IMAGE: Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju with India's former hockey players. Photographs: Kiren Rijiju/Twitter
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday honoured the former hockey players for their achievements and contribution to the country.
"They were the stars and they will forever remain the Indian heroes! I'll tweet one by one mentioning their achievements for our great nation," Rijiju tweeted.
He individually honoured each player and also mentioned their career achievements.
"There were tears in my eyes. While honoring these legends today some players said "people don't recognise us anymore" I told them, government is with you," the Sports Minister added.
Rijiju honoured Dr MP Ganesh who won a bronze medal at 1972 Munich Olympics and led the Indian team at 1973 World Cup- where they bagged the silver medal.
MP Ganesh's name was also recommended by the Sports Ministry for the Padma Shree award.
Rijiju also facilitated Brig, HJS Chimni gold medallist of 1975 World Cup, Harbinder Singh gold medallist at 1964 Tokyo Olympics, won a bronze medal in 1968 Mexico Olympics and in 1972 Munich Olympics, and Zafar Iqbal gold medal at 1980 Moscow Olympics and played at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Rijiju also honoured Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, MK Kaushik, Ashok Diwan, Arvind Chhabra, Romeo James, Vineet Kumar, MP Singh, and Harender Singh.
India hockey team has won a total of eight gold medals in the Olympics, and has also bagged the gold medal at the 1971 World Cup.
IMAGE: Arvind Chhabra was member of the Indian team which participated in the 1980 Champions Trophy where they finished fifth.
IMAGE: Ashok Diwan was member of the Indian team which participated in the 1975 World Cup and 1976 Montreal Olympics.
IMAGE: Dr. MP Ganesh was part of the Indian team which won the bronze medal at 1972 Munich Olympics, while he also captained the Indian team to silver medal at the 1973 World Cup.
IMAGE: Gurbachan Singh Randhawa won a gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games in decathlon. He participated in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics in 110 hurdles, high jump and decathlon. He finished fifth in the 110 hurdles at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics with a timing of 14.07.
IMAGE: Harbinder Singh was part of the gold medal winning Indian team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, while winning bronze at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and the 1972 Munich Olympics.
IMAGE: Harender Singh was coach of India's Junior World Cup winning team.
IMAGE: Romeo James was member of the Indian team which participated in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
IMAGE: M K Kaushik was part of India's gold-medal winning team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
IMAGE: Vineet Kumar was member of the Indian team which participated in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
IMAGE: Zafar Iqbal was part of the Indian team which won the gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and he also participated in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
IMAGE: Brig HJS Chimni was part of India's gold-medal winning team at the 1975 World Cup.
