Mandeep Singh has been one of the mainstays of the Indian hockey team over most of the last decade and the crafty attacker’s efforts helped India to a second consecutive Olympic bronze medal in the recently-concluded Paris Games. For the Punjab forward, winning medals in consecutive Olympics is the highlight of his international career.
“Nothing can compare with the feeling of winning an Olympic medal. This is the highest honour for a sportsman. The welcome we got after returning to India was amazing,” Mandeep said on the sidelines of the felicitation ceremony by the Odisha government.
The Indian team came up with a near-perfect run at the Paris Olympics, dribbling past medal contenders like New Zealand, Belgium, Australia, Argentina and Britain before going down to Germany in the semifinals.
“We were on the money doing most parts of the semifinal, until those final few minutes left us on the wrong side. Credit to the Germans for executing their plans well in the match, it wasn’t our day. Yes, we had the best chance to go for the gold but then that’s sports, you play for those wins, you feel the pinch after such narrow losses,” he said.
The Harmanpreet Singh-led side eventually bagged the bronze medal by defeating Spain 2-1 in the playoff for the third spot. Mandeep said that after the semifinal loss, the Indian team couldn’t afford another heartbreak and thus channelised all their energy to win against Spain.
Against Spain in the playoff for the third place, the Indian side displayed excellent fighting spirit to bounce back from a goal down and claim victory in convincing fashion.
“It was the do-or-die moment… as a team we had lost the semifinals, so the next best way to finish the tournament was to pick the bronze. We had the mindset to challenge any opponent, and I’m proud of the entire team that they rose to the occasion thinking there was no tomorrow,” he said.
“We had the faith in ourselves that we can win from any situation. And it exactly happened that way in the end, when Harmanpreet scored from a penalty corner,” Mandeep said.
It was the first time since 1972 when the Indian team won a second consecutive Olympic medal, and even as the entire country celebrated the resurgence of Indian hockey, Mandeep is already looking forward to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“This is indeed a historic moment, and I’m forever grateful to be a part of this journey. But as players, there’s always the ultimate dream. Winning medals in back to back Olympics is not an easy task, we have to keep up this momentum and maintain this form as we hunt for the gold in the LA Olympics,” he said.
For the Indian hockey team, the Paris Games will forever remain special as it marked the end of a glorious era with the retirement of veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh after famously being India’s Wall for more than a decade and half.
“As a team even before we left India, we wanted to win for Sreejesh. His contribution to Indian hockey has been invaluable, and we will miss him from here on,” said Mandeep.