Ashok Kumar (field hockey)
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Ashok Kumar (b. 1 June 1950, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh), is a famous Indian hockey player from Jhansi.
He is the son of the Indian hockey legend Dhyanchand but for him to emulate his father was a stupendous task. He brought glory to his family when he bagged the Arjuna Award in 1974 and one year later scored the winning goal against Pakistan to achieve India's lone triumph in the World cup. Born on 1 June 1950 at Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Ashok started playing hockey when just six years old. He played for junior school team and graduated to club level hockey, representing Uttar Pradesh continuously for four years. Even at the young age, his extraordinary ball control and flair for the game was evident, prompting experts to draw hasty comparisons. He played for Rajasthan University in 1966-67 and All India Universities 1968-69. Thereafter, he moved to Calcutta to play for Mohun Bagan Club and represented Bengal in the National Championship in Bangalore in 1971. He later joined Indian Airlines as Senior Flight Purser and represented it in national tournaments.
On retirement from active sports career, he was appointed Manager of hockey teams of Indian Airlines and Air-India. He made his international debut in 1970 when he was included in the teams Asian Games in Bangkok, losing the title to Pakistan, He also took part in 1974 and 1978 Asian Games held at Teheran and Bangkok respectively winning Silver Medal in those two Asiads.
Ashok twice represented India in the Olympic Games, first in 1972 at Munich and then in 1976 at Montreal. On both occasions India finished third settling for a mere Bronze. He played the Pesta Sukha International Tournament in Singapore in 1971 and captained the team to the 1979 Esenda Hockey Tournament at Perth. He played for All-Asian Star team in 1974 anda selected twice for the World XI team.
He was member of the team that won Bronze at the first World Cup at Barcelona in 1971 and Silver at the second World Cup in Amsterdam in 1973. The highlight of his career was the 1975 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur where he scored the all-important goal to win the Gold Medal for India. On a pass from Surjit, Ashok cracked the ball goalwards. The ball hit the corner of the post, and bounced out. But for a fraction of a second the ball was in the goal and despite protests by Pakistan, the Malaysian umpire confirmed the goal. His fourth and last appearance in the World Cup in Argentina saw India being relegated to sixth position.
