Olympic and Hockey WC medallist Varinder Singh passes away

Olympic and World Cup medallist Varinder Singh, who was an integral part of some of India's memorable victories in the 1970s, died in Jalandhar on Tuesday morning.

He was 75.

Singh was part of the gold-medal winning Indian team at the 1975 men's Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. This remains India's only gold medal at the prestigious tournament where the country had beaten arch-rivals Pakistan 2-1 in the final.

Singh was also part of the bronze medal-winning team at the 1972 Munich Olympics and silver medal at 1973 World Cup in Amsterdam.

He also had to his credit a silver medal at the 1974 and 1978 Asian Games, respectively. The Indian hockey stalwart also featured in the 1975 Montreal Olympics.

In 2007, Varinder was conferred with the prestigious Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hockey India mourned the death of Singh.

"Varinder Singh's achievements will be remembered by the hockey fraternity worldwide," it said in a release.