WC medal hasn't come for long time, I want to achieve it in my career: Harmanpreet
New Delhi (PTI): India men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh has two Olympic bronze medals in his cabinet, but rues missing out on World Cup glory, an anomaly that he wants to set right in the next edition of the mega event in 2026.
India have till date won three World Cup medals -- bronze in 1971 (Barcelona), silver in 1973 (Amstelveen, Netherlands) and gold in 1975 (Kuala Lumpur) under Ajitpal Singh's leadership.
Harmanpreet, who won back-to-back Olympic bronze in Tokyo and Paris, the second one under his leadership, however, had won the Junior World Cup in Lucknow in 2016.
"The goal will always be to bag Olympic gold and a World Cup medal. The way we performed in Paris shows that we can compete with top teams and win," Harmanpreet told PTI.
"Our immediate target is next FIH Pro League matches and then win the Asia Cup and qualify directly for the World Cup. A World Cup medal hasn't come for a long time and I want to fulfil that in my career," said Harmanpreet, one the best defenders and drag-flickers of the world right now.
"...Hope we can relive those golden days during our career. We will not surrender till we achieve that," he added.
The 2026 men's FIH Hockey World Cup will be the 16th edition of the quadrennial tournament scheduled to be held from August 15 to 30 in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, Netherlands
From a personal point of view, Harmanpreet wants to better his drag-flick skills and remain fit to prolong his career.
"Drag-flick is getting tough day-by-day and the goal is to work on how to improve myself, bring in more variations and remain fit."
Harmanpreet credits current Indian women's hockey team coach Harendra Singh for shaping his career and believes the women's side drag-flicker and star forward Deepika is in good hands.
"Deepika is doing great. She produced a great performance in the Asian Champions Trophy in Rajgir, Bihar. She is a good drag-flicker and a forward who can score. She is in safe hands under Harry (Harendra) sir," he said.
"I will never forget those days and the help Harry sir provided me."
By his own admission, hockey was a coincidence in his life as Harmanpreet never aspired to play the sport.
"Hockey has chosen me as in my family there was no player, neither I had interest in hockey. I had interest in many sports like volleyball, football, athletics, basketball," he said.
"A coach in my school said try hockey and from the day I started hockey, I became a fan of it. I started the sport at 7-8 years."
Harmanpreet was the toast of the revamped Hockey India League auction recently, bagging Rs 78 lakh bid from Soorma Hockey Club of Punjab.
The HIL will be revived this season after seven years. The franchise-based league will be held in both men's and women's categoory this time.
The men's league will begin on December 28 in Rourkela, with matches continuing through two stages until the final showdown on February 1, 2025.
The maiden women's league will start from January 2, 2025 in Ranchi, with their grand finale slated for January 26.
Harmanpreet believes the HIL will be a good learning experience for youngsters and will be a feeder line to the national team.
"The biggest thing is that HIL is starting again. Happy that the highest bid was for me. These things give you motivation. Financially also you need to be strong. These things help in personal life," he said.
"The HIL is a good opportunity for youngsters to learn. In my career HIL helped me a lot and definitely it is a chance to play against top players of the world.
"They (youngsters) will get to know what is their thinking, their understanding. HIL is going to benefit Indian hockey in future.
"We can get a lot of players from here who can represent India in future. This is the best opportunity before them," he noted.
But Harmanpreet said the hefty price tag will not add any pressure on him during the HIL.
"There is no pressure because till the last day of my career every match will be tough, I will take it as a responsibility.
"The scenario will be the same in HIL as well, I will try to live up to the responsibility given to me," he said.
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SIT suspects more gold lost from Sabarimala than recovered so far
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold loss case suspects that more gold was lost from the temple than what has been recovered so far from the prime accused.
The suspicion was stated in an application filed by the SIT before the Kollam Vigilance Court seeking custody of three accused — sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty, Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari and jeweller Govardhan Roddam.
In the petition, the SIT said copper plates clad with gold, with a total weight of 42.100 kg, were handed over to prime accused Potty for electroplating at Smart Creations in 2019.
After the plating process, the remaining gold was allegedly siphoned off by the accused.
According to the SIT, gold-clad copper plates, including those from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols, plates from two nearby pillars and seven plates from the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum), were removed and taken for replating.
The seven plates from the Sreekovil doorframes included two plates depicting the Dasavatar, two bearing rashi symbols, two plates on the upper portion of the doorframes, and one plate on the Prabha Mandalam above the doorframe, which had idols of Siva and Vyali sculpted on it, the application said.
In the custody application, the SIT said Bhandari confessed that around 109.243 grams of gold was taken by him as fees for replating.
On October 25, 2025, Bhandari produced 109.243 grams of gold before the SIT, claiming it was equivalent to what he had taken as fees in 2019.
The gold recovered during the plating process was handed over to Govardhan, the SIT said.
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On October 24, 2025, Govardhan produced 474.960 grams of gold before the SIT, claiming it was equivalent to the quantity he received from Potty after electroplating.
However, the SIT said further investigation revealed that there was more gold in the gold-clad copper plates of the Dwarapalaka idols, pillars and Sreekovil doorframes than the quantity produced by Bhandari and Govardhan.
The SIT said the report of scientific analysis of samples of plated gold on copper plates sent to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, is awaited.
So far, the SIT has arrested 10 people, including two former presidents of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) who were associated with the CPI(M). The SIT, appointed by the Kerala High Court, has been given a deadline to complete the investigation by this month.
Meanwhile, a political row erupted after reports emerged about the SIT’s reported move to interrogate UDF convenor Adoor Prakash.
The reports claimed that Prakash would be questioned following the emergence of a recent photograph of Potty standing with Sonia Gandhi.
Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan on Thursday said the High Court should re-examine the decision to appoint two new officers to the SIT, alleging that the appointments were made with the knowledge of two senior IPS officers and a senior Crime Branch official who is a staunch CPI(M) supporter.
“These officers were appointed to leak information from the SIT. Hardcore CPI(M)-leaning officials are acting under pressure from the Chief Minister’s Office,” he alleged, adding that the court-appointed SIT was not being allowed to function independently.
Satheesan said information about Prakash being interrogated was leaked, while the questioning of CPI(M) leader Kadakampally Surendran last week was kept secret.
He said Prakash would cooperate if the police called him for evidence or statements, but alleged that attempts were being made to "balance" the case, as CPI(M) leaders were responsible for the "gold theft."
Similarly, Prakash said he came to know about the SIT’s plan to interrogate him through media reports.
He alleged that the Chief Minister’s political secretary P Sasi was behind the recent developments involving him.
“I am ready to appear before the SIT whenever required. I will request the presence of the media if they call me for interrogation. Otherwise, I will reveal all the details that I convey to the SIT,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Office issued a statement refuting Prakash’s claims.
It said the SIT was constituted by the Kerala High Court and the probe is being conducted under the supervision of a Division Bench of the court, with a strict directive that investigation details should not be disclosed outside.
Neither the Chief Minister’s Office nor the political secretary has any role or involvement in the matter, the statement said, adding that the allegation made by the MP was completely baseless and false.
On the other hand, CPI(M) leaders alleged that Satheesan questioned the credibility of the SIT after learning that Prakash would be interrogated.
“It is unfortunate that Satheesan has changed his version and is now blaming the SIT when it is going to interrogate Prakash. They see that the Sabarimala gold issue is now coming towards them and are taking measures to prevent it,” CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said.
He said the people of Kerala know the truth and the LDF government has not protected any accused in the case.
“We continue to maintain that no one will be protected and those behind the loss of gold from Sabarimala will be punished. It is the UDF that is changing its stance,” he said.
