Didn’t get recognition for decades: Athlete on Arjuna honour

It has been a long time coming for 74-year-old Sucha Singh, who will receive the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) from President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtapati Bhavan on January 17.

A silver medallist in the Asian Games held in 1974 at Tehran, the veteran athlete said he waited for more than 54 years for recognition.

A former sprinter, Singh had also won a bronze medal in a 400 m race in the 6th Asian Games held in Bangkok in 170. In 1975, he won gold medal in 4×400 m relay race in the Asian Athletics Championship that was held in South Korea

Sucha Singh said he first applied for the award in 1980 and continued with it till 1990, when he stopped it, losing all hope.

“I then thought that it wasn’t in may fate,” said Sucha Singh, who used to compete in relay races and 100 m, 200 m, 400 m events.

“I have no complaints now. However, I still feel that I should I have got the award a little early,” he adeded.

Twenty-seven years old hockey player Sukhjeet Singh is another achiever. He will also be getting the Arjuna Award. The journey has not been certainly easy and there were various challenges for him. Sukhjeet’s father Ajit Singh is posted as an ASI in the Punjab Police. Sukhjeet, who had suffered partial paralysis a few years ago, played his first Olympics last year and won a medal for the country, when the India hockey team bagged a bronze in the Paris event.

“We faced financial problems too. I started playing when I was only six years old. My father remained there for me and he used to sacrifice his desires to get me proper diet,” Sukhjeet shared.

Ajit Singh said, “My son was merely five or six years old when we gave him first hockey stick.”