Olympic Games:

Prithipal Singh represented India at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, winning Silver; at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics winning Gold and at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, where he was Joint Captain, winning Bronze.

Prithipal Singh had a quick rise to fame. He first came into limelight in 1957 when he was selected to represent Punjab in the National Hockey Championship in Bombay as a full back.

In 1958 he was included in the Indian Hockey Federation team which toured the country.

Early in 1959 he made his first trip abroad when he played for the Indian Hockey Federation in East Africa.

The same year he travelled to Europe as a member of the I.H.F. team which participated in the Munich Festival.

He represented India at the Jakarta Asian Games in 1962.

Prithipal Singh left Punjab Police in 1963 to join the Railways and within two years was awarded the Railway Minister’s Medal for being the Best Railway Sportsman.

He helped India win the Olympic title at the Tokyo Games in 1964 scoring ten of India's twenty two goals from short corner hits.

He was of the Indian team which won the Asian title at the Bangkok Games in 1966.

He captained India in the Madrid Hockey Festival in 1967 and also against the visiting East German team the same year.

He later became the Deputy Director of Youth Welfare in the Agricultural University at Ludhiana.

He was awarded the Indian National Award ‘Arjuna Puraskar’ in 1961.

He was awarded the Indian National Award, ‘Padma Shri’ in 1967.

Prithipal Singh, a penalty corner specialist, was a player with powerful wrists and sharp reflexes. He produced the stiffest and stinging shots which mostly fetched goals, often winners.

His physical assets could match any aggressor. All these qualities made him an outstanding player.

Prithipal scored twenty two goals at the three Olympic Games that he played in.

He captained India against the visiting German and Dutch teams in 1967 and the same year led an Indian team to Madrid.

He was Joint Captain, along with Gurbux Singh, for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.

Prithipal Singh graduated from Government Agricultural College, Ludhiana, in 1956. He went on to teach there later when the College was amalgamated into the newly created Punjab Agriculture University.

He later became the Deputy Director of Youth Welfare at the University.

Prithipal Singh was assissinated by his own student in the campus of the Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, on 20 May 1982.