New Delhi [India], January 26 (ANI): Hockey India prolonged its warmest congratulations to veteran hockey coach Baldev Singh and Indian girls’s hockey goalkeeper Savita on being conferred with the distinguished Padma Shri award, recognising their excellent contributions to Indian hockey and sport at massive, based on a launch.
Hockey India underscored the contribution of veteran hockey coach Baldev Singh, who was the power behind establishing Shahabad Markanda, a hamlet in Haryana, because the nursery for ladies’s hockey. Under Baldev’s watchful eyes, the hockey academy in Shahabad created greater than 80 worldwide hockey gamers, together with eight gamers who went on to captain the Indian workforce.
His tutelage not solely helped gamers of their formative days as hockey gamers, however he additionally contributed in direction of lifting the gamers from poverty to fame, making hockey their livelihood, and one of many largest examples of that is the rise of former India Captain Rani.
He ran the academy for over twenty years, throughout which quite a few stars emerged from his academy, together with former drag-flick specialist Sandeep Singh, former Indian Women’s Team Captain Rani, Didar Singh, Sanjeev Kumar Dang, Harpal Singh and Navjot Kaur. For his immense contribution to teaching and participant growth, Baldev Singh was earlier conferred with the Dronacharya Award in 2009.
He was additionally honoured with the distinguished Hockey India Jaman Lal Sharma Award for Invaluable Contribution in 2015/2016 for his immense dedication to growing girls’s hockey.
The Padma Shri award is a befitting recognition to this legendary coach who modified the stereotype round girls’s hockey, significantly in Haryana.
Another instance of breaking stereotypes is India’s ace goalie Savita.
She made her senior worldwide debut at 20 and has since established herself as one of many most interesting goalkeepers on this planet. Renowned for her composure, consistency and management, Savita has been on the coronary heart of India’s resurgence on the worldwide stage over the previous decade.
In 2025, she additionally grew to become solely the second Indian goalkeeper, after PR Sreejesh, to achieve 300 worldwide caps, becoming a member of an elite membership and underlining her outstanding longevity and consistency on the highest stage.
She additionally performed a pivotal position in India’s historic fourth-place end on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, a landmark marketing campaign that elevated the stature of Indian girls’s hockey worldwide. Her expertise and presence between the posts have been additionally invaluable in qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics for the primary time in 36 years and the 2018 Hockey Women’s World Cup, the place India reached the Quarter-Finals.
A former captain of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team, Savita led the facet to a number of memorable achievements, together with a Bronze medal on the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and a title-winning marketing campaign on the FIH Nations Cup.
With her assist, India additionally clinched back-to-back Gold medals on the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in 2023 and 2024, underlining the workforce’s rising dominance in Asia.
In recognition of her excellence, Savita was additionally honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2018 and is a two-time recipient of the Hockey India Balbir Singh Senior Award for Player of the Year (2022, 2023). Her brilliance between the posts has additionally earned her the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year award for 3 consecutive seasons (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23).
Congratulating the duo, Hockey India President Dr. Dilip Tirkey stated, ‘The Padma Shri for Shri Baldev Singh and Savita is a second of immense satisfaction for the complete hockey fraternity. Savita has redefined goalkeeping requirements in world hockey and has been a star in each sense for the Indian girls’s workforce. Her achievement of greater than 300 worldwide caps speaks volumes about her dedication and excellence. Baldev Singh’s legacy as a coach is unparalleled — generations of Indian hockey gamers have benefited from his information, self-discipline and imaginative and prescient.’
Hockey India Secretary General Shri Bhola Nath Singh added, ‘Savita’s journey displays the ability of dedication and perseverance, and her achievements proceed to encourage younger athletes throughout the nation. Baldev Singh has devoted his life to nurturing expertise and constructing Indian hockey from the grassroots to the worldwide stage. This honour is well-deserved and recognises a long time of selfless service to the game.’ (ANI)