The very first inductee into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame is Ajmer Singh Chopra, the 6’5” swingman who is one of the most-accomplished Indian hoopers in history. Chopra’s career highlights include starring as India’s best player in our only Olympic basketball appearance (Moscow 1980), winning the 1982 Arjuna Award, and dominating in many more international and domestic championships.Chopra was born in Rukanpur village near Karnal (Haryana) in 1953, just three years after the establishment of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). He moved to Kota to hone his basketball skills, where he played for Rajasthan University. Chopra’s skills got him hired by Indian Railways, whom he represented domestically for several years of success, and continued to work for after retirement from the game. He played in 22 consecutive national championships for Haryana, Rajasthan, and Railways, and finished with 8 gold medals.
Internationally, Chopra represented India in multiple FIBA Asia Championships. His career peak, however, came in India’s unlikely qualification for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, the first and only time that India has played basketball on the Olympic stage. Although India lost all seven games they participated in, Chopra shone individually, averaging a team-high 21.3 points per game to go with 5.4 rpg as well. He ended up as one of the top scorers in thr tournament. Two years later, in the 1982 Asian Games, he was again the tournament’s top scorer. Through the 70s and 80s, Chopra also represented Indian Railways in many international tournaments abroad.Chopra was known to be an unstoppable scorer who was the country’s top option during their earlier “golden age” of basketball in the 70s/80s. In 1982, he was handed one of the nation’s top scoring honours, the Arjuna Award. He also received the highest sporting honours by both Haryana and Rajasthan states.
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