Wedding bells ring for hockey Olympians Mandeep, Udita

Hockey Olympians Mandeep Singh and Udita Duhan are all set to embark on a new journey together as the star players will tie the knot at a gurdwara in Jalandhar’s Model Town on March 21.

Mandeep, a forward in the Indian men’s team, hails from Mithapur village in Jalandhar while Udita, a strong defender, comes from Hisar in Haryana.

Both were part of the Indian contingent for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where the men’s team, led by Mandeep, clinched a historic bronze medal. The women’s squad finished fourth, narrowly missing out on a podium finish. The men’s team repeated their bronze medal feat at the 2024 Paris Olympics, while the women’s team couldn’t qualify for the event.

Mandeep—appointed a DSP in the Punjab Police in March last year— and Udita will be the third Olympics couple to exchange vows in the past decade. In November last year, Akashdeep of Tarn Taran had married Monika Malik of Sonepat. In 2015, hockey star Gurvinder Chandi tied the knot with two-time sprinter Manjit Kaur of Jalandhar.

Celebrations are in full swing at Mithapur, with residents excited about the star wedding. The ceremony is expected to see the presence of several influential personalities from Punjab’s sports world and other fields.

The festivities will begin with a pre-wedding bash on March 19 evening, which is likely to be attended, among others, by Indian hockey players. The wedding will be solemnised as per Sikh traditions at the gurdwara on the morning of March 21. A grand reception has been planned the next day at a resort on the Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur road.