By 1963 he was captain, and led the team that won the Gold at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok. He was also a member of the 1964 team at the Tokyo Olymics, where India emerged as the champions. He shared captaincy with hockey veteran Prithipal Singh in 1968, where India came in third place.
He retired in 1968, and made his first forays into coaching and umpiring. Gurbux captained the team that won Gold at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok. He also led India on a tour to Hamburg Festival, Germany and Japan in 1966, Sri Lanka in 1967 and the Pre-Olympic tournament in London in 1967. He was the Joint Captain, along with Prithipal Singh to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, where India for the first time had to be content with a Bronze.
After retiring from the international scene in 1968, Gurbux Singh took to coaching and umpiring. He supervised the 1982 Asiad, was the coach of the French team in 1974 – 75 and trained the Indian team for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. A national selector in 1973 and again from 1980 – 85, he was the manager of the Indian team to the 1973 World Cup and the 1983 Champions Trophy.
Gurbux Singh was conferred with the Arjuna Award after the Indian team`s victory at the 1966 Asian Games.
He is one of India`s most dedicated hockey players, having served the game for over 50 years in various capacities, and is credited for doing much to better the state of Indian hockey, establishing him as a true luminary in Indian Hockey.