RAJGIR:
Sukhjeet Singh may have missed a sitter against South Korea in India's opening game of the Super 4s stage, but he bounced back with an impressive performance to help the team secure a draw.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!And on Sunday evening he once again led from the front scoring the opener as India beat South Korea 4-1 in the final. Thanks to his showing he finished with six goals in the tournament.
However, all this would not have been possible had his father
Ajit Singh not inspired him to take up the game in his youth.
“He was a hockey player but sadly couldn't play at a high level because of lack of support and various other problems. So, he always dreamt of seeing me play and it's because of him that I am here today,” said the Indian forward, who played a vital role in helping India grab their second successive bronze medal at the Paris Olympics last year.
Not only did he inspire him then and give him his first hockey lessons at the age of five, Sukhjeet's father gave him his stick, too. “Earlier, he used to play for Punjab Police at right half so he cut short his stick and gave it to me and started giving me lessons after coming back from his duty. I was so young then that I couldn't even hold the stick properly,” added the Arjuna awardee.
And his father still watches all the matches and discusses them later. “After the matches are over, he will tell me what we are doing right and doing wrong. He will discuss it with me and keep motivating me to do better,” said Sukhjeet.
Even off the pitch, Sukhjeet's father has been by his side in every possible way and made sure Sukhjeet made it through the toughest phase of his life when he had a partial paralysis on his right leg following a needling treatment in 2018, that was being tried out to cure a back pain.
“It was a very difficult period for me as I was bedridden for months. Even the doctors in Bengaluru said that I wouldn't be able to play. But my father kept motivating me, got me back on my feet, then started to slowly take me to the field and train me day and night so that I could again begin to play,” added the forward, who made his debut in the 2021-22 Pro League.
All that is behind him now as he hopes to make it big next year with the World Cup and Asian Games happening almost simultaneously after a rather poor outing during the European leg of Pro League earlier this year.
Catch Lovlina Borgohain's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 5. Watch Here
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