Jugraj Singh (born 22 April 1983) is a former

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player whose playing career was cut short by a 2003 car accident. Born in 1983 to a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

family in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, the former Punjab policeman was a self-coached, drag-flicker defender who later became a coach. A product of the Surjeet Singh Hockey Academy in

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

and the Air India Hockey Academy in

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, Singh played left fullback for the Punjab Police team in Jalandhar; he made his international debut in the 2001 under-18 Asia Cup in

Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...

. Singh was not the only field-hockey player in his family; his aunt (Father's sister) Rajbeer Kaur Rai is a former India captain and recipient of the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

, and his brother-in-law Gurmail Singh played on the 1980 Olympic team. Singh played a pivotal role in taking Indian field hockey to a higher level by winning the Junior World Cup, the 2003 Indo-Pak Champions Trophy and the Asian Championship. He was considered to be the next

Sohail Abbas Sohail Abbas, (born 9 June 1977) is a former professional field hockey player from Pakistan who played as a full-back for the Pakistan men's national field hockey team. Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he is the all-time sec ...

by many experts; in a series against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, he performed so well that Abbas said he could see a younger version of himself in Singh. After his accident Singh attempted a comeback on the national team; however, he never went further than the probables list despite playing for the Chandigarh Dynamos with a decent record in the PHL. He was given an opportunity to coach the junior national team for penalty corners at the national camp. Singh picked four players from that team, one of whom is the renowned drag-flicker

Rupinder Pal Singh Rupinder Pal Singh (born 11 November 1990) is an Indian former field hockey player, who represented the India national field hockey team. He plays as a fullback and is known for his abilities as one of the best drag flickers in the world. He ...

. "I did not achieve this overnight. My drag flick coach Jugraj has worked hard for that. I owe my success to him," Rupinder said. He added "Sohail Abbas is brilliant drag flicker. He has the world record against his name but if Jugraj did not meet with an accident in 2003, he might have been the record holder". Singh is the penalty-corners coach of the Indian men's national team.Sandeep Narayan, "For Jugraj Singh, it's mission redemption". ''Mumbai Mirror'', 1 November 2010
Retrieved 2012-07-23. With his coaching, India qualified for the London Olympics 2012 with Chief Coach Michael Nobbs. In the qualifiers, India's penalty-corner conversion ratio was very high because of

Sandeep Singh Sandeep Singh (born 27 February 1986) is an Indian professional field hockey player from Haryana and an ex-captain of the Indian national hockey team. He generally features as a full back and is a penalty corner specialist for the team. He ...

and V. R. Raghunath. In the qualifying final, India defeated

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

8–1. Of the eight goals, six (of seven attempts) were scored on penalty corners; five of the six penalty-corner goals were scored by Sandeep Singh.

Playing career

;Tournaments: *Junior Nationals, February 2001:

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

*National Games, December 2002:

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

(1st place) *Nehru Hockey Tournament, November 2002: Delhi (1st place) * Beighton Cup, March–April 2002:

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

(1st place) *Muruguppa Gold Cup ( IHF Juniors), August 2001: Chennai (1st place) ;Goals: *World Cup, February, March 2002, Kuala Lumpur (10th place): 3 *Champions Trophy, August 2003, Amstelveen (4th place): 4 *August–September 2002, Cologne (4th place): 5 *Asian Games, October 2002, Busan (2nd place): 4 *Champions Challenge, December 2001, Kuala Lumpur (1st place): 2 *Junior World Cup, October 2001, Hobart (1st place): 7 *Sub-Junior (u-18) Asia Cup, June 2001, Ipoh (1st place): 14 (captain, top scorer, MVP) *Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, August 2001, Kuala Lumpur (5th place): 1 *Australian Tour, June 2003: 3 *Nation Tournament, Sydney (1st place): 2 *Adelaide-Melbourne, May–June 2002 (2nd in 4-Nation): 3 *European Tour, June 2003, Hamburg, 4-Nation Panasonic Masters (1st place): 1 *4-Nation Tourney, August 2002, Amstelveen: 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Jugraj 1983 births Living people Punjabi Sikhs Field hockey players from Punjab, India Male field hockey defenders Asian Games medalists in field hockey Field hockey players at the 2002 Asian Games 2002 Men's Hockey World Cup players Indian male field hockey players Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games field hockey players for India Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games