Hockey champ's wait for recognition ends

RANCHI: Silvanus Dungdung was a content man on Tuesday afternoon as he pulled out the Olympic gold medal from his closet. His 36-year wait for government recognition has finally ended. The 67-year-old member of the 1980 men's hockey team, which had won India's last team medal in an Olympic event at Moscow, spent the day meeting friends, giving interviews and shuttling between news studios.
"It should have been done a lot earlier," Dungdung said, as he rose from the chair in his cramped drawing room in Harmu, a day after his name was announced by the Narendra Modi government for this year's Dhyanchand Award- the highest award in sporting excellence sports given by the Union sports ministry.
The former right back, who had played his part in India's 4-3 win against Spain in what was the last Olympics of the grass era and was known among his mates as the Iron Gate, had been complaining in his closely knit circles for years for not being selected for the Arjuna Award in the three decades following his retirement.
"I am really honoured that the government finally took note of my contribution towards my country," he said, flanked by neighbours in his two-storey home that sits 500m away from Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni's home 'Shaurya'.
Chief minister Raghubar Das, former CM Arjun Munda and other political figures hailed Dungdung's selection. Sports minister Amar Bauri visited his home on Tuesday evening. Dungdung will take his award from President Pranab Mukherjee on August 29.
Simdega born Dundung joined the Bihar regiment of the Indian Army in 1965 and rose to Subedar before retirement. Besides the 1984 Olympics, he donned India shirt in several Test matches over a period of 10 years. Yet penury struck him around 2001 and the master craftsman even contemplated about selling his medal for cash. The indifference still haunts him, the family says. Dungdung went on to make a career in coaching in the subsequent years.
Manohar Topno, Dungdung's successor in the national team, who played the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (where India ranked fifth), blamed it on the political will of the erstwhile Bihar and Jharkhand governments.
"Three decades lapsed and nobody even thought of recommending him for an award, not even Arjuna," Topno said. The current crop of hockey players, including former women's captain Asunta Lakra, also dubbed the award as long due.
Dungdung, who his neighbours said has recoiled after his eldest son's death in 2014, rarely watches hockey. "I could not watch all of India's matches. But I would say this- if we could do it without all the modern day infrastructure, why cannot our boys do it now?"