Ravinder Pal Singh, former India hockey player and member of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, died of Covid-19 in Lucknow on Saturday. He was 65.
Ravinder Pal Singh had been battling Covid-19 for two weeks. According to family sources, Singh had recovered from the virus and was shifted to non-COVID ward on Thursday after testing negative. But his condition suddenly deteriorated on Friday and he was put on a ventilator.
He worked at State Bank of India in Lucknow before taking voluntary retirement. He did not get married and is survived by a niece, Pragya Yadav.
Born in Sitapur, Ravinder Pal Singh excelled as a centre-half from 1979 to 1984. He represented the national side in a number of tournaments which included the Champions Trophy in Karachi (1980, 1983), World Cup in Mumbai in 1982, Asia Cup in Karachi in 1982 and the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
Last week, 34-year-old Sanjib Barla, a former Indian junior men’s camper passed away in Rourkela due to Covid-related complications. Barla, who was part of the Indian Junior Men’s Camp in 2009, played for Odisha in various domestic hockey competitions. The 34-year-old also worked for Western Railways in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, India reported 4,01,078 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the union health ministry on Saturday morning. With this, the country has recorded over 4 lakh daily cases for the third consecutive day. The cumulative number of cases in the country has now gone up to 2,18,92,676. India registered 3,18,609 discharges in the last 24 hours, pushing the overall recoveries to 1,79,30,960.
