ਸੁਖਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘਸੁਖਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ

Sukhjeet Singh (born 5 December 1996) is an Indian field hockey forward from Jawandpur village in Tarn Taran district, Punjab, who plays for Punjab National Bank and the Indian national team. He made his India debut in 2022 after fighting back from a serious back injury, and within two years he had won an Asian Games gold medal and a place in India's Olympic squad. At the Paris 2024 Olympics he won a bronze medal on his Olympic debut, and in 2026 he added a second Asian Games gold, a run of success that earned him the Arjuna Award in 2024.

Early life in Jawandpur and Jalandhar

Sukhjeet was born on 5 December 1996 in Jawandpur, a village in Khadur Sahib tehsil of Tarn Taran district. His father, Ajit Singh, had played hockey for Punjab Police, and after his father's selection in the police force the family settled in Jalandhar, the Doaba city famous across India for its hockey nurseries and its sports goods industry. Hockey was part of daily life at home, and Sukhjeet picked up a stick at the age of six, copying his father. He learned the basics at Jalandhar's hockey academy before moving to the state-run hockey academy in Mohali, which he joined at the age of eight, and later to Shivalik Public School in Mohali, where regular school and age-group matches sharpened his game. Leaving home so young was the first step on a path that would take him from Punjab's academy system to the national team.

How did a back injury almost end Sukhjeet Singh's career?

In 2018, when he was 22, Sukhjeet received his first call-up to the senior national camp, the moment every young Indian hockey player waits for. It fell apart almost at once. During a routine recovery session he severely injured his back, and the damage left his right leg temporarily paralysed. He spent almost five months bed-ridden, and by the time he could walk properly again he had dropped out of the 33-member core group for the national camp. He has spoken since about how his family and friends kept his belief alive in that period, and how his father's constant encouragement pushed him back onto the field. The way back ran through domestic hockey. He had already secured a permanent place with Punjab National Bank in 2017, after short stints with Sindh Bank, Punjab Police and Indian Oil, and it was in the bank's colours that he rebuilt his case. At the first Hockey India Senior Men Inter-Department National Championship in 2021 he finished as the tournament's top scorer, with Punjab National Bank taking third place, and the selectors took notice again.

India debut and the road to Paris

Sukhjeet finally wore the India shirt in February 2022, in a 2021-22 FIH Pro League match against Spain at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, and he marked the occasion with a goal on debut. He became a regular in the forward line over the next two years, and the medals followed quickly. He was part of the Indian squad that took silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, then scored three goals in six games at the 2023 World Cup in Bhubaneswar, where India finished ninth on home turf. Gold came at the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai in 2023 and at the Asian Games in Hangzhou later that year, and he added another Asian Champions Trophy gold at Hulunbuir in 2024, along with five goals in the 2023-24 Pro League season. By the time the Paris squad was named in June 2024 he had played 70 matches for India and scored 20 goals.

Paris 2024: Olympic bronze on debut

Sukhjeet was one of five Olympic debutants in the Indian men's squad for Paris 2024, and the tournament delivered the medal he had dreamed of as a boy. India reached the bronze medal match after a semi-final defeat to Germany, and on 8 August 2024 at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium they beat Spain 2-1 to finish third. Spain took the lead from a penalty stroke, but captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice from penalty corners to turn the match around, and goalkeeper P. R. Sreejesh held firm in the closing minutes of his final international. Sukhjeet had his own moment early in the match, when a move down the left flank set him up in the centre of the circle, only for his powerful shot to be deflected wide. The bronze was India's second in a row at the Olympics, after Tokyo 2020.

What kind of forward is Sukhjeet Singh?

Sukhjeet plays as a forward, and he is known for his speed and his ability to play defence-splitting passes as much as for his finishing. His game is built on quick movement and sharp work inside the circle, and he has often been the player who turns a half chance into a shot on goal. In the Paris bronze medal match he was set up in the centre of the circle by a move down the left flank, only for his powerful shot to be deflected wide, a typical example of the positions he takes up. The numbers show a steady scorer: 20 goals in his first 70 internationals, and 43 goals in 130 caps as listed on his Hockey India profile. When he first joined the camp he learned the structure of the senior team's forward line by watching and questioning senior forwards such as Mandeep Singh and Lalit Upadhyay, a habit he has credited with speeding up his progress.

Honours and life now

The medals brought formal recognition. In 2024 Sukhjeet received the Arjuna Award, one of India's highest sporting honours, for his performances in hockey. He remains an employee of Punjab National Bank and a senior member of its hockey team, and the bank felicitated him in October 2026 after his latest success with India. That success came at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya in 2026, where India beat Pakistan 4-3 in the semi-final, with Sukhjeet scoring to extend India's lead, and then beat Malaysia 5-1 in the final to win gold. The title also gave India direct qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, the next target on his horizon. As of late 2026 he is a regular in the national squad and one of Punjab's most dependable forwards, a player whose career, once nearly ended by injury, now reads as a story of persistence.