As Son Tzu has rightly said “Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack.”, all over defence is said to be the best attack sometimes rather than vice versa because in reality a game is half won if a goal isn’t conceded at all.
That is why we bring to you the defending line-up of our present Indian Hockey Team.
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| Sandeep Singh |
| V. Raghunath |
His brief stint in the German league also helped him and he picked some handy drag-flicking tips from Christopher Zeller.
| Rupinder Pal Singh |
Born and brought up in Faridkot, Punjab, hockey was a family affair for this lad just like most others in his town. He is a cousin of Gagan Ajit Singh. Rupinder took to hockey at the age of 11 being inspired by the likes of Gaganajit Singh, Sandeep Singh and Jugraj Singh.
At 6’4”, Rupinder easily stands out with his beanpole physique, but he acknowledges that it is his skills that have to catch the attention of the team management.
The youngster made his international debut at the senior level incidentally at the Azlan Shah Cup, though he was left warming the benches most of the time.The decision to field a young side for the 2011 edition of Azlan Shah Cup opened up the window of opportunity for the lanky customer and he grabbed it by both hands. The European tour same year came as a good experience though he could find a place only in the standby list in the Commonwealth Games and Asiad games in 2010.
Rupinder was among the four players selected out of the National Juniors team by Jugraj Singh in event of forming a penalty corner expert group and went on to be a promising drag-flicker. “I did not achieve this overnight. My drag flick coach Jugraj has worked hard for that. I owe my success to him,” says Rupinder when asked about his recent success by TOI.
Apart from these regulars we have promising talent with Manjeet Kullu , Amit prabhakar and others.
Also Sardara Singh(Sardar Singh) sometimes falling back from his Center Midfield position is an indespensable asset.
Although we have been focussing on the current players and are going to write about the greats and x-players later, there is one name which can never be done with when we talk about indian hockey’s defence and that is
With 400+ caps , he is India’s most capped player having providing his services for india for almost 15 years and being looked upto by all upcoming defenders.
Dilip Tirkey was born to Vincent Tirkey, an Oraon Adivasi and former Oriya hockey player and Regina Tirkey on 25 November 1977.
Dilip Tirkey joined Indian National Hockey Team in 1995 and the same year he played his first international Hockey match against England. With hard work and talent, Dilip Tirkey became the captain of National Hockey Team and the team played under his captain-ship for almost 10 years. He has represented India in three Olympic Games and he is the first Oriya to achieve this success.
He has been conferred upon the following awards :
- 1996 ‘Ekalavya Puraskar’
- 1998 ‘ONGC-Hockey Year Book Award’.
- 2002 ‘Arjuna Award’.
- and in 2004, Dilip Tirkey was honoured with prestigious ‘Padma Shri’ award. His list of feats and honours can go on and on.
Take a look at Dilip Tirkey (Wikipedia)
These were the true heroes of Indian team. Next time we bring to you the strong side of the team, the midfield.
References:
- Wikipedia.
- Times of India.
how to get tickets for hokey tournament going on in Delhi ???
Good Post.