Olympic gold winners Kaushik, Ravindra die

New Delhi, May 8

Former India hockey players MK Kaushik and Ravindra Pal Singh, both winners of gold at the 1980 Olympic Games, passed away today.

Kaushik died after battling Covid-19 for the past three weeks. He was 66 and is survived by his son and wife. Kaushik, a member of the 1980 Moscow Olympics gold-medal winning team, had tested positive for Covid-19 on April 17 and was admitted to a nursing home here. Kaushik had also coached the national men’s and women’s teams. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1998 and the Dronacharya Award in 2002.

Singh, who was also part of the team that won gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, died in Lucknow at age 62. A bachelor who lived with his sister’s family, had recovered from Covid-19 but had a breathing problem and was suffering from anxiety. After his condition deteriorated on Friday, he was put on ventilator support.

For the legendary MK Kaushik, the game of hockey was a religion as no other player of his generation served the game as much as he did for over four decades in various capacities. His Moscow Olympic teammate Zafar Iqbal remembers Kaushik as someone who gave his heart and soul to the game like none of his contemporary teammates. — TNS, agencies