Know your Indian Olympian: 10 things you need to know about Rupinder Pal Singh
Rupinder Pal Singh has been an integral part of the Indian national set-up since making his debut in 2010 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Gagan Ajit Singh’s first cousin, Rupinder has come a long way since taking up the game at a very tender age to be India’s spearhead in the short corners at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He has represented the Tricolour on 132 occasions in which he has been able to beat the opposition custodian 52 times.
Here are 10 things that will help you to know him better:
1. Rupinder Pal Singh aka Bob was born on 11th November 1990 in the Faridkot district of Punjab and is the first cousin of former Indian forward and Arjuna award winner Gagan Ajit Singh.
2. He took up hockey as his first choice sport at the tender of 7, mainly getting influenced by his cousin’s prominent rise in the Indian set-up. His career got the much-needed boost when the Punjab-based defender was selected at the Chandigarh Hockey Academy.
3. The 25-year old defender made his senior team debut at the 2010 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, scoring once in the campaign which concluded with India and South Korea emerge as the joint winners after the final was called off due to bad weather conditions.
“We will work on our weaknesses in the coming months so that we are ready for the 2016 Rio Olympics”
4. A year later, he struck his first hat-trick in the Tri-color against Great Britain at the 2011 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. At the conclusion of the tournament, he was announced as the joint top scorer with Pakistan international Sohail Abbas and was also featured in the tournament’s All-Star Team as a recognition for his all-round display for the Indian national team.
5. Rupinder was also the part of the team which clinched Gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon by beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals and thus assuring India’ s place at the 2016 Rio Olympics.