Hockey Players - The Under Dogs Of Our Country

By Author: ram kausik
Total Articles: 126
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An underappreciated player from an even more underappreciated sport- that is what entails hockey player Sandeep Singh. In a country like India, where cricket has reached the level of a religion and the cricketers likened unto Gods (certain cricketers are even worshipped literally), there is no place for a sport like hockey and even less for a hockey player. In spite of hockey being the National sport, it is not given the importance or attention it genuinely requires and deserves. The more the number of the spectators and fans diminish, the further hockey is moved into oblivion.

While cricketers are showered with endorsement deals, hospitality services that ensure they don’t have to move a muscle while they travel abroad and eye popping remunerations, the underdogs, that are our hockey players, are forced to chug around their luggage, travel uncomfortably, stay in less than favorable boarding and are paid in peanuts. They deserve better, they need to be celebrated as well. Cricket fandom has reached critical mass; we should shift some of that focus to some of the hockey stars, someone with Sandeep Singh statistics perhaps. ...
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Singh is our own Hockey player who has captained the Indian Hockey national team and led the team to glory in 2009 by defeating Malaysia at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup finals. This was India’s first win after a gap of thirteen long years. Singh scored the highest number of goals in that tournament. He was promoted to hero status as hockey fans were just happy to have him back following his terrible mishap nearly six years back.

On 22 August 2006, Sandeep Singh was shot on the thighs by a bullet that was mistakenly fired by his friend. He was gravely injured and people anticipated an end to his hockey career. But Singh has always been a fighter and that is just what he did. He overcame the odds and made an astounding comeback. He was again the top goal scorer in the finals of the Olympic Qualifiers against France, held in 2012. He scored five goals, all from the penalty corners, including an impressive hat-trick. He scored a total of 16 goals during the Olympic qualifiers tournament, making him the top goal scorer in the tournament as well. Singh is best described as one of the best drag-flickers of all time. For a man of Sandeep Singh profile, Arjuna award is a worthy token of appreciation.