Indian hockey defender Jarmanpreet, who once served doping ban, geared up for Olympics debut

New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) A frustrating doping ban jolted Jarmanpreet Singh’s career in 2016, but he has long forgotten that bitter episode and the defender is all geared up for his Olympics debut in Paris later this month.

Jarmanpreet, a regular member of the Indian hockey team in the last few years, was picked in the 16-member Indian team for the Paris Games.

“It was not easy. It was one of my darkest phases, with many uncertainties,” said Jarmanpreet on the doping ban from 2016 to 2018.

“Players don’t usually emerge from a setback like this. To sit out of matches for two years is a big gap in the sport,” he recalled.

Jarmanpreet was then a promising player on his way to playing for India at the Junior World Cup 2016 when he was slapped with the doping ban.

The Punjab player did not give up and served out the two-year period in exile before making a return to competitive hockey and then to the Indian senior team.

“But I was persistent and I knew I had to bounce back. I don’t think I could have done this without a strong domestic structure where I could show the selectors that I still had it in me,” said Jarmanpreet, who is now an Income Tax officer, in a Hockey India release.

“In 2018, after the Hockey India Senior Men National Championship, I was among the 50 probables in the camp. Hockey India gave me a chance to rebuild my career. I was selected for the national programme for senior men where I was given an opportunity to catch up with my peers and make my senior India debut.

“They saw that potential in me and I didn’t give up on my dream to play for India at the Olympic Games,” he noted.

The 27-year-old has played in 98 international matches since making his India debut at the 2018 Champions Trophy in Breda, the Netherlands, where India won the silver medal.

He was a part of the Indian team that won a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 and silver-winning squad at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Now in Switzerland where the Indian team is going through a mental conditioning camp, Jarmanpreet is excited and eager to experience his first outing in the Olympics.

“The journey so far with this team has been incredible. We have gone through the highs and lows as one strong unit. Now, we are focused on our goal and we are in the last block of our preparations.

“I am super excited and eager to start our campaign at the Paris Olympics,” he said.