HARMANPREET SINGH
Background
Born on January 6th, 1996, Harmanpreet belongs to village, Timmowal, in Jandiala Guru Block of Amritsar.
Harmanpreet’s father Sarabjit Singh is a farmer. Mother’s name is Rajvinder Kaur and has a brother elder by two years, Komalpreet Singh.
He plays as a fullback in the Indian Hockey team. He stands at 180 cm
Early Life
A young Harmanpreet, 10 years of age, got attracted towards farming. He would accompany his father to the fields and become adept at it. Within a year he had learned how to sow and reap the crops.
In his pull towards farming, he had been eager to ride a tractor and was especially enthused by the tractor’s big wheels. That virtually laid the foundation for his special skill set in the game. For the rusty gear stick of the tractor that Harman tried to ply was difficult to shift. But Harman was not giving up to his enthusiasm. And with consistent efforts in exerting to push the stick, he developed the strength and endurance that would later pave way for power in his drag flicks.
In his first foray into hockey, he started to train in his early years at the Punjab University academy in Ludhiana. He aspired to be a striker who wanted to score goals right in the opponent’s circle.
It was not until he joined the famed Surjeet Hockey Academy in Jalandhar, in 2011, where his coach over a year of watching him play, shaped him into a defender. He was initiated into drag –flicking, skills of which he honed with the support of his academy seniors Simranjeet Singh and Gaganpreet Singh.
Harmanpreet also sought the guidance of and took cues from former India Hockey Player Jugraj Singh, a drag-flick specialist, and whom he considers to be his role model.
The lad who was driven to farming, now had transformed into a special hockey player.
One who could defend and had power, precision, and technique to be an ace drag-flicker.
Career
Junior Side
He made his debut for India against New Zealand at the Sultan Johar Cup in Malaysia in 2014. And lit the tournament with his goal-scoring abilities.
Irrespective of the rival team Harmanpreet strode on scoring 9 goals in six matches, helping the nation win the title while winning the player of the tournament award. Not only was he the leading scorer but importantly scored both goals in India’s 2-1 victory over Great Britain in the final. His second goal coming in 59th minute won India the title.
His stream of goals extended in next two years as he slammed 7 goals in five matches at the four nations invitational in Australia, 2014, 14 goals in Junior Asia Cup in Malaysia in 2015 where India crushed Pakistan 6-2 in the final to win the title. He scored four goals in the final to be the top scorer of the tournament.
Harman was also a member of the 2016 Hockey World Cup-winning junior team. The tournament was hosted in Lucknow, India. As a defender and a goal scorer, he made his presence felt in every match.
- His penalty corner goal gave India its 3rd goal in a group match against Great Britain which India eventually won 5-3.
- Penalty conversion against Canada in the group stages.
- He scored the winning goal in India’s 2-1 victory over Spain in the quarter-finals.
Senior Side
His performances had got him a call to the Senior India side as early as 2015. And he made his debut in the senior Indian hockey team for the Test Events against Japan in Bhubaneswar Odisha on 3rd May 2015.
Harmanpreet retained his place in the side that played the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016 in Malaysia where he scored 2 critical goals against Japan and Canada to help India to the finals where they eventually clinched the silver medal.
At the Champions Trophy 2016, in London, Harmanpreet got a goal each against India’s 3-3 drawn game versus Germany, a 2-1 victory over Great Britain.
His superb performance as a goal scorer, in defence line, helped India win silver and he won the Rising Player of the Tournament award.
As a fine defender and special drag-flick exponent, Harman claimed a spot in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games bound Indian side. At the age of 19 years, he was one of the youngest players to represent the country at the Olympics.
Though the team did not fare well at the games Harmanpreet had cemented his place in the side
At the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017 Bronze Medal match between India and Germany, he scored the winning goal for the country as India beat Germany 2-1 to claim the bronze.
Harman then scored a total of 3 goals at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, 2017 held in Malaysia. That included 2 penalty corner conversions against New Zealand in the group clash.
A memorable clash with arch-rivals, Pakistan, at the Hero Hockey World League Semi-Final at London, England, in June 2017. Both teams were fighting for the 5th – 8th Place. He added to India’s tally with a goal in the 36th minute as the Indian hockey team routed Pakistan by a big margin 6-1.
Harman scored twice in India’s 5-1 resounding win over Japan at the Hero Hockey Asia Cup played in Dhaka in 2017 as India began its campaign. He was in the goal-scorers list again versus Bangladesh, arch-rivals Pakistan, and Malaysia in the subsequent games of the tournament that India won.
At the 2018 Asian Games Jakarta, Malaysia Harmanpreet struck the second goal for India as India won bronze defeating Pakistan 2-1. He scored 10 goals overall for the team at the games.
He came to the team’s rescue at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games scoring both goals in India’s 2-1 victory over Malaysia. The win saw India into the semi-finals where they eventually finished runners-up.
Harman scored a hat-trick in India’s 4-1 hammering of South Korea in a group match at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy in 2018 played in Muscat, Oman.
He scored in India’s wins over Oman, Japan as India was declared joint winners with Pakistan, with the final washed off by rain.
The year 2019 has been special for Harmanpreet as it saw him captain the India side.
Some members of the Indian hockey Team were rested and Harmanpreet was given charge of the team when appointed as the captain. It was at the Olympic Test event in August 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. Harman carried the team admirably well to win in his debut tournament as captain of the team.
The team blanked New Zealand 5-0 in the final where Harmanpreet scored the first goal for India in the 7th minute of the match.
The country’s next outing was the Ind vs Spain test series played in Sept. 2019, Antwerp, Belgium. India blanked Spain 5-1 and 6-1 in two matches between the teams. He struck four goals in the two matches to his name.
FIH Men’s Series Finals Bhubaneswar Odisha, June 2019
Harmanpreet opened the scoring in India’s 7-2 rout of Japan. He continued his rich vein of form as India overwhelmed South Africa 5-1 in the final with him striking two goals.
At the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2019 between India and Russia he again scored the first goal in the first match
In the ongoing FIH Pro League, 2020 Harmanpreet has been in outstanding form while assisting a goal versus the Netherlands in the first match that Ind won 5-2.
He scored a goal in the regulation time as well penalty shootout and helped India win over Australia after nearly four years. He was awarded The Player of the Match.
Medals won with Indian Hockey Team:
Achievements & Awards
- Harmanpreet Singh was named as Asian Promising Player of the Year 2016 (Junior team) by Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) on March 30, 2017.
What made the award special was the fact that the nominations for these awards were made by coaches of the national teams across Asia and the benchmark was the performance in the previous year.
Harmanpreet Singh was named 2018 Player of the Year by Asian hockey body
At the Times of India Sports Award (TOISA), 2019 he was awarded as the Best Male Hockey Player of the year award.
Hockey India 3rd Annual Awards held in March 2020, saw Harmanpreet declared the winner of the prestigious Hockey India Pargat Singh Award for Defender of The Year. The award is instituted in the name of India’s legendary defender Pargat Singh.
He was the leading scorer of the following tournaments :
- Sultan of Johor Cup, 2014, Malaysia
- Junior Asia Cup Nov 2015, Kuantan (Malaysia)
- 3 Nations Invitational Tournament, Jun 2017 Moers (Germany)
- Hero Men’s Asia Cup 2017, Dhaka (BAN)
Rising Player of the Tournament award
Harman has represented India in 117 International matches to date.
HARMANPREET SINGH ON SOCIAL MEDIA
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/13harmanpreet
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/harmanpreet_13/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/13Harmanpreet/_
Harmanpreet Singh brings to Team India that much valued multi-utility skill.
One of not only blocking rival forwards as a defender but also the reassurance of his mighty drag flick skills.
And his consistent goal-scoring ability has often secured the scoreboard and match result in India’s favor.
The comfort of favourable goal difference that his precise and powerful drag flicks bring about, show up in the flow of the entire team.
This sturdy defender in India’s hockey team takes it upon himself the responsibility for goal scoring for the country. And now he is famous not only in India but globally for his successful dual role for the hockey player that he is. No doubt, Harmanpreet Singh, just 25 Years in age, has already made a name for himself as one of the best Indian Hockey Players of this era.
(feature image credit Twitter/HockeyIndia)
