Harmik Singh (India)
Harmik Singh
Born 10.6.1945, in Gujranwala (Pakistan)
School / University DAV college, Jalandhar.
Profession Police Officer, BSF
Club(s) Punjab
Playing Position Half back
First International 1966
Last International 1973
International Caps  
Olympic Goals scored
Hockey Idol  

Olympic Games:

Harmik Singh represented India at the 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Olympic Games. He was the Captain in Munich.

Games
City
Phase
Match
Date
Result
Goals
1968 Mexico Group A
1
13.10.1968 India 1 - New Zealand 2
0
1968 Mexico Group A
8
14.10.1968 India 2 - W. Germany 1
0
1968 Mexico Group A
10
15.10.1968 India 8 - Mexico 0
0
1968 Mexico Group A
16
17.10.1968 India 1 - Spain 0
0
1968 Mexico Group A
17
18.10.1968 India 2 - Belgium 1
0
1968 Mexico Group A
22
20.10.1968 India 5 - Japan 0
0
1968 Mexico Group A
27
21.10.1968 India 1 - E. Germany 0
0
1968 Mexico Semi Finals
1
24.10.1968 India 1 - Australia 2
0
Final Standing: 3rd - Bronze Medal
1972 Munich Group B
1
27.08.1972 India 1 - Netherlands 1
0
1972 Munich Group B
7
28.08.1972 India 5 - Great Britain 0
0
1972 Munich Group B
12
30.08.1972 India 3 - Australia 1
0
1972 Munich Group B
14
31.08.1972 India 2 - Poland 2
0
1972 Munich Group B
17
02.09.1972 India 3 - Kenya 2
0
1972 Munich Group B
23
03.09.1972 India 8 - Mexico 0
0
1972 Munich Group B
27
04.09.1972 India 3 - New Zealand 2
0
1972 Munich Semi Finals
2
08.09.1972 India 0 - Pakistan 2
0
1972 Munich Final Class 3/4
1
10.09.1972 India 2 - Netherlands 1
0
Final Standing: 3rd - Bronze Medal
Harmik Singh

Harmik studied at Malwa Khalsa Higher Secondary School, Ferozepur and DAV college, Jalandhar.

Harmik started playing hockey at a young age, just eight years old and taking part in the district school championships.

He went on to captain the school team, the division school team, the State schools team before moving to college where he was again captain.

Harmik (R) and Pakistan's Mahmood at the 1st World Cup in Barcelona

Captaincy was something, which came to him almost as a right.

He went on to lead the University team and later the Combined Universities team which took part for the first time in the Nehru Hockey Tournament in Delhi in 1966.

Harmik’s role in that competition and that of the team as a whole were to make successive Combined Universities teams the most sought after in the tournament.

Harmik and Inder
Harmik (L), Pakistan's Mahmood (C) and Inder Singh (R) at Lords, London 1967.
Harmik Singh

 

By the time he had reached the university stage, Harmik had built himself a reputation as one of the best left-backs in the country and it was not long before that he was grabbed by the Border Security Force, the team that mattered most in Indian hockey during that period.

Harmik became a part and parcel of that combination and was a regular member of the team for the next ten years.

During this period he captained the BSF team in the various tournaments and also the Punjab State team in the Nationals.

By then he was well entrenched in the National side, having worn the India colours in the Bangkok Asian Games of 1966 and the London Pre-Olympics Tournament in 1967, the four-nation tournament in Madrid and a tour of Ceylon.

Harmik (L) and Mukhbain at Munich Olympics
Harmik (L) and Mukhbain at Munich 1972

Harmik taking a penalty stroke against Pakistan

He was selected for the 1970 Asian Games where India finished with a Silver Medal.

Harmik’s next international was the first Hockey World Cup in 1971 in Barcelona where India won the Bronze Medal.

Then came the second Hockey World Cup in Amsterdam with India finishing runners-up to Holland, the hosts.

Harmik taking a penalty stroke against Pakistan

He was selected for Asian XI v Europe XI in September 1974 to celebrate FIH's 50th Anniversary.

He retired from playing international hockey that same year.

Harmik continued his association with the game and was the national coach for the European tour and the World Cup held in Bombay in 1980.

Harmik at 2nd World Cup
Harmik at 2nd World Cup

He was employed as the Chief Hockey Coach with the Sports Authority of India at the NIS Centre in Patiala.

The hockey tradition in the family however has extended beyond Harmik.

Brother Ajit was the India centre-forward in the Munich and Montreal Olympics and holds the world record for scoring the fastest goal in the Olympics. This was against Argentina.

Ajit’s son, Gagan Ajit, played at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Harmik’s uncle Sahib Singh and elder brother Gurcharan also played for Punjab while his son Paramjit chose athletics, his forte being the 1,500 metres.

Harmik received the Indian National Award ‘Arjuna Puraskar’ in 1997.