Haripal Kaushik

He won gold medals in the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics. He was assistant captain of the team that won the gold medal in the 1966 Asian Games, and was later a field hockey administrator and television commentator. He received the Arjuna Award for excellence in athletic competition in 1998.

Commissioned into the Indian Army in 1959, Kaushik served in the 1st Battalion of the Sikh Regiment.

In the early days of the 1962 Sino-Indian War, Kaushik was commanding the forward company at the Battle of Bumla along the border between India and China when the Chinese People’s Liberation Army invaded on 23 October. During heavy combat with much larger enemy forces, he led a successful retreat, saving the unit’s heavy machine guns and mortars.

Kaushik was awarded the Vir Chakra for “exemplary courage and self-disregard” on the battlefield. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Haripal Stadium at the Indian Army’s Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre in Ahmednagar is named in his honor.

He was married to Prem Bala Kaushik, who died before him. They had one daughter, Veronica. He died at his home in the Jalandhar cantonment, after suffering from dementia for several years.

• Braveheart and hockey wizard, farewell: Lt Col Haripal Kaushik was a rare combination of valour and sporting proficiency