Hockey coach Baldev Singh to be honoured with Padma Shri

Baldev Singh, who turned the quaint municipality of Shahabad Markanda connected NH44 into a conveyor loop for elite hockey talent, volition beryllium conferred the country's prestigious civilian honour — Padma Shri— by President Droupadi Murmu connected May 25, officials said connected Wednesday (May 20, 2026).

The 75-year-old Singh arrived successful Shahabad Markanda successful 1982 arsenic a manager with the Haryana Sports Department and served determination for 4 years. He returned to the municipality successful 1993, turning the hockey nursery into 1 of "the astir productive centres for hockey talent", they said.

Beginning his nonrecreational vocation with the Namdhari Hockey team, Bhaini Sahib, and equipped with a diploma successful hockey coaching from the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Bengaluru, successful the aboriginal eighties, Singh utilized his acquisition successful mentoring implicit 80 planetary players and 8 Indian captains successful the sport.

With the academy becoming a provincial motor for the sport, Singh occupied pivotal roles wrong hockey's competitory apparatus, serving arsenic main manager and selector of the inferior men's squad successful 1993, adjunct manager of the Indian broadside that won the Champions Trophy successful Madras successful 1996, and aboriginal main manager of the elder nationalist team.

From 2001 to 2004, helium served arsenic manager of the Indian men's team, including astatine the Champions Trophy held astatine Amstelveen, Netherlands, and guided the squad to a golden medal astatine the Asia Cup successful 2004, they said.

For much than 4 decades, Singh has operated acold from the glare typically reserved for prima athletes, shaping the organization scaffolding of Indian hockey contributing arsenic hockey manager astatine Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University, Fatehgarh Sahib, Khalsa College, Amritsar, halfway subordinate of the Olympic Task Force constituted by the Centre to hole a roadworthy representation for 2020 Tokyo, 2024, Paris and 2028 Los Angles Olympic Games.