Sandeep Singh (born 27 February 1986) is an Indian professional

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shootin ...

player from

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

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 has been dubbed "Flicker Singh" in the media for his specialization of the drag-flick, one of the fastest in the world. Singh holds a DSP rank in the Haryana Police. He has been elected as MLA in 2019 from

Pehowa Pehowa is a town and a municipal committee in Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is an important sacred Hindu pilgrimage site, related to Krishna and Mahabharata, within the 48 Kos Parikrama of Kurukshetra. The Hindu geneal ...

constituency in

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra (, ) is a city and administrative headquarter of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty ") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Pur ...

, Haryana from

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

. He served as the Sports Minister of

and resigned from the post on 1 January 2023, after the Haryana police registered a case against him for

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, whi ...

complaint.

Early life

Singh hails from Shahabad town in

, Haryana. He was educated at Shivalik Public School, Mohali. Sandeep was born to Gurucharan Singh Saini and Daljeet Kaur Saini. Sandeep has an older brother, Bikramjeet, also a field hockey player who plays for Indian Oil.

Career

International hockey

Sandeep's international debut was in January 2004 in

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual invitational international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity. The ...

in Kuala Lumpur. He took over as the captain of the Indian national team in January 2009, and

Rajpal Singh 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 winner. He is a graduate from Chandigarh’s SGGS Khalsa College and a product of Shiv ...

succeeded him later in 2010. Singh is a well known drag-flicker. At a time he was said to have the best speed in the world in drag flick (speed 145 km/h). Under his captaincy, the Indian team managed to clinch the

in 2009 after defeating

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

in the finals at

Ipoh , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak , pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_mapsize = 275px , pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia , coordinates ...

. India won the title after a long wait of 13 years. Singh was also the top goal scorer of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament. The

India men's national field hockey team The India men's national field hockey team represents India in international field hockey competitions, and is governed by Hockey India. The team was formerly under the control of Indian Hockey Federation. India was the first non-European team t ...

have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London after a gap of 8 years. The team had a resounding victory over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in the finals of the Olympic qualifiers by beating France 9–1. Ace drag-flicker Singh starred in the final against France by scoring five goals – including a hat-trick – all from penalty corners (19th, 26th, 38th, 49th and 51st minutes). Singh was the highest scorer of the Olympic qualifiers tournament by scoring 16 goals.

Club career

Sandeep Singh became the fifth highest-paid marquee player at the inaugural Hockey India League as the Mumbai franchise bought him for US$64,400 with his base price being US$27,800. The Mumbai team has been named Mumbai Magicians. Scoring 11 goals in 12 games, Singh emerged as the top scorer in the first edition of the league. In 2014, he was signed by Punjab Warriors. After playing two seasons for the team, he was signed by Ranchi Rays for US$81,000 in 2015 starting 2016. In 2014, Singh relocated to the UK to play for

Havant Hockey Club Havant Hockey Club is a field hockey club based in Havant, Hampshire, England. The club was established in 1907. The men's 1st XI play in the National Men's Conference West. The club fields men's teams and ladies' teams as well as a junior se ...

. On 22 August 2006, Singh was seriously injured after being hit by an accidental gunshot in the '' Kalka Shatabdi Express'' train, while on his way to join the national team due to leave for the World Cup in Africa two days later. He was almost paralyzed and on the wheelchair for 1 year of his life. He was 20 at that time. Singh not only recovered from that serious injury but also established himself again and played world cup for India in 2010 Indian team.

Political career

Sandeep Singh was elected from Pehowa constituency as Member of Legislative Assembly (Haryana) from

during the

2019 Haryana Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly election was held in Haryana on 21 October 2019 to elect 90 members of the Haryana Legislative Assembly. The final voter turnout was recorded at 68.20%. The results were announced on 24 October 2019. The Bharatiya Janata P ...

. He was sworn in as Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs (MoS) and Minister of Printing and Stationery (MoS) (Independent Charge).

Career achievements

* Sandeep Singh scored the most goals and won the Man of the Tournament award in the 2009 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. * Scoring 16 goals, Singh was the leading goal scorer in the qualifying tournament for the 2012 London Olympics - scored five goals in the final. *April 2004: Junior Asia Cup top scorer - scored 16 goals. *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

- Sundeep was top scorer. *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

- Sundeep was top scorer. *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: Asia Games top scorer - scored 11 goals. * 2010: World record for fastest drag flick - 145 km/h. *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

: Hockey India League - Top scorer - 11 goals in 12 games. *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: Hockey India League - Top scorer - 11 goals. Sandeep singh hockey player 2004

Awards

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards 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 Arjuna, on ...

recipient for achievements in

. *2012: Olympic qualifier tournament gold medal. *

- Best Player.

In popular culture

Indian filmmaker Shaad Ali made a biographical film, titled '' Soorma'' (), based on Singh's life.

Diljit Dosanjh Daljit Singh Dosanjh known professionally as Diljit Dosanjh (born 6 January 1984) is an Indian singer, actor, film producer and television personality. He works in Punjabi Music and subsequently in Punjabi and Hindi cinema. Dosanjh entered ...

played Sandeep Singh's role in the film. It was released on 13 July 2018. The film also stars

Taapsee Pannu Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards. After a brief modelling career, Pannu ventured into acting with the Telugu film '' ...

and

Angad Bedi Angad Singh Bedi (born 6 February 1983) is an Indian actor and former model. He made his debut with ''Kaya Taran'' in 2004, an adaptation of a Malayalam short story by N. S. Madhavan, ''Vanmarangal Veezhumpol (When the Big Trees Fall)''. He ha ...

. Singh appeared as a judge on the Indian reality television series

MTV Roadies ''MTV Roadies'' is a youth-based reality show. It was launched in 2003 and airs on MTV India. The show is also digitally available on Voot. In this show, a group of contestants travel to different destinations and participate in various tasks ...

( ''Roadies: Real Heroes'') on MTV India.

Controversy

In December 2022, a junior athletics coach filed a complaint alleging that Sandeep Singh had sexually harassed her. Following this, a case was registered against Singh on 1 January 2023 for sexual harassment and criminal intimidation. The woman complained that Sandeep Singh called her to his camp office and sexually assaulted her. He denied the allegation and alleged that the complaint aims to commit personal vendetta against him. He resigned from the post of Sports Minister following the registration of case against him and handed over his portfolio to Chief Minister.

References

External links

*
Sandeep Singh's profile
on Bhartiya Hockey * *

12 May 2005.
Sport Channel.in

Sandeep Singh powers India to London Olympics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Sandeep 1986 births Living people Field hockey players from Haryana People from Kurukshetra district Field hockey players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Asian Games medalists in field hockey World Series Hockey players Field hockey players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Indian police officers Olympic field hockey players of India Field hockey players at the 2010 Asian Games Indian male field hockey players Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Asian Games bronze medalists for India Hockey India League players Havant Hockey Club players Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Haryana Haryana MLAs 2019–2024 Field hockey players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Arjuna Award 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup players