Former Indian hockey player Dilip Tirkey on Monday extended his condolences over the demise of legendary player Balbir Singh Sr, who passed away this morning at the age of 95 after battling multiple health issues.
"He represented India in 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympics. In all three games, India won a gold medal. He was a legend and has contributed a lot. He always dreamt that India wins a gold medal in the Olympics. It is a matter of grief as he is not among us now. May his soul rest in peace," Tirkey told .
The veteran hockey player had suffered a cardiac arrest on May 12 and after that, he suffered two more cardiac arrests during the course of his admission to the hospital.
"Balbir Singh passed away this morning," his grandson Kabir said in a statement on Monday.
Balbir Singh was a three-time Olympic gold-medal winning champion. He played a key role in India's Olympic victories in London (1948), as a vice-captain in Helsinki (1952) and as the captain in Melbourne (1956).
In his illustrious playing career from 1947-1958, Balbir Singh won 61 international caps and scored a whopping 246 goals.
As vice-captain of the team in 1952, he scored a hat-trick against Britain in the semifinals and five of India's goals in its 6-1 win against Holland in the final.
It is a record for the most goals in an Olympic Games hockey final. He was also the manager of the 1975 World Cup-winning team and was named as one of the 16 iconic Olympians by the International Olympic Committee in 2012.
For Balbir Singh's stellar contribution to the game, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour in 1957 and was conferred with the Major Dhyan Chand Life Time Achievement Award by Hockey India in 2014.
( With inputs from ANI )