India’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh celebrated his 29th birthday with a pitch-side party that soon turned into a cake-smash event on the sidelines of the Hockey India League (HIL) being played at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.
On Monday, after Harmanpreet guided Soorma Hockey Club (SHC) to a win over Delhi SG Pipers via penalty shootout, the team celebrated the skipper’s birthday beside the turf as fans queued up on the edge of the stands above.
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The fans and SHC players, who were joined by Pipers’ mentor and Harmanpreet’s former India teammate PR Sreejesh, clapped along as the star drag-flicker cut the cake. A video from the celebrations, which also shows everyone singing ‘happy birthday to you’, has been shared by HIL on social media.
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As is normally witnessed in birthday parties celebrated by teams in sports, it ended with players smearing cake on Harmanpreet’s face, with Sreejesh also joining in the fun as fans tried to get the attention of SHC and India captain.
Also seen congratulating Harmanpreet were the top bosses of Hockey India, including the federation’s secretary general, Bhola Nath Singh.
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In the match before that on Monday evening, Harmanpreet converted two penalty corners with his drag-flicks to bring his team on level terms after going 0-2 down. SHC then won the game 3-1 in shootout to climb up to the No. 2 spot on the points table.
Harmanpreet, who is a two-time Olympic medallist, led the Indian team to a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics last year. He was also part of the team that ended India’s 41-year wait for an Olympic medal with a bronze at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Harmanpreet’s contribution to Indian hockey was recently recognized when he was announced as one of the recipients of India’s highest sporting honour, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, for the year 2024.
