Jalandhar, June 27

Six alumni of DAV College, Jalandhar, have been selected in the Indian Hockey team, which will participate in the Tokyo Olympics 2021. College Principal Dr SK Arora said it was a proud moment and a golden chapter has been added in the history of the institute.

“DAV College is a garden where Olympians bloom. The college has given 27 Olympians, two Padma Shri, nine Arjuna awardee, four Dhyan Chand awardee, two Dronacharya awardee and numerous Maharaja Ranjit Singh awardees to the nation. Now, six players would be representing Indian hockey team in Olympics. Earlier, two players participated in the Helsinki Olympics 1952, one player in the Melbourne Olympics 1956, three players in the Rome Olympics 1960, five players in the Tokyo Olympics 1964, six players in the Mexico Olympics 1968, two players in the 1972 Munich Olympics, four players in the Moscow Olympics 1980, two players in Los Angeles Olympics 1984, one player in the Seoul Olympics 1988, had had paticipated in the prestigious sporting event,” he said.

Arora credited this achievement to the hard work of teachers, coaches and students of physical education department. Dr Manu Sood, HoD, Physical Education, said alumni captain Manpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Shamsher Singh have practised hard to make their place in the team.

Sood said it’s the second time that a student of the DAV College would be leading the Indian hockey team. Prior to this, in the 1972 Munich Olympics, Harmeek Singh had captained the Indian team. — TNS