Thursday, April 21, 2011

Sukhvinderjeet passes away

By Haresh Deol

KLANG: "A big loss to the nation".
Those were the words of former national coach C. Paramalingam as the hockey fraternity mourns the death of former Olympian Sukhvinderjeet Singh Kulwant Singh yesterday.
Sukhvinderjeet passed away due to a heart attack. He was 51.
"Sukhvinderjeet was a very nice man, a nice character to be with. It is such a terrible loss especially at such a young age," said Paramalingam.
"He has always been a very obliging man, on and off the field. He will surely be missed."
Sukvinderjeet, a former Setapak High School lad, rose to fame when he was spotted by Paramalingam to play for the Klang Municipal Council hockey team.
He then landed a job there but it didn’t stop him from representing Selangor and later the national team.
Sukhvinderjeet played under the watchful eyes of Paramalingam as the team played in the pre-Olympics in Europe followed by the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Among his teammates then were Ow Soon Kooi, Yahya Atan, Sarjit Singh, Stephen Van Huizen and Zulkifli Abbas.

1975 Sri Shan honoured

By Haresh Deol

PETALING JAYA: It's Datuk N. Srishanmuganathan from now on.
The former hockey international, better known as Sri Shan, will be conferred the Darjah Datuk Paduka Mahkota Perak (DPMP) in conjunction with Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah's 83rd birthday celebration.
Born on Jan 2, 1947, Srishanmuganathan is best remembered for skippering the national team at the 1975 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
The team, which included the likes of M. Mahendran, Datuk Poon Fook Loke, K. Balasingam and A. Francis, produced a sensational performance to overcome defending champions Holland 2-1 in the last group match at the Kilat Club ground.
Azlan Shah, who was the Malaysian Hockey (MHF) vice-president then, even shed tears of joy as the team booked a date with India in the semifinals.
The national side put up a gusty performance before going down 3-2 to India in the semifinals. It was Malaysia's best achievement in the World Cup.
Sri Shan also represented the country at the 1970 Asian Games, the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games and played in the 1973 and 1978 World Cups.
He was national coach from 1987-88.
Receiving a similar award is MHF deputy-president Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad.

It's Datuk Sri Shan now...

Fook Loke, Khairuddin Zainal and N. Sri Shanmuganathan on the cover of the RTM official magazine. -- Rizalhashim.blogspot.com

SEVERAL sportsmen and officials who had excelled and contributed to the development of sports, will be honoured by Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah in conjunction with his 83rd birthday celebrations today.

Heading the list is Malaysia's former hockey captain N. Sri Shanmuganathan, who was conferred the Darjah Datuk Paduka Mahkota Perak (DPMP) which carries the title of Datuk.
Shanmuganathan is best remembered as the skipper of the national team who finished a creditable fourth in the 1975 World Cup in Malaysia.
Also receiving the datukship is Malaysian Hockey Federation deputy president Nur Azmi Ahmad.
Another former national and Perak hockey fullback Foo Keat Seong received the Darjah Ahli Mahkota Perak (AMP).
Karate coach K. Anathan also received the AMP. Another hockey player Azlan Misron was awarded the Pingat Jasa Kebaktian (PJK).
Perak National Sports Council ( director Meor Ismail Meor Hakim received the Darjah Paduka Mahkota Perak (PMP).

Tribute from 1975 team-mate

By K. BALASINGAM.
Kuala Lumpurletters@nst.com.my

I AM writing this letter in appreciation of my fellow player and captain of the 1975 Malaysian World Cup hockey team, Datuk N. Sri Shanmuganathan, who was awarded the Darjah Datuk Paduka Mahkota Perak (DPMP) title by the Sultan of Perak on Tuesday.
I am very proud that his contributions have been finally recognised.
He has made tremendous contributions to the game, as a player, manager and coach.
As the captain, especially in the 1975 World Cup, he led the team exceptionally well. And who can forget the winning goal he scored against Holland, the reigning World Cup champion at the time, on March 14, 1975 at Kilat Club.
The then prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who was also the president of the Malaysian Hockey Federation gave each of the players and officials a gold Omega watch for their effort.
I am very honoured to have been in that team and we played really well under Shan's guidance and that of our late coach Datuk Ho Koh Chye. The latter would have been very proud of Shan.
We were the best assembled team and we delivered the results. Anyone who talks about hockey refers to the 1975 World Cup team with pride.
On behalf of the players of the 1975 team, I thank Tuanku for honouring Shanmuganathan with that title.