Hockey India to Felicitate Living Legends of 1975 World Cup-Winning Team
Hockey India has invited all 13 living members of the 1975 World Cup-winning team in New Delhi on May 14.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: May 09, 2014 05:07 PM IST
New Delhi: Hockey India will fete the 1975 World Cup-winning team in the Capital on May 14. The same day, the squad for the upcoming FIH World Cup will also be announced. India won the World Cup in 1975 at Kuala Lumpur under Ajitpal Singh's captaincy.
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Hockey India has invited all 13 living members of the World Cup-winning team where they will be presented a token one-time payment of Rs. 1,75,000 each for their contribution to Indian hockey.
Narinder Batra, Secretary General, Hockey India said: "It's a great honour for us to felicitate the legends. These initiatives are an effort to make the present team believe that it too can do what their seniors have achieved in the past". India barely managed to qualify for the World Cup this year in The Hague.
Hockey India started the initiative of felicitating players in 2012, when all the living Olympic gold medalists were invited and presented one-time payment of Rs 2 Lakh. It was the occasion to wish the Indian squad ahead of the London Olympics. India finished a horrible 12th, their worst-ever finish in the Summer Games.
Ajitpal captained the team in the 1975 World Cup. He represented India in the 1971 World Cup in Barcelona where the team bagged bronze. In the 1973 World Cup in Amsterdam, Ajitpal was part of the silver-winning squad. Apart from Ajitpal, the other invitees are Ashok Kumar, Aslam Sher Khan, Harcharan Singh and BP Govinda.