When Sardar Singh was leading the Indian contingent at the Incheon Asian Games opening ceremony as flag bearer, the hockey skipper had no idea that everyone in his family was watching him save one man — his grandfather.
Four days before the opening ceremony on September 19, Sardar’s grandfather had passed away but his family did not let the sad news reach him. “They did not want me to get distracted. I was very close to Dada ji (grandfather) since my childhood. I even called my family from Incheon, telling them I will be the flag bearer, watch me on TV but they did not divulge it to me,” Sardar said.
“It was only after the Games were over that I got to know about it. My dada ji had always encouraged me to play this sport with passion and he was keen to see us doing well,” he said.