Defying all odds, drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh shoots into limelight

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, August 2

Rupinder Pal Singh, 30, figuring in his second Olympics, has won acclaim as one of the best drag-flickers in the world and Tokyo 2020 presents him possibly the last chance to win an Olympics medal. The strapping, 6ft 4in tall Rupinder, who comes from an economically modest background, started playing the game at 11 and made his international debut in 2010 at the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia, which India won. He was part of the Indian team that won gold at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and bronze at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.

Rupinder’s father owned a sports shop in Faridkot but setbacks in business left them in financial trouble. They resided in a rented one-room dwelling in Dogar Basti here for many years before Rupinder hit the limelight and became a fixture in the Indian team. His older brother was a good player but had to give up the sport to take up a modest job. When Rupinder was training in Chandigarh for seven years, it put a big financial burden on his family. To keep Rupinder going, his mother Sukhwinder Kaur took to stitching clothes for a daily earning of Rs 100-150. “When he started playing in the national hockey teams, he asked me to stop this job,” remembers the mother.