Khushi Ram
| Khushi Ram | |
|---|---|
| Born |
7 August 1936 kharak bura, jind, Haryana |
| Occupation | Basketball player , coach |
| Children | Ram Kumar |
| Awards | Arjuna Award, |
Khushi Ram (born 7 August 1936 – 29 December 2013) widely acknowledged as The Scoring Machine of Asia was a basketball player from India who represented India at many international competitions. He was awarded the country's highest sporting honour the Arjuna award in 1967. He captained the Indian National Basketball Team in the year 1965 which made its first appearance in Asian Basketball Championship. He represented the Indian team from 1964 to 1972. He is father of former Indian Team captain and Dhyan Chand Award winner Ram Kumar.
Born in kharak bhura village in the jind district of Haryana in Jat Family, Khushi Ram spent his childhood in village and completed his education there. He joined Delhi based Army unit the Rajputana Rifles in 1950 as a Boy Recruit. Here began his interest for the game, looking at his 6' 4" height and good physical built the Basketball coaches in Rajputana Rifles advised him to take up the game. Khushi Ram was mentored by basketball coach Subedar Moolchand in the early stage of his career and he made his debut in National Basketball Championship in 1952 where he played for Services basketball team.
Khushi Ram began by playing for Armed Forces in initial stages of his career. From 1958 to 1968, the time he was associated with Army, the Armed Force basketball team won the National title continuously for 10 years in which he was judged as the best player many times. Khushi Ram quickly gained popularity and became a star player in India. After taking retirement from Army in the year 1969 he moved to Kota in Rajasthan and joined Shri Ram Rayons, then he represented Rajasthan team for 5 years in National Basketball Championships.
In 1964 Khushi Ram was selected in the Indian National Basketball Team for the 4th Quardrangular tournament in Colombo. It was his international debut. The very next year in 1965 he was named as the captain of Indian team for Asian Basketball Championship which was held in Kuala Lumpur, though India's position was 7th in the tournament, Khushi Ram was the highest scorer of the tournament. He was the 2nd highest scorer in 1967 ABC Championship in Seoul where India secured 6th position. In a match played between India and Philippines, India faced a defeat by a big margin but Khushi Ram solely netted 40 points out of 63 points scored by the Indian team, his basket conversion percentage was 85% in all major international tournaments. During 1969 ABC Championship in Bangkok he once again topped the scoring charts in Asia. India progressed a level and stood 5th in the tournament. No other basketball player from India has ever been highest scorer in the Asian Basketball Championship.
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