Punjab CM Amarinder Singh seeks Bharat Ratna for hockey legend

Balbir Singh (Sr), 94, was a member of three Olympic gold medal-winning teams - at London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956)

Chandigarh: The Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the highest civilian award of the country Bharat Ratna for ailing triple Olympic hockey gold medallist Balbir Singh Senior.

Tagging the letter, Amarinder Singh tweeted on Thursday "Wrote to PM Narendra Modiji, requesting to award Bharat Ratna to Shri Balbir Singh (Sr) for his outstanding performance in hockey."

Wrote to PM @NarendraModi ji, requesting to award Bharat Ratna to Shri Balbir Singh (Sr) for his outstanding performance in Hockey. He was a 3 time Olympic gold champion having played an imp role in 1948,1952 & Captain of 1956 win. He is the greatest ever centre-forward. pic.twitter.com/h9xPXfxWQo

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) August 22, 2019

The Chief Minister last month visited Balbir Singh (Sr) at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh to present him the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award for excellence in sports. He also released an amount of Rs 5 lakh for his treatment.

Balbir Singh (Sr), 94, was a member of three Olympic gold medal-winning teams - at London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956). He was also the captain of the Indian hockey team at Melbourne and the flag-bearer of the Indian Olympic contingent. Balbir Singh was the manager of the 1975 World Cup-winning team.

Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from IANS

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