 Muniswamy Rajgopal was an Indian hockey player, a prestigious name in the colonial hockey scenario in India. Muniswamy Rajgopal was born on March 24, 1926. He is well known as field player in hockey. He was hailed from Bengaluru. Muniswamy Rajgopal was an Olympic gold medal winner in the year 1952 at Helsinki. The 1952 Summer Olympics, which was officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland, in the year 1952. Helsinki had been earlier selected to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to Second World War. It had been the Olympic Games at which the most number of world records were broken, until surpassed by the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Israel, British Colonial India and Saarland made their debuts in Helsinki 1952 Olympics.
Sports Career of Muniswamy Rajgopal Muniswamy Rajgopal was the first Olympic winner for Karnataka. Muniswamy Rajgopal was a member of the undivided Indian Hockey team that toured East Africa in the year 1945. Muniswamy Rajgopal was renowned for his prodigious stick work skills and hence rightly called the "Artful Dodger". Muniswamy Rajgopal has made his mark on that tour of East Africa Hockey Tournament in British India under the legendary Dhyan Chand, who was a famous hockey player in India. Muniswamy Rajgopal moved from strength to strength in his reputation as a remarkable play-maker on the left flank. Muniswamy Rajgopal played well for Karnataka Teram also. He became the member of the Karnataka Hockey team for 15 years from the year 1945. Muniswamy Rajgopal also played instrumental in his employers team Hindustan Aircraft, now Hindustan Aeronautics. There he became winner in the oldest hockey tournament of the world. This tournament is known as the Beighton Cup of Calcutta (Kolkata). He won the cup in the year 1951. Muniswamy Rajgopal is well known for his sharp hockey acumen. Muniswamy Rajgopal was also the coach of the State teams, in various age-groups on numerous occasions, the most notable among them is the 1975 Junior Nationals Triumph in Pune, Maharashtra. Muniswamy Rajgopal was also the coach of the National Hockey Team in the inaugural Junior World Cup tournament that was held in Paris in the year 1979. Muniswamy Rajgopal was the recipient of the Rajyotsava Award in the year 2000 that was given by the Government of Bengaluru. Muniswamy Rajgopal died in March 2004 at the age of 78. |
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