Dhyan Chand awardee athlete Ishar Singh Deol passed away

Ace athlete and former recipient of the Dhyan Chand National Award for Sporting Excellence, Ishar Singh Deol passed away at the age of 91 on Saturday.

During his athletic career, Ishar Singh Deol won medals both for his home state of Punjab and India at several national and international events. He specialised in the field sports of discus and shot put and competed mainly in these two event between 1951 to 1960. He won a bronze medal at the Manila Asian Games in 1951. He also set a new record in the shot put event of the International Athletic Meet in 1957 that was held in Pakistan. He did this with a throw of 46 feet and 11.2 inches.. At the national level, he won gold at the All India Police Event between 1952-1957. Post retirement he also competed in the Asian Veterans Athletic Competition in 1982 and won Gold.

He also completed a mammoth 30 year consecutive term as the General Secretary fo the Punjab Athletics Association. He also served as the Vice President of the Athletic Federation of India along with being a member of the selection committee. Condolences poured in from the sporting fraternity across India with Punjab Sports Minister, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodi leading the way. His mortal remains were laid to rest in Jalandhar on Sunday morning.