The Autobiography of Balbir Singh (Senior)
By Samuel Banerjee, Vikas Publishers, 1977
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The Indo-Pak Final |
Ashwini Kumar reprimanded Ansari, told the driver to switch
off the engine, and asked me to get off the bus. He took me back to my room.
"You may dismiss me as a superstitious man. But I want you to peel off your tracksuit and shoes, and lie in bed for five minutes. The spell of the bad omen has to be undone," he said in all seriousness. I did as I was told before returning to the bus with Ashwini. |
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the morning of the match, we were all set to go to the ground. Everybody was on
the bus and the driver had just turned on the ignition. Suddenly, M. T. Ansari,
then secretary of the Bhopal Hockey Association, sneezed.
Ashwini Kumar reprimanded Ansari, told the driver to switch off the engine, and asked me to get off the bus. He took me back to my room.
"You may dismiss me as a superstitious man. But I want you to peel off your tracksuit and shoes, and lie in bed for five minutes. The spell of the bad omen has to be undone," he said in all seriousness. I did as I was told before returning to the bus with Ashwini.
It was a tough final. The Pakistanis had two of their defenders hounding me as if I was their most feared man. Our strategy worked, as this eased the pressure on the inside forwards. We were able to move smoothly.
It was a great match for Francis, Gentle, Claudius, Amir Kumar and Perumal. Between them, they thwarted the Pakistani raids with timely interceptions and well executed clearances. The Pakistanis never had a good look at our goal.
We got our chance in the second half, off a short corner. R. S. Gentle made no mistake with it and scored. We held on to our slender lead and won the final.
It was a moment of glory for me, Francis, Gentle and Claudius. It was our third Olympic gold medal. We all had our Olympic baptism for free India at the 1948 London Games. We were youngsters then; at Melbourne, we were the veterans, the experienced ones, the men on whom rested the nation's fortunes.
Melbourne was the venue of India's first ever match against Pakistan. India had emerged triumphant!
Medal Ceremony (1956 Olympics)