Can Hardik Singh match his uncle Gurmail by winning an Olympic medal in men's hockey at Tokyo?
Xtra Time Web Desk: The goal scored by Hardik Singh in the fourth quarter against Great Britain saw Indian men’s hockey team create history at the Oi Hockey stadium on Sunday. It was after 49 years that the men’s hockey team reached the last four stages of the Olympics at Tokyo. The family of Hardik will be waiting anxiously over the next 24 hours as a win against world champions Belgium will see Manpreet Singh and his team on the verge of repeating the performance at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Hardik’s uncle Gurmail Singh was part of the 1980 Moscow Olympics gold medal-winning Indian team.
Talking about Hardik, he hails from Khusropur village near Jalandhar. His father Varinderpreet Singh, who is Punjab Police superintendent, was a former hockey player as well. Hardik’s grandfather Pritam Singh also played hockey too. But both Varinderpreet and Pritam didn’t make it to the national team. It was Gurmail who played for India and was also part of the gold medal winning side at Moscow Olympics.
The Singh family also includes Rajbir Kaur, former Indian women’s hockey captain, apart from uncle and former India drag-flicker Jugraj Singh. A young Hardik grew up playing the sport at the village ground and the lawn at their house. It was only in 2012 that he was enrolled at the Punjab Institute of Sports Academy at Mohali, which saw him working as a ball boy during the Hockey India League before he shifted to the Surjit Hockey Academy in Jalandhar, which has produced players like former Indian captain Pargat Singh and current skipper Manpreet Singh.
It was in Mohali where Hardik got an opportunity to horne his skills training under former Olympian Sukhvir Singh Grewal who strengthened his basics.
Hardik, who failed to make the cut in the 2016 Junior World Cup team started training under Harendra Singh and he suggested him to be a centre half. It was not until 2018 that Hardik got a chance in the senior Indian team. The youngster from Jalandhar started thinking about playing in leagues abroad rather than concentrating on his India career. He finally made his senior debut at the Asian Champions Trophy and also featured in the 2018 World Cup.
Gurmail, a right-half in the Moscow Olympics team will be hoping to have another Olympic medallist in the family, courtesy his nephew Hardik.
