Manpreet Singh (Hockey)

Manpreet Singh is the current captain of Men’s National Hockey Indian team.The 26 year old captain plays at the halfback position and holds 218 caps with no signs of stopping. He is also a member of Hockey India League’s Ranchi Rays. Singh is presently engaged to Illi Najwa Saddique whom he met after a Hockey tournament itself. He idolizes former players Sardar Singh and Moritz Fürste and takes personal inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo. The motivation not only helps him on the field but also his fellow teammates with his pep talks

Background

26 June, 1992 in a rural area near Jalandhar called Mithapur, Manpreet Singh (Pawar) was born. Inspired from his older brothers (more specifically from the awards they won) and Pargat Singh a former Indian Hockey team skipper from Jalandhar, Manpreet Singh started playing Hockey from a very young age of 9. Despite strict opposition from his mother and his brothers due to injury concerns, he never backed off from his will to play the sport. While the awards his brothers won were one of his inspiration, it was an award of Rs. 500 which he himself earned that earned him a permission from his family to pursue a career in hockey.

A major step in Manpreet's Hockey career was joining the Surjit Hockey Academy at Jalandhar in the year 2005. This was where he began his journey to become one of the finest halfback of the country.

Rise to glory

It was while playing at the academy itself that he was picked for the Indian national team (junior) in the year 2011. He was in the roster for the 2012 Olympics and 2 years after joining he captained the junior team in Men's Junior Hockey World Cup. While the playing squad was being changed regularly due to poor performances, Manpreet's presence was consistent. Later in the same year he not only captained but also bagged his first gold medal at the Sultan of Johor Cup.

Manpreet Singh’s career has been on a rise consistently. In 2014, he was declared the Junior player of the year by the Asian Hockey Federation. Some time later, it was the then skipper PR Sreejesh’s injury that lead to Manpreet captaining the senior side for the first time. Until Sreejesh’s return he lead the team into a mixed spell of wins and losses.

Low point

While Manpreet has been a consistent performer, the lowest point in his career was unarguably the impromptu death of his father. It was a big shocker for him but it has never stopped him from aiming bigger and bigger.

International Awards:

2013 - Silver - Asia Cup, Malaysia.

2014 - Silver - Commonwealth games, Glasgow.

2014 - Gold - Asian Games, Incheon.

2016 - Silver - Champions Trophy, London.

2017 - Gold - Asia Cup, Dhaka.

2018 - Bronze - Asian Games, Jakarta.

2018 - Silver - Champions Trophy, Breda.