Mukhbain Singh

Mukhbain Singh (born 12 December 1944) is an Indian field hockey player. He won the bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich where he scored 9 goals in total of 9 Olympic matches.

Early life and education Singh was born in village Shatab Garh, Punjab Province, British India (now in Pakistan). The son of S. Darbara Singh and Surinder Kaur, who migrated to Gurdaspur after the partition of India in 1947. He has a brother (also a former international hockey player) and two sisters. He passed matriculation from Guru Nanak Khalsa High School, Batala (Punjab, India).

Career Singh started playing hockey from an early age. While playing for his school, he was selected in the district team and from there was selected in the Punjab team. After that he joined Indian Railways in 1965 as a sub-inspector (RPF) against sports quota.

International career While playing in the Nehru Cup for Railways in 1965, he was selected in the Indian team for test matches against Japan. He officially joined Railways in 1966 and after that he played many international tournaments including the Munich Olympics, where he was the vice-captain of the Indian team scoring total of 9 goals in that Olympics. He also played in the 1970 Asian Games.

International events Played test matches against Japan, 1965 Played international hockey tournament held at Hamburg (West Germany), 1966 Standby in Asian Games, 1966 Played pre-Olympic hockey tournament at London, 1967 Played international hockey tournament at Madrid (Spain), 1967 Played test matches against Holland and East Germany, 1967 Toured Ceylon (Sri Lanka), 1967 Played test matches against Kenya, 1969 Played Asian Games held at Bangkok, 1970(silver medal) Played Olympic Games held at Munich (West Germany), 1972. Vice Captain of the Indian hockey team. Top scorer from the Indian side and the third highest scorer in the Olympic Games with 9 goals, including his hat-trick against Australia and three goals against England and also scored the winning goal against Holland in the bronze medal match.

Achievements Won best Sports person of the year award from Railways in 1973. Won Dhyan Chand award for his lifetime achievements by the President of India in 2008.