From Tokyo to Paris, former India hockey captain Manpreet Singh dreams of striking gold
Aakanksha N Bhardwaj
Jalandhar, July 21
‘Ardaas karo — pray for us!’ This is what Manpreet Singh tells his mother, Manjit Kaur, whenever he calls her.
Manpreet, the former India hockey captain, finds faith in God above and inspiration in his family, and especially in Jasmine, his daughter who was born soon after he led the team to a historic bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Since that bronze that heady day in August, 2021, in Tokyo — an Olympics medal in hockey after a 41-year drought — Manpreet has been dreaming, hoping to change the colour of the medal from bronze to gold in Paris.
Some things have changed since that morning in Tokyo. That squad had 11 men from Punjab. That number is down to eight in the 16-membr team for the Paris Olympics.
Of the 16, four are from Amritsar — skipper Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Shamsher Singh — and another four from Jalandhar: Manpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and vice-captain Hardik Singh.
Manpreet, 29, knows that this will be his last shot at the medal, for his fourth Olympics will be his last. The reins of the team are now with Harmanpreet Singh, but that matters little to Manpreet. “Even if I am not the captain now, it does not make any difference. Every player has his role in hockey. The effort is to take everyone along. Being seniors, we have to inspire the youngsters,” he told The Tribune earlier this month.
Three years of joy and trauma have been transformative, made him the wise statesman of the team. He gave up captaincy in 2022 after leading India to a silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He lost his faith in people when former coach Sjoerd Marijne, in a book released in 2022, accused him of influencing a player to underperform in 2022. He regained faith in the arms of his team and his family, especially little Jasmine.
“I was broken and lost faith in everyone,” Manpreet said. “My mother encouraged me to keep playing to fulfil my father’s dream, and my whole team supported me.”
His mother’s sacrifices, the memory of her working hard, stitching clothes for people after his father passed away after falling ill… “To ensure he was in good physical condition, I ensured that he always had desi eggs, ghar ka doodh and kharode da soup,” Manjit said. Manpreet said the memory of his mother’s struggles, the poverty the family faced, kept him going — apart from love for the sport. Manpreet’s idol Pargat Singh, also from Mithapur village, says that tough times he faced as a child gave Manpreet strength and determination. “It’s his humble background that keeps him grounded. He has come a long way just because of his perseverance,” Pargat said. He expects another medal from his protégé in Paris.
Manpreet looks back his Olympics journey with wonder, starting as teenager at London 2012 before becoming an integral part of the team at the next two Olympics. Coach Avtar Singh, who first spotted Manpreet in 2008, recalled a conversation they had Manpreet before he left for Paris. “We are prepared. We just want a gold medal,” Manpreet told Avtar.
Little Jasmine doesn’t know how great a player her father is, but she loves accompanying him to various tournaments, and her eyes are riveted to the TV when he’s playing. “She keeps saying she will go to Paris and be with her father,” says Manjit Kaur. Manjit, who wishes that her son would play at the 2028 Olympics as well, banks heavily on the “almighty”. “On Saturday, the day the team plays its first match, I will visit the gurdwara,” she says.
Punjab hand
- The squad that won bronze in Tokyo had 11 men from Punjab. The number is eight in the 16-member team for Paris Olympics.
- Four of them are from Amritsar — skipper Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Shamsher Singh — and another four from Jalandhar: Manpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and vice-captain Hardik Singh.
