Akashdeep Singhਅਕਾਸ਼ਦੀਪ ਸਿੰਘ

Akashdeep Singh (born 2 December 1994) is an Indian field hockey forward from Verowal village in Tarn Taran district, Punjab, who has played more than 240 matches for India. A quick, skilful attacker who came through Punjab's academy system, he won gold at the 2014 Asian Games, silver at two Commonwealth Games and the Arjuna Award in 2020, and he played for India at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Where is Akashdeep Singh from?

Akashdeep Singh is from Verowal, a village in Khadur Sahib tehsil of Tarn Taran district in Punjab's Majha region. The village sits about 6 km from Khadur Sahib and about 25 km from Tarn Taran town, with Patti the nearest town. The 2011 Census recorded 2,564 people living in Verowal. Like many villages in Majha, Verowal lives close to hockey: the game is played in schoolyards and local clubs across the district, and the area has produced a steady line of players for Punjab and India.

Early life and hockey schooling

Akashdeep was born on 2 December 1994 in Verowal. His father, Surinder Pal Singh, served as an inspector in Punjab Police, and his elder brother Prabhdeep Singh also played hockey for India, so the game was part of family life from the start.

Akashdeep began playing hockey at school, at the Baba Gurmukh Singh Baba Uttam Singh Senior Secondary School in Khadur Sahib, and he played for the Guru Angad Dev Sports Club there in his early years. In 2006 he joined the Punjab Agricultural University Hockey Academy in Ludhiana, and from there he moved to the Surjit Hockey Academy in Jalandhar, where he trained for four years. The Surjit Academy has long been one of Punjab's main routes into the national game, and it gave Akashdeep the coaching and match practice that turned a village schoolboy into a junior international.

Junior rise and senior debut

In 2011 Akashdeep captained the Indian junior team, leading the side to third place at the Junior Asia Cup in Malaysia. He played the Junior World Cup in New Delhi in 2012, and his senior India debut followed in December 2012.

By the 2014 World Cup in The Hague he was one of India's main attacking players, and he finished as India's highest scorer at that tournament. The step from junior captain to senior regular took barely a year, and it set the pattern for the decade that followed: Akashdeep became the forward coaches turned to when India needed pace and goals in the attacking circle.

Career with India

Akashdeep's first major medal came at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, where India beat Pakistan in the final to win gold and end a 16-year wait for the title. The same year he won silver with India at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Over the next decade he collected medals across Asia's big tournaments: bronze at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, gold at the Asia Cup in Dhaka in 2017, silver at the Champions Trophy in London in 2016, and Asian Champions Trophy titles in 2016, 2018 and 2023. He won a second Commonwealth Games silver at Birmingham in 2022, and he was part of the side that won the FIH Series Finals and the Olympic qualifiers against Russia in 2019, the results that booked India's place at the Tokyo Olympics.

His biggest stage came at the Rio 2016 Olympics, his first Games. India reached the quarter-finals in Rio before going out, and Akashdeep's pace on the right flank was a regular feature of the side. In the Hockey India League he was one of the most sought-after Indian players of his generation: the Delhi Waveriders signed him in 2013, and in 2015 the Uttar Pradesh Wizards paid $84,000 for him, the highest bid for an Indian player at that auction. When the league returned in the 2024-25 season, he played as a midfielder for the UP Rudras. At home he has played for Punjab Armed Police, and he serves as a Deputy Superintendent of Police with Punjab Police.

By November 2024 he had played 247 matches for India and scored 94 goals, a tally that places him among the most-capped forwards of his era.

Why did Akashdeep Singh miss the Tokyo Olympics?

Despite helping India qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, Akashdeep was left out of the 16-member squad that travelled to Japan in 2021. The omission surprised many followers of the game: he, S. V. Sunil and Ramandeep Singh were the three experienced forwards left behind, and former India coach Vasudevan Baskaran said publicly that he had expected Akashdeep and Sunil to be in the team.

Coach Graham Reid spoke about fitness and the demands of playing back-to-back matches in Tokyo's heat, while others close to the team said fitness had not been an issue for the players left out. India went on to win bronze in Tokyo, their first Olympic hockey medal in 41 years, without him. Akashdeep returned to the side afterwards and played the 2023 World Cup in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, but he was dropped again before the Hangzhou Asian Games later that year. He continued to play in the Pro League into 2025.

Honours and later life

Akashdeep's honours include the Arjuna Award, conferred in 2020 for his contribution to Indian hockey. At the time he had played 194 matches for India, and he described the award as one of the most pleasing moments of his career, thanking Hockey India, the Sports Authority of India and his family.

In November 2024 he married Monika Malik, an Indian women's hockey Olympian from Haryana, in a ceremony near Chandigarh; the two had got engaged near Jalandhar two days earlier. As of 2023 he was also reported to be studying biological and political sciences at the University of Alberta in Canada.

Legacy

Akashdeep's career shows how Punjab's village academies still feed the national team. From a school in Khadur Sahib to the Surjit Academy and then to more than 240 matches for India, he carried the attacking style of Majha hockey onto the world stage: fast, direct and always looking for the goal. His medals, gold at the 2014 Asian Games, silvers at two Commonwealth Games and three Asian Champions Trophy titles, came in a decade when Indian men's hockey climbed back toward the top of the world game. The Tokyo omission is part of that story too, a reminder that even established players are never guaranteed a place. For young players in Tarn Taran district, he remains the local example of how far the road from Verowal can go.