Who’s Sandeep Singh? Know all about the hockey drag flick king
Sandeep Singh is perhaps the most famous hockey player ever produced in India. This player was popularly called Flicker Singh. He captained the national hockey team for many years and has helped the country lift several trophies during his time.
The former player was rated the best drag-flicker in the world during his career. His normal playing position is the full-back and he was the best when it comes to taking a corner. He can drag flick at the speed of more than 145 km/hr. The hockey player has achieved a lot for his local club as well as the national team. Most importantly, he helped various clubs progress that he played for in different parts of the world. Hockey history cannot be complete without remembering the towering efforts he made in the pitch.
Note* The world record holder used an STX low bow stick (read the review).
His early life
Sandeep Singh was born in the year 1986, February 27 th in a city Shahabad Markanda, which is located in Kurukshetra, Haryana in India. The name of his father is Gyrcharan Singh Bhindar and that of the mother Dalijit Kaur Bhindar. He had his college education in Patiala and later had his B.A from Kurukshetra University.
Singh developed an interest in hockey with his senior brother Bikramjeet Singh who was also a professional player for the India Oil. Like the younger brother, the elder Singh was also a drag-flicker. However, his hockey career was halted early, sadly by serious injuries. To ensure that the hockey dream did not die in his family, he was able to train his younger brother. One can say that elder Singh motivated Sandeep Singh to the enviable position he later attained in the sport.
Sandeep Singh: Hockey Playing cCareer
Sandeep earned his reputation through gaining and then honing an international career. The player first played for his nation during the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup which was played in the year 2004 in Kuala Lumpur. Later the same year 2004, he participated in the Athens Olympics.
In the same year, this great hockey player made his country proud during the Junior Asia Cup, which took place in Pakistan. Sandeep was the topmost scorer in that junior championship. He helped his country India to win that championship by helping to defeat the host country Pakistan. India won by 5 goals against 2 and Singh scored two of these winning goals. In short, his efforts, played a huge part when India was able to lift that cup for the first time.
In the year 2004, he played for his country in another championship, which took place in Lahore, Bangladesh. Later he played for India the next year 2005 in another championship, which took place in Chennai. In each of the matches, he scored at least two goals for his country. Another game where he scored for his country the same year 2005 was the Indo-Pak hockey series, which took place within September to October of that year. He scored three goals in that tournament.
In 2006 Commonwealth games, this player was part of the Indian team that partook in the championship. He was the best player of that tournament scoring an impressive seven goals. The same year during the famous Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which took place in Kuala Lumpur he scored three goals.
Singh Tragically Wounded and out of Action
Singh endured a serious accident which put him off the game for at least two years. He was hit by a gunshot from police pistol accidental discharge. This touched three important organs of his body and he was paralyzed and could not play for many months. This happened on his way to become part of the national hockey team to play in Germany. This accidental discharge happened on August 22, 2006. He could not move the lower part of his body because of that accidental accident.
After he recovered from the injuries, he returned to the national team and became part of the Indian hockey team that participated in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which took place in the year 2008. Even though he was away from the game for nearly two years, he became the tournament’s top scorer having scored a total of 8 goals. This was seen worldwide as an incredible achievement considering his previous injuries. India could not win the cup but they became proud runners up largely to his goal scoring prowess.
The following year, in 2009 he was named the captain of the National side. He led his country to win the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, and this was the first time the senior national team was able to win for the past 13 years. He made history and made his country proud again with The Times of India proclaiming him as the ‘Flicker King’.
See Part 2