Mukhbain Singh (born 12 December 1944) is an Indian

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player. He won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

where he scored 9 goals in total of 9 Olympic matches.

Early life and education

Singh was born in village Shatab Garh, Punjab Province,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

). The son of S. Darbara Singh and Surinder Kaur, who migrated to

Gurdaspur Gurdaspur is a city in the Majha region of the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a bord ...

after the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947. He has a brother (also a former international hockey player) and two sisters. He passed

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

from Guru Nanak Khalsa High School,

Batala Batala is the eighth largest city in the state of Punjab, India in terms of population after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Mohali and Hoshiarpur. Batala ranks as the second-oldest city after Bathinda. It is a municipal cor ...

(

Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

Career

Singh started playing hockey from an early age. While playing for his school, he was selected in the district team and from there was selected in the Punjab team. After that he joined

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

in 1965 as a sub-inspector ( RPF) against sports quota.

International career

While playing in the Nehru Cup for Railways in 1965, he was selected in the Indian team for test matches against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He officially joined Railways in 1966 and after that he played many international tournaments including the

Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

, where he was the vice-captain of the Indian team scoring total of 9 goals in that Olympics. He also played in the

1970 Asian Games The 6th Asian Games also known as Bangkok 1970, were held from 9 to 20 December 1970 in Bangkok, Thailand.- - Seoul, South Korea, had been selected to host the 6th Games but it declined due to both financial reasons and security threats from ne ...

International events

* Played test matches against

, 1965 * Played international hockey tournament held at Hamburg (West Germany), 1966 * Standby in

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

, 1966 * Played pre-Olympic hockey tournament at London, 1967 * Played international hockey tournament at Madrid (Spain), 1967 * Played test matches against Holland and East Germany, 1967 * Toured Ceylon (Sri Lanka), 1967 * Played test matches against Kenya, 1969 * Played Asian Games held at Bangkok, 1970(silver medal) * Played Olympic Games held at Munich (West Germany), 1972. * Vice Captain of the Indian hockey team. * Top scorer from the Indian side and the third highest scorer in the Olympic Games with 9 goals, including his hat-trick against Australia and three goals against England and also scored the winning goal against Holland in the bronze medal match.

Achievements

* Won best Sports person of the year award from Railways in 1973. * Won

Dhyan Chand Major Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player. He is widely regarded as the greatest field hockey player in history. He was known for his extraordinary ball control and goal-scoring feats, in add ...

award for his lifetime achievements by the President of India in 2008.

References

External links

* *
Sports Reference

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Mukhbain Field hockey players from Punjab, India Living people Olympic medalists in field hockey 1944 births Field hockey players at the 1970 Asian Games Indian male field hockey players 20th-century Indian sportsmen Field hockey players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic field hockey players for India Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games field hockey players for India Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for India Recipients of the Dhyan Chand Award Asian Games silver medalists in field hockey