Rajpal Singh (born 8 August 1983) is a former captain of India national hockey team. He plays from the forward (front line) position. He is an

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 ...

winner. He is a graduate from Chandigarh's SGGS Khalsa College and a product of Shivalik Public School. Rajpal Singh hogged the limelight with a sterling show at his first international outing at the 2001 Youth Asia Cup. India won the Cup at

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, where he was the 'Player of the Tournament', with seven goals. Rajpal Singh was in the news before the home world cup, as he unitedly led his team's fight for its rights with the hockey administrators.

Career

Beginning

Younger son of a retired policeman, Rajpal represented

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

in Junior Nationals. After the Hobart Junior World Cup gold, he joined

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. A long wait for his senior debut ended when, under the tutelage of Rajinder Singh Jr., he travelled to the 2005 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. He succeeded Deepak Thakur at the right wing. In fall 2007, he played in the German second division (2. Bundesliga) for Marienburger SC,

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. In the first round, he scored four times. With Adrian D'Souza, Bimal Lakra and William Xalco, there played four Indians for this club. Rajpal was one of many Indians in 2007 who played in Germany in preparation for the Olympic Games 2008 in China.

2010

FIH World Cup

He became captain of national team after replacing

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 ...

just before the FIH world cup 2010 in

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but India finished 8th.

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

Under the captaincy of Rajpal, the Indian team regained their title as they emerged joint winners along with

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in a rain-affected final at the 19th edition of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. In one of the group matches, the Indian team defeated the Australian team 4–3.

Commonwealth Games

Under his captaincy, the Indian team entered into semifinal of Commonwealth Games, Delhi after defeating

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# ...

by 7-4. It persuaded against the

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in the semifinals to be the first team to make sure of a medal for India in CWG Hockey history. But the final was a washout with India going down 8-0 against the mighty

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Asian Hockey Champions Trophy

He captained the Indian team to the inaugural

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 to 11 September 2011 in Ordos, China. The top six teams (India, South Korea, Pakistan, China, Malaysia and Japan) from the ...

, which India won by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. But Rajpal was removed as the captain on 30 September and was replaced by goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri. It is believed that his demotion was imminent as he had led the team's revolt against the federation for giving meager rewards after the Champion's Trophy triumph.

Premier Hockey League

Rajpal leads hugely popular Chandigarh Dynamos in the PHL. Rajpal, a PPS officer is currently serving in the Punjab Police as a Superintendent of Police.

Personal life

He married Indian

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Avneet Sidhu in 2013, and the couple have one child.
imes of India, 15 September 2011.

World Series Hockey

Rajpal leads the Delhi Wizards in the WSH 2012.

Awards

In 2011, Rajpal received the prestigious

for excellence in the field of hockey.

References

External links