Indian Express: Family of India captain celebrates his win
For Harjeet Singh, the last three years have also seen his elder brother Rajwinder Singh join a daily wage job in Saudi Arabia.
By Nitin Sharma
As the Indian U-21 team created history by becoming only the second team after Germany to win the Junior World Cup for the second time in Lucknow, defeating Belgium on Sunday, Indian U-21 captain Harjeet Singh’s family in Niholka village near Kurali were also eager to talk with Harjeet’s father Rampal Singh, who was driving a truck to Kolkata.
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For Mother Balwinder Kaur, along with Harjeet’s cousin Hardeep Singh and cousin sister Harpreet Kaur, it was an end of a long wait to see their family member win the world crown for the Indian team.
”It has been worth the wait for all these years for us. Munde ne sade pind nu sabto wada gift dita hai. His father Rampal Singh is in Kolkata today for a driving assignment and will be able to join the family in February only. That’s his job and Harjeet is doing his job too. He has been calling us to update about all the wins and after the final, he called to tell his father about the win and to ask to talk with him later in the night,” Balwinder Kaur told Chandigarh Newsline.
For the Indian U-21 captain, who started playing hockey at Gopal Hockey Academy under coach Amritpal Singh in Kurali, the last three years have also seen his elder brother Rajwinder Singh join a daily wage job in Saudi Arabia to keep the finances coming for training.
Harjeet was also adjudged as the best player in U-21 Sultan of Johor Cup in 2013, and has also featured in the senior Indian team. “While he plays for the junior and senior team, the family makes sure that there is no shortage of training kits. Initially, he would borrow hockey sticks from fellow senior players and coach Amritpal, and there has been no support from the Punjab government for Harjeet till now. Hockey India awarded him Rs 1 lakh in 2013 and that was also a big amount for us,” said Harjeet’s cousin, 20-year-old Hardeep Singh.
Sunday also saw the former Chandigarh Hockey and Football Academy trainee Gurjant Singh scoring the opening goal in the eighth minute in the final. Gurjant, who passed out from CHFA in 2011, belongs to Raiya in Amritsar and now trains with PIS Surjit Hockey Academy Centre in Jalandhar, an academy from which ten players have featured in the 18-member Indian winning team. Drag-flicker Harmanpreet of Amritsar, too, studies in DAV College, Chandigarh. “It has been one of the best batches for us. From Harjeet, Harmanpreet, Mandeep to Gurjant and others, all train at the Academy in Jalandhar and it is one of the best moments for us in hockey,” shared PIS Surjit Hockey Academy coach 54-year-old Avtar Singh, while talking from Lucknow.