Rupinder Pal Singh has been an integral part of the Indian national set-up since making his debut in 2010 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Gagan Ajit Singh’s first cousin, Rupinder has come a long way since taking up the game at a very tender age to be India’s spearhead in the short corners at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He has represented the Tricolour on 132 occasions in which he has been able to beat the opposition custodian 52 times.
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Here are 10 things that will help you to know him better:
1. Rupinder Pal Singh aka Bob was born on 11th November 1990 in the Faridkot district of Punjab and is the first cousin of former Indian forward and Arjuna award winner Gagan Ajit Singh.
2. He took up hockey as his first choice sport at the tender of 7, mainly getting influenced by his cousin’s prominent rise in the Indian set-up. His career got the much-needed boost when the Punjab-based defender was selected at the Chandigarh Hockey Academy.
3. The 25-year old defender made his senior team debut at the 2010 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, scoring once in the campaign which concluded with India and South Korea emerge as the joint winners after the final was called off due to bad weather conditions.
“We will work on our weaknesses in the coming months so that we are ready for the 2016 Rio Olympics”
4. A year later, he struck his first hat-trick in the Tri-color against Great Britain at the 2011 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. At the conclusion of the tournament, he was announced as the joint top scorer with Pakistan international Sohail Abbas and was also featured in the tournament’s All-Star Team as a recognition for his all-round display for the Indian national team.
5. Rupinder was also the part of the team which clinched Gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon by beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals and thus assuring India’ s place at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
6. He was selected as the vice-captain for the Indian national team at the 2014 Hockey World Cup, but unfortunately, the Indian team finished 9th in the mega event with Rupinder finding the back of the net on a couple of occasions.
7. He was axed from the Indian set-up for the 2015 Hockey World League semis, Antwerp by then national coach Paul van Ass as he picked V Raghunath in front of the 6’3 tall defender. However, his luck shined at him and he was recalled for the HWL semis following an injury to Raghunath in the training. Unfortunately, Rupinder was also injured in a warm-up game just a week before the tournament began in Belgium.
8. Rupinder’s biggest triumph came in the 2015 Hockey World League finals, when India having lost the semi-final tie against Belgium, won their 3rd / 4th position tie against Netherlands in a penalty shootout to end India’s 33-year medal drought in an FIH tournament.
Rupinder Pal Singh struck the decisive penalty stroke as he breached the defence of the Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak to trigger wild celebrations at the Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel International Stadium in Raipur.
“I’m sure this bronze medal effort will lift Indian hockey to new heights in future”
9. Rupinder was bought by the Delhi-based franchise Delhi Waveriders for a whopping sum of US $56,000 at the start of the 2014 Hockey India League. The fullback helped the Waveriders to claim their 1st HIL title with him finding the back of the net on 6 occasions.
10. Despite Rupinder’s contribution to the team, the fullback was not retained by the Delhi-based franchise for the recently concluded Hockey India League. However, the Waveriders secured his services again, this time for a much larger sum of US $68,000 at the 2016 HIL auction.
Rupinder returned the faith shown on him by the Waveriders management and went on to become the 3rd highest goal scorer(12) at the 2016 edition of the HIL. Due to his heroics, the Waveriders finished 3rd and the fullback was awarded the ‘Player of the Tournament’ trophy and a cash prize of INR 50,00,000.
