The Hindu : Sport : Sandeep Singh injured

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006

Sport

Sport

Sandeep Singh injured

Special Correspondent

FREAK INCIDENT: Sandeep Singh being taken to the PGIMER in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Chandigarh: India international Sandeep Singh was injured when the service pistol of an Assistant Sub-Inspector, Mohar Singh, accidentally went off and hit his right hip when travelling in the Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi Express on Tuesday morning.

The accident took place near Kurukshetra and Sandeep was taken to the General Hospital there. He was referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh where he was stated to be out of danger.

The Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who rushed to the PGI, announced that the State Government would bear the entire expenditure on the player's treatment.

The Government has given Rs. 50,000 to his parents to meet immediate needs. Sandeep, along with Rajpal Singh, was on his way to New Delhi to participate in a training camp for next month's World Cup.

Replacements

Our New Delhi bureau adds:

Meanwhile, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has asked three penalty-corner specialists, including Jugraj Singh, to join the Indian team "as early as possible" in an effort to find a suitable replacement for Sandeep, who has been practically ruled out. The other two are Raghunath and Bikramjit Singh. "We have been hit very badly by this unfortunate incident. We will miss Sandeep very much. He is the best penalty-corner flicker. It is very sad; we had a lot of plans for him," said the Chief Coach of the Indian team, V. Baskaran, on Tuesday as he assessed the unforeseen development.

Baskaran said that quite possibly the three players would be able to join the team in Germany before the warm-up matches against Belgium on August 29 and 30. "We will have the option of naming a replacement (for Sandeep) just before the World Cup starts," he added.

The team management already has a good idea about the form of the three players named now and it would be further guided by the performance of Raghunath in Colombo. As for Jugraj, who has staged an amazing comeback after having met with a terrible road accident in September 2003, it will be the moment he would have been waiting for if he were to play again at the highest level.

The team that assembled at Gurgaon on Tuesday is scheduled to leave here on Thursday.

All assistance

Meanwhile, the Sports Authority of India stated that it would provide all assistance to Sandeep.

"Whatever is required in terms of assistance, rehabilitation programme, training facilities and any other support, SAI will be keen to undertake that responsibility," said the SAI Secretary, B. K. Sinha.

Expresses concern

Agencies add:

"It is a very serious incident. He is a world-class player and we are putting a lot of hope and confidence in him (for India's success in the World Cup)," said the IHF President, K.P.S. Gill.

The IHF Secretary, K. Jothikumaran, said, "it is bad news for Indian hockey. We are taking further steps."

Indian captain Dilip Tirkey said the country now had no other drag flicker of Sandeep's ability. "It is definitely bad news for us," he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport