Punjab School Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla on Sunday said the state government has renamed ten schools after the Olympic medal-winning hockey team players from the state.

Singla said Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has given approval to rename schools after the names of various players from Punjab who were part of the Indian men hockey team squad which won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

The minister said the Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Mithapur, Jalandhar has been named after hockey team captain Manpreet Singh. He said the school will now be known as Olympian Manpreet Singh Government Senior Secondary School, Mithapur.

Singla said the GSSS, Timmowal in Amritsar has been named after vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh who was the top scorer in the Olympics for India with six goals. He said the school will now be known as Olympian Harmanpreet Singh GSSS, Timmowal.

The Government Primary School, Mithapur, Jalandhar has been named as Olympian Mandeep Singh, he said in an official statement. The other schools renamed include GSSS Attari, Amritsar, which will now be known as Olympian Shamsher Singh Government Senior Secondary School, Attari after the name of the midfielder.

The Cabinet minister said the Government Middle School, (Basic Girls), Faridkot has been named as Olympian Rupinderpal Singh Government Middle School. The Government Middle School. Khusropur, Jalandhar has been named after Olympian Hardik Singh while Government Primary School Khalaihara, Amritsar has been named as Olympian Gurjant Singh. The Government High School, Chahal Kalan, Gurdaspur has been named as Olympian Simranjit Singh Government High School Chahal Kalan, Gurdaspur.

Singla said there was a golden contribution of Punjab in the field of Indian sports and it has sent the second largest contingent (after Haryana) in Olympics in the country as 20 sportspersons were from Punjab. Notably, the Indian men’s hockey team rewrote history by claiming an Olympic medal after 41 years.

A resolute Indian team had defeated a plucky Germany 5-4 to win the bronze in an edge-of-the-seat play-off match in the Tokyo Olympics. The eight-time former gold-winners, which battled a heartbreaking slump in the last four decades, made the resurgence of the last couple of years count in the best way possible with an Olympic medal.