“At our village, most of the youngsters would play hockey at the village ground and there were days when I would play hockey with my friends after assisting my father on the farmland to relax,” a young Harmanpreet Singh had told this newspaper in 2014. “Slowly, my interest in hockey grew and I would attend trials for various academies in Jalandhar in a hope to get a seat there.” It was at the St Soldier’s School at Jandiala Guru that Singh first started as a hockey trainee at the age of ten.

Singh, who was trained initially as a full-back by coach Yadwinder Singh at Malwa Academy in Ludhiana, would join the Surjit Singh Academy in 2010 under coaches Avtar Singh and Gurdev Singh.

While a young Harmanpreet would often hear tales about full back Surjit Singh, a member of the 1975 World Cup winning Indian hockey team who died in a road accident, his well built physique led the coaches to train the youngster for drag flicks.

“When Harmanpreet joined us, we were impressed by his physique. Most of the trainees, who come from villages, are built like that and Harmanpreet knew how to make use of his physique as a fullback at a young age. We made him play as right as well as left fullback and he understood the strengths needed for both the positions at a young age,” remembers coach Avtar Singh.

Since the academy had two drag-flickers Varun Kumar and Gagandeep Singh, Singh’s current team-mates, he was put on the drill by the coaches for a month initially.

“There was some of the Astro Turf patch remaining after new turf was laid out and we got the small astro-turf patch installed behind the main stadium in front of a goal-post and some nets surrounding the goal-post. Harmanpreet and other trainees would initially learn how to stop the ball and pull the ball. He had very strong wrists and it would help him to impart the speed to the ball. Initially he started with hitting 30-40 balls per session, which later increased to 50-60 balls per session,” says coach Avtar Singh.

He made his junior India debut in 2014, starred with nine goals in the Sultan of Johor Cup for the Indian U-21 team and 14 goals in the Junior Asia Cup in 2015, before making it to the Indian team for 2016 Rio Olympics where he was one of the drag-flickers for the team. The same year, Harmanpreet played his maiden junior world cup, scoring three goals.

“Apart from staying low and rotating, Harmanpreet would also stay upright too and fall into the ball which helped him generate speed as well the different angles. He knows how to utilize his upper body. But his favourite was to hit the ball towards goal-keeper right or to hit the ball past the first rusher. It helped him develop low angles and that has always been his strength. That’s what he showed in Paris too in some of his drag-flicks and his accuracy has helped him despite the urges to hit to his favourite positions.

“Yes, it was a bit of bad luck in the semis against Germany where his variations could not be executed but he showed his accuracy with the low corner penalty corner equaliser towards the left of the Spanish goal-keeper for India today,” says Avtar Singh.

Former Indian goal-keeper Baljit Singh Dadhwal saw a young Harmanpreet in a domestic trial in 2016. “People in the IOCL teams used to call Harmanpreet as Pehlwaan (Wrestler). It was due to his strong physique and that has remained his strength till date. His skills reminded me of a young Jugraj Singh as Harmanpreet had the same kind of power as well wrist control to flick. It helped him in accuracy at a young age. I remember Sandeep Singh and V Raghunath lacked the angles but Harmanpreet had angles as well speed in his drag flicks.

“Drag flicks like left down as well right down helped him and he would develop accuracy in that, which he showed against Australia too and in the equaliser today. Sometimes, he uses his variation to beat the rusher’s wrong foot and it’s one of the most difficult angles to create,” says Dadhwal.

The former Indian goalie also counts Harmanpreet’s goal against Australia in the 3-2 win earlier in the tournament as one of the best for Harmanpreet. “He took advantage of the gap at the left and executed the left corner shot to deceive the Australian goal-keeper; it speaks about his accuracy and presence of mind. Sometimes, he changes his footwork also to deceive the goal-keeper,” says Dadhwal.

The drag-flicker, who had scored 38 goals out of India’s 91 goals in 2022, has also developed as a leader as well as the fullback for the Indian team. Dadhwal remembers a junior match that led him to believe that Harmanpreet would develop as a captain.

“ Along with Manpreet and Mandeep, he would often discuss strategies too which helped him develop as a captain. Harmanpreet would scoop the ball well right from his junior days and also had accuracy in his passes. He also had an understanding of how to get rebounds if his ball found the rusher or poleman.” says Dadhwal.

The Singh family awaits the return of their son and they know how Harmanpreet would celebrate his goals. “His daughter Ruhanat, whom we call Khushi, is his biggest joy and he will put the bronze medal around her neck,” says Singh Senior.