India in the Final
As he lay writhing in pain, a stretcher was brought. Charles refused to be taken away, protesting when they put him on a stretcher.
Unmindful of the pain, Charles egged us on with encouraging advice from the sidelines.
The Autobiography of Balbir Singh (Senior)
By Samuel Banerjee, Vikas Publishers, 1977
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India in the Final |
On our way to the final, another tragedy befell us. Star
right-extreme Charles Stephen was felled by a charging defender in the
semi-final. He broke his right ankle.
As he lay writhing in pain, a stretcher was brought. Charles refused to be taken away, protesting when they put him on a stretcher. Unmindful of the pain, Charles egged us on with encouraging advice from the sidelines. |
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ithout me,
India went on to score smashing victories. We trounced the US 16-0 after our
14-0 win over Afghanistan, and then routed Singapore 6-0.
Then came the semi-finals, where we faced Germany. As planned, I returned to lead the attack. My finger was in plaster and despite pain killing injections before the start of the match and during the interval, I was in terrible pain.
We defeated Germany 1-0 through a goal scored by my friend and colleague Udham Singh. He had a wonderful year, notching up as many as 15 goals in the Olympic tournament. He scored 5 against Afghanistan, 7 against United States, 2 against Singapore and 1 against Germany. The 1956 Olympiad was his year of triumph.
On our way to the final, another tragedy befell us. Midway through our semi-final, our star right-extreme Charles Stephen was felled by a charging defender. He broke his right ankle.
As he lay writhing in pain, a stretcher was brought and manager O. P. Mehra came running on to the ground with a doctor. Charles refused to be taken away, and protested vehemently when they put him on a stretcher.
Mehra calmed him down, but Charles insisted on staying on the sideline. Unmindful of the pain, Charles shouted himself hoarse, egging us on with encouraging advice. Often he would jerk himself up on his elbows, rearing to join us in the ground. He was in no condition to play, but he desperately wanted to be in the midst of the action.
Charles' injury took two years to heal. He did return to don India colours a couple of seasons later, but he was never the same player again. He would have been one of our brightest right wingers had he not been maimed that day.
IHF Reception to Victorious 1956 Team (Mumbai)