09 August 2024, 16:53 IST
Captain Harmanpreet Singh was playing with the Indian team in England when his daughter turned one.
“This is my family,” said Harmanpreet Singh, pointing to the hockey players scurrying across the field during a training session as he sat on the sidelines. Harman spends up to 10 months every year training and competing in tournaments at the Sports Authority of India facility in Bengaluru. His daughter, their first child, turned one on June 10, but he celebrated her birthday on June 16.
“I was playing with the Indian team in England, that’s why we celebrated her birthday so late,” he explained the delayed celebrations. “India comes first. I understand that and my family understands that. All these sacrifices and the time I am away from them is for India and for them… they know that very well,” Singh said.
Harman, who led the Indian hockey team to a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, was determined to improve on their Tokyo 2020 performance but his men were defeated by a late German goal in the semifinals. “We are not happy with the colour of the medal, we want to make it brighter… we are aiming for gold,” he said before leaving for Paris.
Read also: HT’s comprehensive coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games can be found here
Harmanpreet’s men beat Spain 2-1 in the bronze medal match at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir on Thursday. After that match, India have played Spain 11 times at the Olympics, winning eight times, while the European team have won just once and drawn two matches. However, India and Spain have met 72 times in total, with India winning 32 times, Spain winning 26 times and 14 matches ending in draws.
Harman and his men were smarting over the disqualification of wrestler Vinesh Phogat from the wrestling final on Wednesday and the fact that this was former captain and goalkeeper PS Sreejesh’s last match also motivated them. Harmanpreet, on his part, is grateful to have got the chance to play for India and despite being away from his family and one-year-old daughter for so long, he is happy to be playing for India and leading a team that is united and packed with leaders like Tokyo Olympic captain Manpreet Singh and Rio Olympic captain Sreejesh.
