MP Singh decides to call it a day
NEW DELHI: Indian captain and ace defender Mohinder Pal Singh on Saturday announced his decision to retire from the international hockey scene,
Mohinder Palsingh told UNI here that he had decided to call it a day because “I ‘want youngsters to come up and do not want to block their way.”
The 27 year old Mohinder Pal Singh, popularly known as MP was appointed captain of the Indian team early this year and led the side in the third Indira Gandhi International Gold Cup Tournament at Lucknow and then in the Champions Trophy in West Germany and in the Intercontinental Cup at New Jersey.
A crack penalty comer expert, MP. Singh first played for Uttar Pradesh in the nationals in 197 in Madras, ‘A veteran of around 200 internationals,
MP was appointed vice-captain of the Indian junior team in 1981 for the qualify {ing tournament for the World Cup.
The next year he led the team in the Junior World Cup held in Kuala Lumpur where he emerged as a top scorer with a tally of 12 goals all penalty comer conversions, a record which till date remains unbroken,
From 1982 to 1985, M.P. Singh was called for all the national camps and was retained as a standby.
In 1985 he went to Perth with a national side.to take part in the Champions Trophy and after that there was no looking back for him.
He represented’ the country in all the national tournaments and matches King ‘Azlan Shah Trophy (1985), four nation Tournament in Kuwait and Dubai (1986) Test series against Pakistan (home and away), Seoul Asian Games, World ‘Cup 1986, Indira Gandhi International at Delhi in 1987.
MP Singh joined Indian Airlines in 1986 and played an important role in the Airlines lifting the national championship twice since then, He was chosen for the all Asian XI which toured the Asian and African continents, MPP. Singh was member of the World XI along with three other Indians Sommaya, Shahid and Hardip that played in Pakistan in 1986, before Asian Games,
In Seoul Asian Games, he was the second highest scorer with 11 goals and in the Seoul Olympics he was the third highest scorer with five goals.
His appointment as captain early this year sparked off a controversy with Railway’s Pargat Singh leaving the camp in a huff
However the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) kept its faith in him and again nominated him as captain for the three nation tournament in Holland and after that in the Champions and InterContinental Tournament.
M.P Singh has yet another distinction of being the highest scorer for India against Pakistan; He sounded the board against Pakistan for 18 times, In an illustrious career, spanning well over eight years, M.P Singh has scored over 90 goals in both junior and senior matches. However, MP Singh said he will continue to play for his departmental team Indian Airlines.
He made it clear that his decision to retire was purely his own and there was no problem or controversy behind it.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 13, 1989
