New Delhi: The nostalgia was palpable and the applause resonated a new-found vigour. The Olympics send-off ceremony for the Indian hockey team here on Sunday turned into a nostalgic affair as Hockey India (HI) chose the occasion to facilitate the game's 34 stalwarts who have an Olympic gold to their name, or as the HI called them 'Golden Greats'.
The 16-member Indian Olympic squad, led by skipper Bharat Chetri, leaves for the European tour of France and Spain on Monday night, and the boys couldn't feel more motivated to see the legends gather and wish them luck.
Leslie Claudius, Balbir Singh, Keshav Dutt, Jaswant Rajput, Raghubir Lal, Harpal Kaushik, Mohammad Shahid, Rajinder Singh, Cedric D'Souza, Sylvanus Dung Dung and Harbinder Singh were among the other Indian hockey legends who graced the occasion. SM Ali Syed, Balbir Singh Senior, Nandy Singh and Charanjit Singh could not attend the function citing health reasons while Allan Sheofield, Darshan Singh, AS Rana and Gurdev Singh were not in the country.
As a gesture of recognition to their achievements and contribution to Indian hockey, HI presented them with a cash award of Rs. 2 lakh each and a memento in the presence of Sports Minister Ajay Maken, Indian Olympic Association president VK Malhotra and Arun Jaitley....
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04:02 PM, Jun 24, 2012
