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Looking for a new peg after retirement
“Football, coaching and this,” Sukhwinder Singh said while pouring pegs of his favourite tipple, “are the only things I know.” Frugal eating habits, yoga and a daily exercise regimen should preserve the association with whiskey but retirement from JCT next month could end the other two, reports Dhiman Sarkar.
“Football, coaching and this,” Sukhwinder Singh said while pouring pegs of his favourite tipple, “are the only things I know.” Frugal eating habits, yoga and a daily exercise regimen should preserve the association with whiskey but retirement from JCT next month could end the other two.
“I haven't really thought about it. I have never been approached by another club because everyone knew I wouldn’t leave JCT. Now, let's see,” he said, pre-empting HT's question on retirement plans. “All I know is that my house in Phagwara is ready and vacating official quarters won’t be a problem,” Sukhwinder, the face of the JCT football team for 17 years, said.
Since taking over from late GS Virk, the even-tempered Singh has won everything worth winning in Indian football, the journey beginning with a 4-2 drubbing of East Bengal on way to the 1992 Durand Cup trophy. “We beat all Kolkata teams in the Durand Cup that year.”
And it was during his four-year tenure as national coach that India notched up their biggest win in recent times — a 1-0 victory over UAE in April 2001. When Stephen Constantine’s India won the LG Cup ending the senior team's 31-year-wait for silverware, Sukhwinder was the technical director, a post he eventually relinquished.
