ਫਲਿਕਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਵਜੋਂ ਜਾਣਿਆ ਜਾਣ ਵਾਲਾ ਸੰਦੀਪ ਸਿੰਘ ਹਰਿਆਣਾ ਦੇ ਸ਼ਾਹਾਬਾਦ ਮਾਰਕੰਡਾ ਦਾ ਸਾਬਕਾ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਹਾਕੀ ਖਿਡਾਰੀ ਹੈਸੰਦੀਪ ਸਿੰਘ

ਮੁੱਢਲਾ ਜੀਵਨ

Sandeep Singh Saini was born on 27 February 1986 in Shahabad Markanda, a town in Kurukshetra district in Haryana, to Gurucharan Singh Saini and Daljeet Kaur Saini. His elder brother Bikramjeet Singh was already a hockey player, playing for Indian Oil, and it was Bikramjeet who first coached Sandeep and drew him into the game. Sandeep was educated at Shivalik Public School in Mohali, and in his teens he trained at a hockey academy, working on the penalty corner skill that would define his career.

The drag flick is a specialist shot taken from a penalty corner, in which the attacker scoops the ball off the turf and releases it at speed while running in, rather than hitting it from a standing start. It demands timing, wrist strength and nerve, and Sandeep built his whole game around it. While other defenders cleared the ball and moved on, he turned the penalty corner into India's most reliable source of goals.

Breaking into the Indian team

Sandeep made his senior international debut in January 2004 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur, aged 17. Three months later he helped India win the Junior Asia Cup in Karachi and finished as the tournament's top scorer with 16 goals. Later that year he was part of India's squad at the Athens Olympics, where India finished seventh.

He played as a fullback and became India's penalty corner specialist. His flick was reported to travel at around 145 kilometres per hour, among the fastest in the world, and the press began calling him Flicker Singh. By February 2010 he had played 147 matches for India and scored 110 goals, a remarkable return for a defender.

What happened to Sandeep Singh in 2006?

On 22 August 2006, Sandeep was travelling on the Kalka Shatabdi Express from Ambala to Delhi to join the national team, which was due to leave for the World Cup in Germany two days later. During the journey he was hit by an accidental gunshot. The bullet struck his lower back and hip, damaged his spine and left him almost paralysed. He spent about a year in a wheelchair, and doctors doubted whether he would ever play hockey again.

He was first treated at PGIMER in Chandigarh and later went abroad for rehabilitation. During his recovery he asked his brother to bring him his hockey stick, and he used it as a walking stick while he worked to get back on his feet. He fell many times in training, but he kept going, determined to return to the game he had nearly lost.

The comeback and the captaincy

Sandeep returned to the Indian team at the 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and scored eight goals, finishing as the tournament's top scorer. In January 2009 he was made captain of the Indian team. Later that year he led India to the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup title in Ipoh, beating Malaysia in the final and ending a 13 year wait for the trophy. He was the tournament's top scorer and was named Man of the Tournament.

Rajpal Singh took over the captaincy in 2010, but Sandeep remained central to the side. He won a silver medal with India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and a bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, where he was again the top scorer with 11 goals. In early 2012 he scored 16 goals at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Delhi, including five in the 9-1 final win over France, which sent India to the London Olympics after an eight year gap. India finished 12th in London.

Club hockey and honours

After his international career, Sandeep played in the Hockey India League for three teams. Mumbai Magicians bought him for US$64,400 in 2013, against a base price of US$27,800, and he was the top scorer that season with 11 goals in 12 games. He played for Punjab Warriors in 2014 and 2015, and Ranchi Rays signed him for US$81,000 ahead of the 2016 season. He also played club hockey in England for Havant Hockey Club in 2014.

His honours include the Arjuna Award in 2010, India's national sports award for outstanding achievement, and a bronze medal at the Champions Challenge in Belgium in 2007. He also holds the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Haryana Police.

Politics and public life

Sandeep entered politics after his playing career. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and won the Pehowa seat in Kurukshetra district in the 2019 Haryana Assembly election, polling 42,613 votes and beating Mandeep Singh Chatha of the Congress by 5,314 votes. He was reported to be the first Olympian from Haryana to enter the state assembly. He was then sworn in as Haryana's Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs and Minister of Printing and Stationery.

In December 2022 a junior athletics coach accused him of sexual harassment. Chandigarh Police registered a case, and on 1 January 2023 he gave up the sports portfolio. He has denied the allegation and says he was falsely implicated. On 29 July 2024 a Chandigarh court framed charges against him, including molestation and criminal intimidation, and rejected his plea for discharge. In the 2024 Haryana Assembly election the BJP did not field him from Pehowa, and the seat was won by Mandeep Singh Chatha. In May 2026 a Chandigarh court rejected a prosecution request to add an attempt to rape charge and move the case to a sessions court. The trial on the charges framed in 2024 was still going on, with no verdict reported, as of 2026.

Soorma and legacy

Sandeep's life story reached a wide audience through the 2018 Hindi film Soorma, directed by Shaad Ali and released on 13 July 2018. Diljit Dosanjh played Sandeep, Taapsee Pannu played his wife Harjinder Kaur, and Angad Bedi played his brother Bikramjeet. The film follows his rise, the 2006 shooting, his recovery and his return to the Indian team. Sandeep also appeared as a judge on the MTV India show Roadies: Real Heroes.

Harjinder Kaur was herself a hockey player and an India probable. She stood by Sandeep through his long rehabilitation, and the couple married in 2008 and have a son. After his playing days Sandeep worked as a technical and consulting adviser to Collectives for Integrated Livelihoods and was associated with a Tata Trusts programme to help young hockey players. He is remembered as one of India's finest drag flickers, a captain who brought home the Azlan Shah Cup, and a player whose comeback from a wheelchair to the national team became one of Indian sport's best known stories.