Rupinder Pal Singh (born 11 November 1990) is a professional

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player, who represents India in the

Indian Hockey Team The India men's national field hockey team represents India in international field hockey competitions, and is governed by Hockey India. The team was formerly under the control of Indian Hockey Federation. India was the first non-European team t ...

. He plays as a fullback and is known for his abilities as one of the best

drag flick Drag flicking is a scoring technique in the sport of field hockey. It was first seen in the late 1980s in Australia. It is used as an attacking technique, mainly within penalty corner involving two main components known as the scoop and flick. The ...

ers in the world. He represented India in the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

held at Rio de Janeiro, and at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, held at Gold Coast, Australia. He was part of the Indian hockey team that won a bronze medal at the

2020 Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in Tokyo.

Early life

Rupinder Pal Singh was born in a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

family in Faridkot,

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...

. The six-foot four inch-footer, is the youngest of the family, who took up hockey at the age of eleven. He is related to international hockey player,

Gagan Ajit Singh Gagan Ajit Singh (born 9 December 1980) is an Indian former field hockey player who played as a forward. He was the captain of the India national under-21 team that won the 2001 Junior World Cup. He was a member of the Indian senior national ...

. His interest in hockey got a boost when got selected for the Chandigarh Hockey Academy.

Career

Singh's international debut was in May 2010 in

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual invitational international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity. The ...

Ipoh , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak , pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_mapsize = 275px , pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia , coordinates ...

. His side went on to win the 2010 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. The following year, Rupinder scored his first international

Hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in the 2011 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. In the same tournament, Singh won the Top-scorer Award and was named in the Sultan Azlan Shah XI Team. At the

2014 Men's Hockey World Cup The 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup was the 13th edition of the Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the FIH. It was held from 31 May to 15 June 2014 at the Kyocera Stadion in The Ha ...

, Rupinder was named as the team's

Vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the re ...

. He came out of retirement in May 2022 and was supposed to lead Indian team in Asia cup starting on May 23 in

Jakarta, Indonesia Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

but will not as he is ruled out of the tournament due to a wrist injury.

Birendra Lakra Birendra Lakra (born 3 February 1990) is an Indian professional field hockey player. He represents India in men's field hockey and recently came out of retirement alongside Rupinderpal Singh and will be the Captain of Indian team in the Asia Cup ...

, earlier named as vice-captain, will now lead men in blue alongside SV Sunil as new vice-captain of the team.

Hockey India League

Rupinder was bought by the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

franchise for a hefty sum. The Delhi team was named Delhi Waveriders. During an interview, Rupinder was quoted saying "I was surprised when the Delhi side picked me up for such a huge amount, but the tournament gave me a good platform to hone my skills, spending time with players like

Sardar Singh Sardara Singh (born 15 July 1986), sometimes referred as Sardar Singh, is an Indian former professional field hockey player and captain of the Indian national team. He usually plays the center half position. Sardara became the youngest player t ...

and Nicolas Jacobi made me improve my game a lot and it showed in my performance, Even though we lost to Ranchi in the final, the team had a good run in the tournament". He proved his worth, scoring seven goals for the team, which finished second in the league. In the 2nd season, Rupinder's side won the 2014 Hockey India League, with Singh scoring 7 goals. Rupinder was declared the Player of the Tournament at the 2016 Hockey India League, and due to his significant contributions, Delhi Waveriders went on to secure the 3rd position at the HIL that year. In 2017, he captained the Delhi Waveriders, taking the team to the semi-final stage. Rupinder has been regularly playing for Indian Overseas Bank (Chennai based Indian Bank) for many years.

Career achievements

* 2010 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, India won the Gold * 2011 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, won Top-scorer Award, named in Sultan Azlan Shah's XI *

2011 Asian Men's Hockey Champions Trophy The 2011 Men's Asian Champions Trophy was the first edition of the Men's Asian Champions Trophy and it took place from 3 September to 11 September 2011 in Ordos, China. The top six teams (India, South Korea, Pakistan, China, Malaysia and Japan) fr ...

, India won the Gold * 2011 Men's Hockey Champions Challenge I, India won the Silver * 2012 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, India won the Bronze *

2012 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy The 2012 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy was the 34th edition of the Hockey Champions Trophy men's field hockey tournament. The tournament was held between 1–9 December 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. Australia won the tournament for the thirteenth ...

, India stood 4th *

2012 Asian Men's Hockey Champions Trophy The 2012 Men's Asian Champions Trophy was the second edition of the Men's Asian Champions Trophy. The tournament was held from 20 to 27 December 2012 in Doha, Qatar. The top six Asian teams (India, Oman, Pakistan, China, Malaysia and Japan) partici ...

, India won the Silver * 2012–13 Men's FIH Hockey World League Round 2, scored 7 goals * 2013 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, won Top-scorer Award * 2013 Men's Hockey Asia Cup, India won Silver, scored 6 goals *

, India won the Silver *

, held in Incheon, India won Gold *

2014 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy The 2014 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy was the 35th edition of the Hockey Champions Trophy men's field hockey tournament. It was held between in Bhubaneswar, India. From this year on the tournament began to be held biennially due to the introduc ...

, India stood 4th * 2014-15 Men's FIH Hockey World League, India won the Bronze *

2016 Asian Men's Hockey Champions Trophy The 2016 Men's Asian Champions Trophy was the fourth edition of the Men's Asian Champions Trophy. The tournament was held in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia from 20 to 30 October 2016. India defeated the defending champions Pakistan 3–2 in the final t ...

, India won the Gold *

held at Rio de Janeiro * 2016 Asian Champions Trophy, India won the Gold, and he won the "Top Goal Scorer of the Tournament" ''(11 goals)'' and the "Best Player of the Tournament" award *4-Nations Invitational Tournament, held in Melbourne, he won the "Top Goal Scorer of the Tournament" award ''(6 goals)'' *

2017 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup The 2017 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was the 26th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. It was held in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia from 29 April – 6 May 2017. The number of teams for this year’s cup has decreased by one compared to last year’s tourn ...

, India won the Bronze * 2017 Hockey World League Finals held in Bhubaneshwar, India won the Bronze, and he won the "Fan's Choice Award" *2018 4-Nations Invitational Tournament, held in Tauranga and Hamilton, in New Zealand *2018 Commonwealth Games, held at Gold Coast, Australia *2018 Asian Games, held in Jakarta, India won the Bronze *2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in Tokyo, India won the Bronze

References

External links

Rupinder Pal Singh
at

Hockey India Hockey India plans, directs and conducts all the activities for both men and women hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India. It w ...