Ahlawat, who has been based mostly out of Edmonton in Canada since 2005, and was one of many first coaches at CHFA together with the late Jasbir Singh Bajwa, mentioned he had no thought in regards to the growth.
Ahlawat mentioned Thursday morning in Canada that the very first thing he did after listening to the information was to speak along with his former apprentice. “We spoke after the Indian hockey team won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics. Rupinder was very emotional and was talking about Jasbir Bajwa sir. I remember, I went to Faridkot in 2002 for talent hunt to select the first batch for CHFA and I was impressed by the physique of a young Rupinder. As we worked on the fundamentals including hitting, dodging, stopping, he showed his talent and within six months, I started training him to drag-flick. It will be my biggest reward to see him finish his career with an Olympic bronze medal, scoring more than 100 goals for India and three at the Tokyo Olympics,” mentioned Ahlawat, who now runs a building enterprise in Canada.
Rupinder Pal Singh with the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal in Tokyo (Twitter)
Rupinder, whose father Harinder Singh runs a sports activities store in Faridkot, began enjoying hockey at Baba Sher Shah Wali Academy in Ferozepur in 1999 and moved to Chandigarh in 2002 to affix the primary batch of 25 trainees of the Chandigarh Hockey Academy. earlier than being. Chachi, who lived in Sector 37, stayed at Rupinder Academy and studied at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 42 and later GMSS-35. He made his junior India debut on the Singapore Challenge in 2007 earlier than enjoying for the Indian junior group within the Eight Nations Cup in Malaysia. He was later handed the senior India debut within the 2010 Azlan Shah Cup.
Over the previous 11 years, Rupinder has been part of the 2014 Asian Games gold medal and 2014 CWG silver medal profitable Indian hockey group, apart from being a member of the 2018 Asian Games bronze medal profitable Indian hockey group. Singh, who scored 11 objectives within the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy, scored a complete of 119 objectives in 223 matches for the Indian group. Rupinder, a drag-flicker, is the maternal uncle of former Indian hockey participant Gagan Ajit Singh.
“It has been a long journey for me as a hockey player for the last 21 years and ending my career with an Olympic medal around my neck is the best memory I can ask for. I started playing hockey at Baba Sher Shah Wali Academy, the brainchild of former Punjab DIG Hardeep Singh Dhillon, and remember going to Ferozepur with my elder brother. When I joined CHFA in 2002, it marked my debut as a professional hockey player and I always remember training under Late Jasbir Bajwa Sir, OP Ahlawat Sir and our coach Iqbal Singh Sir. I can only wish that my journey inspires more and more youngsters,” shared an emotional Rupinder.
Rupinder’s longtime accomplice and fellow trainee of the primary batch of CHFA, Dharamvir Singh recalled his days as trainees because the time he spent within the Indian hockey group. “We shared an instant bond when we joined Chandigarh Hockey Academy. I remember we joined the academy in June and there were no holidays till December. Therefore, each of us treated each other like a member of the family, which continues to this day. Later, we played in Indian junior teams as well as senior team including 2014 Asian Games and 2014 CWG. I still believe that Rupinder still has 3-4 more years of hockey left. I wish him all the best,” shared Dharamveer, who’s posted as DSP in Punjab Police in Kurali.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
