Sports GK Quiz: Hockey in India

The correct answer is C, Balbir Singh Dosanjh, the hockey centre forward known as Balbir Singh Sr. He won Olympic gold with India in 1948, 1952 and 1956, scored five goals in the 1952 final against the Netherlands, and in 1957 became the first sportsperson of any game to be…

India won the Olympic hockey gold in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980, which is a record in the game.

India played its first Olympic hockey tournament at the Amsterdam Games of 1928 and won the gold medal at that first attempt, with Jaipal Singh Munda as the captain and Dhyan Chand as the leading scorer.

National Sports Day is observed on his birthday every year, and it is the day on which the President presents the national sports awards, among them the Khel Ratna, the Arjuna Award and the Dronacharya Award.

India won the Hockey World Cup at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in 1975, beating Pakistan 2–1 in the final. Ashok Kumar, the son of Dhyan Chand, scored the winning goal and Ajit Pal Singh led the side.

He had also played in the World Cups of 1971 and 1973 and was later given the Padma Shri for his services to the game.

A hockey side fields eleven players at a time, one of whom is the goalkeeper, and the other ten are spread across defence, midfield and attack.

A penalty corner, also called a short corner, is awarded when a defender breaks a rule inside the striking circle or deliberately puts the ball out over the back line.

India beat Spain 4–3 in the final at the Moscow Games to win its eighth Olympic hockey gold, under the captaincy of Vasudevan Bhaskaran, and the team has not won the gold since.

The Beighton Cup, played at Kolkata, is the oldest hockey tournament in India, and the Agha Khan Cup is another of the old club competitions of the game.

It frames the rules of the game, runs the World Cup and the other international competitions and recognises the national associations, of which Hockey India is the Indian member.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has made it clear that the Government of India has not declared any sport to be the national game of the country.