User:Balbirjunior

Balbir Singh Kular (Junior)
Balbir Singh Kular (Junior) was born on October 2nd, 1932. He is a former field hockey player from India. He was called Balbir Singh Jr. to distinguish him from other hockey players of his time called Balbir Singh. Balbir Junior played as a center-forward and represented India in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne where India won the gold medal not allowing a single goal in the entire tournament. He played in the Asian games in 1958 in Tokyo, which was the first year that Field hockey was an event at the Asian games. India finished second and won the silver medal at the Asian games in Tokyo. In 1955, Balbir Junior was a member of the Indian hockey team tour to various countries in Europe, including Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.

Balbir Singh Junior was born to the Kular family in a village called Sansarpur in the Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab. The village Sansarpur has produced the largest number of Olympians for the country. The village has produced 14 Hockey Olympic players, who have represented India, Canada and Kenya at the Olympics. Balbir Singh Kular graduated from DAV College, Jalandhar where he represented Punjab University in various tournaments in Punjab, East Bengal and other states of India.

After graduating from college, Balbir was selected by the Indian Railways and played for the Railways hockey team for a few years. In 1958, he married Sukhpal Kaur Bajwa, daughter of a Deputy Superintendent of Punjab Police. In 1964, Balbir was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Indian Army through OTS, and from then on represented the Services (Army) hockey team. He retired from the Indian Army in 1984 and settled in Chandigarh with his wife and three children.