Navjot Singh Sidhu is an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress, television personality and retired international cricketer. He is the former President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Formerly, he was the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs in the state government of State of Punjab. Sidhu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004 and contested the general election from Amritsar that year. He won the election and held the seat till 2014 winning also the next election. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 from Punjab before he resigned from the position the same year and quit the party. In 2017, he joined the Indian National Congress and was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Amritsar East. He lost in 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election from Amritsar East Assembly constituency.
Major Dhyan Chand was an Indian field hockey player. He is widely regarded by many as the greatest field hockey player in world history. He was known for his extraordinary ball control and goal-scoring feats, in addition to earning three Olympic gold medals, in 1928, 1932 and 1936, during an era where India dominated field hockey. His influence extended beyond these victories, as India won the field hockey event in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964.
Events in the year 1980 in the Republic of India.
The India men's national field hockey team represents India in international field hockey competitions. The team is governed by the association Hockey India.
India has a history of sports dating back to the Vedic period, with Western sports having been imported during British rule. Cricket is the most popular spectator sport; it generates the highest television viewership, with the Indian Premier League (IPL) being the most-followed league in the country. Football has also gained popularity, with the Indian Super League (ISL) being the highest level of domestic football, and the national team winning multiple gold medals at the Asian and South Asian Games. Additional football accomplishments include India having reached the Groupstage of the 1960 Olympics, qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and won the SAFF Championship. Other sports include kabaddi, badminton, tennis, and athletics, with kho-kho becoming the fourth-most viewed sport. India has also had success in field hockey, winning the World Cup and multiple medals in the Olympic Games. Sports such as golf, rugby, boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, motorsport, wrestling, and basketball are featured throughout the country.
Sardara Singh, sometimes referred as Sardar Singh, is an Indian field hockey coach and former field hockey player. He also served as the captain of the Indian national team. He usually plays the center half position. Sardara became the youngest player to captain the Indian team when he led the side at the 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. He was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 2015. On 13 July 2016, the responsibilities of the captain were handed over from him to P. R. Sreejesh, the goalkeeper of Indian Team. On 12 September 2018, Sardara announced his retirement from international hockey. He played 314 matches during 12 years in his career.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Indian Super League club Bengaluru and captains the India national team. He is often considered as one of the top Indian goalkeepers.
Nandish Singh Sandhu is an Indian actor, working in Hindi cinema and television. He is best known for starring in the notable soap opera Uttaran (2009–2012) as the lead, Veer Singh Bundela. Sandhu's other TV works include Phir Subah Hogi (2012), Beintehaa (2013), Grahan (2021) and Jubilee (2023). He made his Hindi film debut with a supporting role in Super 30 (2019).
Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh is an Indian former field hockey player. He was the captain of the national team and played as a goalkeeper. Since 2024, he is the head coach of the India men's national U-21 team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goal keepers in the history of field hockey. Sreejesh played a vital role in the Indian national team's bronze medal wins at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
Sandeep Singh is an Indian professional field hockey player from Haryana and an ex-captain of the Indian national hockey team. He generally features as a full back and is a penalty corner specialist for the team. He has been dubbed "Flicker Singh" in the media for his specialization of the drag-flick, one of the fastest in the world.
World Series Hockey (WSH) was a professional league for field hockey competition in India. It was organised by Indian Hockey Federation with the objective to reinvigorate hockey in India. It was contested among eight franchise-based teams consisting of players from India and around the world. The entire event took place on home and away basis culminating into multi header playoffs. Australian Dennis Meredith, a member of the FIH panel of tournament directors, was the technical director of the WSH. It was sponsored by tyre manufacturers, Bridgestone, and therefore officially known as Bridgestone World Series Hockey.
The 2012 Men's Asian Champions Trophy was the second edition of the Men's Asian Champions Trophy. The tournament was held from 20 to 27 December 2012 in Doha, Qatar. The top six Asian teams participated in the tournament, which involved round-robin league among all teams followed by play-offs for final positions.
Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, known as Harinder Pal Sandhu, is an Indian professional squash player. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 47 in April 2018.
Rupinder Pal Singh is an Indian former field hockey player, who represented the India national field hockey team. He plays as a fullback and is known for his abilities as one of the best drag flickers in the world. He represented India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow, 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, 2016 Olympic Games held at Rio de Janeiro, and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, held at Gold Coast, Australia. He was part of the Indian hockey team that won a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
India competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Indian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1920, although they made their official debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Hardavinder Singh Sandhu is an Indian singer, actor and former cricketer who works in Punjabi and Hindi films. His first song was Tequilla Shot, and he gained popularity with Soch (2013) and Joker (2014), which were written by Jaani and music composed by B Praak. Sandhu made his acting debut in Yaaran Da Katchup (2014). His song "Soch" was remade for the 2016 Bollywood film Airlift. His song "Naah" was remade for the film Bala as "Naah Goriye" with singer Swasti Mehul. He is a notable alumnus of The British Co-Ed High school, Patiala.
Manpreet Singh Pawar is an Indian field hockey player and a four time Olympian from Punjab. He led the Indian field hockey team to the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He plays as a halfback.
Harmanpreet Singh is an Indian field hockey player as well as the captain of the Indian national hockey team. He plays as a defender, is a penalty corner specialist, and is regarded as one of the best drag flickers in the world. He has scored the most number of international goals for India in modern day hockey. He led the team to clinch the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This was his second bronze in three appearances at the Olympics. Singh also captained the team to win a gold at the 2022 Asian Games. He has won the Player of the Year title at the FIH Awards twice.
Gold: The Dream That United Our Nation, or simply Gold, is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language period sports film written and directed by Reema Kagti and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. The film stars an ensemble cast of Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Amit Sadh, Kunal Kapoor, Vineet Kumar Singh, Sunny Kaushal and Nikita Dutta.
Balbir Singh Dosanjh, predominantly known as Balbir Singh Sr., was an Indian hockey player and coach. He was a three-time Olympic gold medallist, having played a key role in India's wins in London (1948), Helsinki (1952), and Melbourne (1956) Olympics. He is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time, a modern-day Dhyan Chand, a legend of the sport, and is widely regarded as the sport's greatest ever centre-forward. His Olympic record for most goals scored by an individual in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten. Singh set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6–1 victory over the Netherlands in the men's field hockey final of the 1952 Olympic Games. He was often called Balbir Singh Senior to distinguish him from other Indian hockey players named Balbir Singh. Singh scored 246 goals from just 61 international caps and scored 23 goals in just 8 Olympic matches
