How Balbir Singh Sr Played With Fractured Finger In 1956 Olympic Final

He did not score in India’s Olympic gold grabbing win over Pakistan in the 1956 Games final but hockey skipper Balbir Singh Senior had come out playing that match with a fractured finger, recalled footballer Tulsidas Balaram.

Balaram was part of the Indian football team that finished a historic fourth in the 1956 Olympics and remembered how iconic Singh took pain-killing injection before the summit clash against the arch-rivals.

“…so many memories from 1956 Olympics … especially the manner he (Singh) rose above everything as India defeated Pakistan in the final,” Balram wrote on All India Football Federation’s official website.