The Asian Hockey Federation condoles the death of Balbir Singh Junior who played alongside legends like Balbir Singh Senior as well as Leslie Claudius, Prithipal Singh, Balkishan, Charles Stephen among other top names. Balbir Singh Junior was also a part of the Indian Team that won Silver at the Asian Games held in Tokyo, Japan in 1958.
The octogenarian lived in Chandigarh after retiring from the Indian Army. Balbir Singh Junior hailed from Sansarpur (Jalandhar) known as the hockey nursery of India. Like many children from the village, Balbir Singh Junior too took to hockey early in his life, at the age of six and he was selected to play for India in 1951 when the Indian Hockey Team toured Afghanistan. He was also part of the Punjab state hockey team and also Captained the Punjab University Team. Later in his career, he also represented the Indian Railways Hockey team that toured European countries such as Spain, Switzerland and Italy. They also played Test matches in the Netherlands.
Hearing of the sad news, AHF President Dato Fumio Ogura had this to say:
“Mr Balbir Junior was an invaluable asset to the hockey world and he will be missed dearly.”
AHF Cheif Executive, Dato Tayyab Ikram added:
“I am deeply saddened by the news of Mr Balbir’s passing. He was an essential part of the Asian Hockey fraternity. He will always live in our hearts. My prayers and well wishes are with his family.”
