The Autobiography of Balbir Singh (Senior)
By Samuel Banerjee, Vikas Publishers, 1977
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India win Semi-Final |
The management gave each of us a drubbing for playing selfishly. They picked on some of the established players and told them, "Don't think your place is assured in the team. If you don't play well, we'll pack you off." We were a completely changed lot in the semi-final against Britain. We move swiftly and smoothly and scythed their defence with copy-book moves. |
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night before the semi-final, our brains trust met us in the lounge - Raja
Bhalindra Singh, G. D. Sondhi, Pankaj Gupta, along with manager Mitra and coach Harbail Singh.
Pankaj Gupta gave us a stiff warning, "I want you boys to play your normal game; first-time clearances, short-passing and nippy thrusts. You know it too well, that's your natural style. No showmanship, mind you."
The management gave each of us a drubbing for playing selfishly. They picked on some of the established players and told them, "Don't think your place is assured in the team. If you don't play well, we'll pack you off."
We were a completely changed lot in the semi-final against Britain. We move swiftly and smoothly and scythed their defence with copy-book moves. We shot into the lead off the bully-off with a freak goal by me.
I out-tapped my British counterpart at the bully-off, beat him with a quick swerve to the right, and rolled the ball between the legs of the tense centre-half.
The left-back and right-back were standing parallel. That was their mistake. I looked towards Babu and the left-back moved to cover Babu. The next instant I thought of passing to Udham, but the right-back went immediately towards him.
I had the field open to myself and had no alternative but to pursue the moving ball. With the defender's feet pounding like mad at my back, I miscued my push inside the circle. The goalkeeper dived to his right, while the ball rolled past his left feebly.
It was an accident that I got that goal. But I scored two more before the interval to get my second hat trick in Olympic hockey - my first was in my maiden appearance in the London Olympics.
Britain reduced the margin (1-3), but that was all they could do. India had reached the final.
Punjab Police win the Aga Khan tournament (1949)