Breaking News: Former India basketball captain Ranbir Chopra died

The captain of the champion Indian basketball team in the first Asian Games in 1951, Ranbir Chopra, died on 25 January 2016 in Kapurthala, Punjab. He was 86.

Chopra had been part of the Punjab team that won the national title in 1951 in Ludhiana. He was also the coach of the Indian team that toured Pakistan in 1962.

Chopra later became a sports administrator. From 1958 to 1963, he served as the secretary general of the Punjab Basketball Association. During this period, the sport saw massive progress in the state and Punjab produced many international players such as Narinder Singh, Om Prakash, Dharam Paul, Rameshwar Lal and Arjuna award winners Sarabjit Singh and Gurdial Singh.