Hockey veteran Ravinder Pal Singh, member of the Indian team that won gold at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, succumbed to Covid-19 in Lucknow earlier today. He was 65, and had battled Covid-19 for nearly two weeks at the Vivekananda Hospital. Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter to make the announcement.

Singh had recovered from Covid on Thursday and was shifted to a non-Covid ward after testing negative. But his condition deteriorated and he was at the mercy of a ventilator in his last hours. Oxygen was being constantly administered as he felt depressed and anxious, according to reports.

Apart from winning a hockey gold at the Moscow Olympics, Singh had also represented India at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and the Junior Hockey World Cup in 1979.

As a centre-back, he played a pivotal role in the Indian hockey team during the 1983 Champions Trophy in Karachi, 1982 World Cup and 1982 Asia Cup.

In 2020, India had lost Balbir Singh Sr, who won India its first post-independence hockey gold. He had won three consecutive Olympic gold medals for the country from 1948 to 1956, as well as a silver in the 1958 Asian Games.