In the summer of 2021, inside the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo emptied by the pandemic, the Indian men’s team etched a moment into history. The bronze-medal playoff against Germany was their last shot at the podium.
The Manpreet Singh led Indian team came-from-behind to beat Germany 5-4 to end India’s 41-year Olympic medal drought. This was after India lost the semi-finals to Belgium 2-5.
“When we lost the semi-final, everyone was upset,” said Manpreet exactly four years after the historic medal win in a chat with The Bridge. “The next day, we took some time off and decided to go for a walk.
“We went to a park, sat together, and just talked, trying to change the atmosphere a bit. The day after, we went for the match and won bronze,” relived Manpreet.
“We were so happy, we didn’t even know how to celebrate. Sreejesh was on the pole, and the celebration was just different. None of us knew what to do. We couldn’t believe we had actually won the bronze medal.
“It was only in the evening, when the medal was around our necks, that it started to feel real. We had finally done it,” he said, adding “If the team hadn’t believed in themselves that day. It would’ve been difficult.”
For many, it was a long-awaited triumph but for Manpreet, it was something far deeper.
“Tokyo was more than a medal for me. I had played two Olympics before, finishing 12th in London and 8th in Rio. We fought hard in Tokyo, even playing with one man down for 45 minutes in the quarter-final. But the dedication of our team was unmatched,” he added.
Training during the Pandemic
The process was not so simple. The preparation for the Tokyo Olympics had its own challenges. The pandemic halted everything. The team was stuck in a bio-bubble at the Sports Authority of India campus in Bangalore. Away from families, the team used that extra time to train harder.
“The atmosphere before the Tokyo Olympics was unlike anything we had ever experienced. We were in lockdown. The world was uncertain. The Olympics had been postponed,” he recalled.
“We were training in Bangalore at the time, away from our families. We took it all in our stride. We had one extra year to improve, to correct the things we hadn’t done well before. We didn’t want to return from Tokyo with the feeling that we hadn’t done enough,” the 33-year-old added.
The team also had experience. Some players had played in the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics.
“We had Olympic experience on our side as some of us played in London 2012, and in Rio 2016. We used those past experiences and spoke openly in team meetings. This time, we weren’t going to Tokyo just to participate,” he said.
More than just a medal
Manpreet feels that was a moment of inspiration for the younger generation. For many young fans, it was the first time they had seen India win an Olympic medal in hockey.
“When I came back to India after the Tokyo Olympics, the feeling was different. For the younger generation, this was the first time they had ever seen an Olympic medal in hockey. For 41 years, India had waited,” he mentioned.
And yet, behind this public celebration was a personal pain. For Manpreet, it was a tribute to his father.
He had lost his father in 2016 during the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. He attended the funeral and on his mother’s insistence regrouped with the team to complete the tournament.
“He [father] was my biggest supporter. I was his favorite. Losing him was a wound that still hasn’t healed,” an emotional Manpreet shared.
“Every time I go home, I sit with my mom and we remember those moments. She still tells me, ‘We never imagined this, but you did it.’ Though my father wasn’t physically there, he is a part of everything I’ve achieved. He would have been proud,” he added.
Now a father to two young daughters, Manpreet enjoys taking on his daddy duties in his away time from the sport. Balancing family life with the demands of international sport, Manpreet draws strength from his role as a father and continues to battle on for India in the hockey field.
