Born: 26 June 1992 (age 29 years), Mithapur, Jalandhar
Height: 1.71 m
Nationality: Indian
Current team: India
Medals: Field hockey at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament,
Field hockey at the 2018 Asian Games – Men's tournament
Manpreet
Singh gives Tokyo 2020 Olympics bronze to mother takes a nap on her lap: Won’t
be here today without her
Manpreet Singh led the team to a
historic bronze last week to end India's 41-year wait for an Olympic medal in
the sport. India's last of the eight Olympic gold medals came way back in the
1980 Moscow Games.
Rani Rampal's women's team
meanwhile, managed to equal their best performance with a fifth-placed finish at
Tokyo 2020.
Manpreet and Rani Rampal's teams
got a grand welcome from thousands of fans and were felicitated by the Indian
government when they landed in Delhi on August 9 after which they disembarked
for their respective homes around the country.
Manpreet, who hails from Mithapur
in Japandhar, came back home and gave the bronze medal to his mother while he
took a nap on her lap. The special moment was captured and shared on social
media by the 29-year-old hockey superstar.
India opened their Tokyo
2020 campaign with a 3-2 win over New Zealand but were thrashed 1-7 by
Australia in their second match of the Olympics.
However, they staged a
clinical comeback after that, even equaling Australia on points to finish
second in the group. They then beat Great Britain 3-1 in the quarter-finals
before losing 2-5 to eventual gold medalists Belgium in the semis.
Manpreet said the bronze
medal was much-needed for a nation like India which has a rich history of
hockey.
"It
is a big thing for hockey because after 41 years we won a medal. The last medal
came before I was born and this medal will work as a big motivation for the
future generation," Manpreet Singh said.
The making of a true captain
The star champion says various sports persons
like boxer Mary Kom, former hockey captain and flag bearer Parjat Singh, and
Christiano Ronaldo have lit a spark in him through different phases of his
life. “Their success stories have been a big inspiration for me,” he also told
HT.
Today, Manpreet is known to have led
multiple sportsmen and entire teams.
While he made his debut at the 2012
London Olympics, in 2013 he was leading the junior national team. His captaincy
also won the gold at the Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup, the Asian Games in
Incheon, and the 2013 Sultan of Johor Cup, as well as silver at the 2014
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
And yet, any interaction with the
established leader points towards his focus on the game and his team. In an interview
with SportsAdda, he said “…We have a culture in this team
where there is no distinction between senior players and junior players.
Everyone in the team drives each other on to play without hesitation or fear.”
“From growing up and
playing hockey in Mithapur village to being named the flag bearer for the
Indian contingent is a big honour for a player like me. It is a matter of pride
as well as motivation – for the Indian hockey team as well as fans – and I hope
we return with a medal from Tokyo,” he had told The Indian Express.
Clearly, all efforts have ended up
shining bright and bronze as he hoped.
Here’s what hockey team captain
Manpreet Singh has to say about being a world champion:
Manpreet Singh is one of
India’s best field hockey players and the captain of the Indian men’s hockey
team.
Born
to a farming family in rural Punjab, Manpreet took to playing hockey when he
was nine years old. The opportunity to win trophies is what attracted him to
the sport, and he has gone on to achieve those targets since making his
national team debut in 2011.
His first big tournament was when he represented India at the 2012 Games in London. He captained the junior national team at the 2013 Men's Hockey