Malaysia’s umpire, Amarjit Singh, in action during the Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup.
In our series of the impact Sikhs have had at Men’s Hockey World Cups, we look at the tenth World Cup held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2002.
The tenth Men’s Hockey World Cup was held at Malaysia National Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 24 February - 9 March 2002.
Sixteen nations competed and were divided into two pools of eight as follows:
Pool A: Argentina, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Spain.
Pool B: Australia, Cuba, England, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Poland.
One Sikh Official, an umpire, was appointed for the Kuala Lumpur World Cup.
Amarjit Singh of Malaysia was on the Umpires panel for his second World Cup, having umpired at the Utrecht 1998 World Cup. He was born in Ipoh, Malaysia and was educated at the Anglo-Chinese School in Ipoh. He graduated from the Open University Malaysia. He was associated with the Perak State Players Association.
He started umpiring at the age of 20 and his first international match was in a 4 Nations tournament in Darwin, Australia when he umpired the Australia v Argentina match in May 1992. He was awarded his International badge in April 1993 and his Grade 1 badge in February 1996. He umpired at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998 and was awarded his World Panel badge in August 1998.
He umpired at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
The Indian team, which was captained by a Sikh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, had seven Sikhs in their squad for Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup. This was the exact same setup as in 1975 when the World Cup was played in Kuala Lumpur in 1975 and India won the Gold.
Baljit Singh Dhillon in action
Baljit Singh Dhillon, India’s captain at the Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup, was born in Padhr, near Amritsar. He studied at Khalsa College Jalandhar. A forward, he played for Punjab Police and earned his first international cap in 1993 against South Africa. He played at the Champions Trophy in 1995 in Berlin and the Asian Games in 1994 in Hiroshima and in 1998 in Bangkok.
Baljit played at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
He scored 4 goals at the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 2002.
Daljit Singh Dhillon, a forward and younger brother of team captain Baljit, was also making his first appearance at a World Cup. He was born in Jalandhar, Punjab. He played for Punjab Police. He made his international debut in 1998. He played at the Champions Challenge in Kuala Lumpur in December 2001 where India won the Gold.
Daljit, like his elder brother, also scored 4 goals at the Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup.
Baljeet Singh Saini, a half back from Punjab was making his second appearance at a World Cup, having played at Utrecht 1998 World Cup. He was born in Ropar, Punjab and played for Punjab & Sindh Bank. He won his first international cap when he was selected for Indra Gandhi Gold Cup in Lucknow in 1995. He captained India’s team at Milton Keynes Junior World Cup in 1997 where India won the Silver medal. He also played at the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998 where India won the Gold medal.
Baljeet played at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Jugraj Singh, a full back and a drag flicker, was making his first appearance at a World Cup. He was born in Rayya, near Amritsar in Punjab. He trained at Surjeet Singh Hockey Academy in Jalandhar and later at Air India Hockey Academy in Delhi. He played at the U18 Asia Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia in 2001 and in the same year played at the Junior World Cup in Hobart and Champions Challenge in Kuala Lumpur.
Jugraj scored three penalty corner goals at the Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup.
Kanwalpreet Singh, a fullback from Punjab Police, was making his first appearance at a World Cup. He was born in Jalandhar, Punjab, and played for Punjab Police. He made his international debut in 2000. He played at the Junior Asia Cup in May 2000 and Junior World Cup in Hobart in 2001, which India won. He played in the Champions Challenge in Kuala Lumpur in December 2001 where India won the Gold.
Prabhjot Singh, a forward from Punjab, was also making his first appearance at a World Cup. He was born in Masania in Punjab and studied at Adarsh Vidya Mander in Batala. He played for Indian Oil Corporation. He earned his first international cap in 1999 and played at the Hobart 2001 Junior World Cup where India won the Gold.
Prabhjot scored three goals at the Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup.
Sukbir Singh Gill, a mid-field player, was making his first appearance at a World Cup. He was born in Chandigargh, Punjab and graduated from Punjab University in Chandigargh. He played for Bharat Petroleum and won his first international cap at the Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 1995. He played in the Champions Challenge in Kuala Lumpur in December 2001 where India won the Gold.
Sukbir played at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Two Sikh brothers were playing in the same team for the fourth time in World Cup history. Baljit and Daljit Singh Dhillon of India were following in the foot-steps of brothers Harvinder and Amarjeet Singh Marwa of Kenya who played in the 1st World Cup in Barcelona in 1971; Harmik and Ajit Singh of India who played at the 2nd World Cup in Amstelveen in 1973 and Hargurnek and Hargurpreet Sandhu of Canada who played at the Lahore 1990 World Cup.
The Dhillon duo Baljit and Daljit scored eight goals at the Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup, four a piece.
India Team: 1. Devesh Chauchan (G/K); 2. Ignance Tirkey; 3. Baljit Singh Saini; 4. Prabhjot Singh; 5. Jugraj Singh; 6. Dilip Tirkey; 7. Dhanraj Pillay; 8. Baljit Singh Dhillon (Capt); 9. Jude Menezes (G/K); 10. Sabu Varkey; 11. Sukbir Singh Gill; 12. Lajrus Barla; 13. Arjun Halappa; 14. Deepak Sonkhla Thakur; 15. Bipin Fernandez; 16. Kanwalpreet Singh; 17. Daljit Singh Dhillon; 18. Thirumalvalavan Selvarj.
Manager: KGS Alva; Coach: Cedric D’Souza (1st 4 matches) & C R Kumar.
The Malaysian team had one Sikh in their squad for Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup.
Maninderjit Singh Sidhu of Malaysia
Maninderjit Singh Sidhu was making his second appearance at a World Cup, having played at the Utrecht 1998 World Cup.
He was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and graduated from University of Malaya. A defender/sweeper, he played for Sapura Hockey Club. He was selected for the Junior squad in January 1990 and played at the Junior World Cup in Tarrasa, Spain in 1993. He earned his first senior cap in November 1992 and played at the Champions Trophy in Kuala Lumpur in 1993. He played at the Asian Games in Hiroshima in 1994 and in Bangkok in 1998. He played at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 where Malaysia won the Silver medal.
He played at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Maninderjit scored a penalty stroke goal at Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup.
Malaysia Team: 1. Roslan Jamaluddin (G/K); 2. Maninderjit Singh Sidhu; 3. Boon Huat Chua; 4. Gobinathan Krishanmurthy; 5. Kuhan Shanmuganathan; 6. Nor Azlan Haji Bakar; 7. Chairal Anwar Abd Aziz; 8. Jiwa Mohan; 9. Mohd Madzli Ikmar; 10. Tajol Rosli Mohamed; 11. Mohd Rodhanizam Mat Radzi; 12. Keevan Raj Kali Kavandan; 13. Mirnawan Hj. Nawawi (Capt); 14. Logan Raj Kali Kavandan; 15. Shaiful Azli Abd Rahman; 16. Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim (G/K); 17. Mohd Fairuz Ramly; 18. Shankar Shanmugam.
Manager: Data Rajaratnam Yogeswaran; Coach: Paul Lissek (Germany).
Final Classification: 1. Germany; 2. Australia; 3. Netherlands; 4. Korea; 5. Pakistan; 6. Argentina; 7. England; 8. Malaysia; 9. New Zealand; 10. India; 11. Spain; 12. Japan; 13. South Africa; 14. Belgium; 15. Poland; 16 Cuba.
Next week: 11th World Cup – Monchengladbach, Germany, 2006.
Sikhs in Hockey
