Happy Birthday Sandeep Singh: Some Lesser-Known Facts About India’s Celebrated Hockey Player

One of India’s greatest hockey players of all-time, Sandeep Singh will celebrate his 34th birthday on February 27, 2020 (Thursday). He generally plays as a full back in the team and is a penalty corner specialist. Sandeep Singh is one of world’s fastest drag flickers – a scoring technique in hockey – with the speed of his flick being around 145 km/h. He earned the title ‘Flicker Singh’ because of his prolific drag flicks. So on the occasion of Singh’s birthday, we take a look at some lesser-known facts about him. Hockey India Congratulates Skipper Manpreet Singh on FIH Player of the Year Award.

Born in Shahbad town in Kurukshetra in Haryana, Sandeep Singh completed his education at the Shivalik Public School in Mohali. Singh made his international debut in January 2004 during the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur and was named as the captain of the Indian team in January 2009. Under Singh’s captaincy, India ended a long wait of 13 years as they clinched Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2009 by defeating Malaysia in the finals at Ipoh. Sandeep Singh was also the top scorer in the competition. He also represented India in the 2012 Summer Olympics which the qualified after a gap of eight years and was the highest scorer in the qualifying tournament.

Lesser Known Facts About Sandeep Singh

• Sandeep Singh was inspired to pick up the stick by his elder brother Bikramjeet Singh who was also a hockey player.
• Sandeep made his debut for the Indian team in January 2004. He was just 17 years old at that time.
• He was nicknamed ‘Flicker Singh’ because of his prolific drag-flick ability.
• In 2006, Sandeep Singh was accidentally shot in the lower back by a policeman and was forced out of that year’s World Cup Hockey tournament.
• He made a successful comeback in the 2008 Sultan Azlan Shan Cup and was tournament’s highest scorer.
• He married Indian women’s hockey player Harjinder Kaur in 2008.
• In 2009, he was named as India’s captain and guided them to Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Glory.
• Sandeep Singh was awarded Arjuna Award in 2010.
• During 2012 London Olympics Qualifier match against France, Singh scored five goals and all from penalty corners.
• In July 2018, Shaad Ali made a Bollywood film named Soorma which was based on his life. Diljit Dosanjh and Taapsee Pannu were the actors in the movie.

Sandeep Singh also played in the Hockey League India as he was bought by the Mumbai Franchise and was the fifth-highest paid marquee player in the league. Such was his influence on Hockey that Indian film director Shaad Ali made a biographical film title Soorma based on his life. Singh was also awarded with Arjuna Award in 2010 for his achievements in the field of hockey.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 27, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).