As a special montage featuring hockey legends Balbir Singh Senior, Ajit Pal Singh and Harmanpreet Singh was on display, there were several moist eyes in the stands.One of the pairs belonged to Sarabjit Singh, father of the current India captain, who had come to watch his son play in the flesh for the first time. He was a witness to India’s 13-0 romp against Bangladesh in their opening match of the Asian Champions Trophy at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar on Tuesday.“I still remember the day when I left a young Harmanpreet at the Surjit Hockey Academy. He would call us every day to tell us about his excitement at training in a stadium named after 1975 World Cup winner Surjit Singh,” Sarabjit recalls while talking to The Indian Express.“I had undergone a kidney transplant last year and rarely go out. But with Harman playing for the first time here in Jalandhar, I could not miss the moment.”With Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann formally opening the tournament and later watching the match from the stands, Punjab Police Superintendent Varidnerpreet Singh Rai is busy overseeing the security for the dignitary.Rai, the nephew of 1980 Moscow Olympics gold medallist Gurmail Singh, returns for a few seconds to the VIP stands to remind his wife to take pictures of their son, India vice-captain Hardik Singh, in action.“Whenever I could watch the match, the occasion got saved in my mind forever. Whether training at Mohali or here at Surjit Hockey Stadium, Hardik always wanted to play for India and watching him play in the India jersey in Jalandhar makes this moment special for all of us,” Rai told The Indian Express.Punjab welcomes International hockey back to its stadiums. Balbir Singh Sr sir and Ajitpal Singh Sir’s montages with drone show at Olympian Surjit Singh Stadium in Jalandhar moments before India faces Bangladesh in Asian Champions Trophy. @IExpressSports https://t.co/IfWgkmdQ5J— Nitin Sharma (@Nitinsharma631) October 27, 2026After Harmanpreet opened the scoring, Mandeep Singh got on the scoresheet moments later. Father Ravinder Singh was busy clicking selfies as well as pictures of the family.Story continues below this ad“Whether it be our village Mithapur or the Surjit Hockey Stadium, whenever Mandeep played, we watched the match. He would come on a bike with me to train at the academy and today when he arrived at the same stadium in the official team bus, we got emotional,” says Ravinder.Former hockey player Ajit Singh, who played as right-half for Punjab Police, too is busy clicking pictures.“Sukhjeet was four years old when I cut my hockey stick and gave it to him. I couldn’t play for India. In 2018, he (Sukhjeet) was partially paralysed after a needling treatment went wrong and doctors told him he wouldn’t be able to play. But I helped him recover and train and since his debut for India in 2022, we thank Waheguru for every match he plays,” the proud father says.Even though midfielder and former Indian captain Manpreet Singh missed the tournament due to a calf injury, wife Illi Najwa Saddique and their two daughters were in stands to cheer for the Indian team.Story continues below this ad“Manpreet wanted us to see the special moment. It’s unfortunate that he got injured but we hope he plays in Punjab wearing the India jersey in the future,” says Saddique.With the opening ceremony lasting more than an hour, Harmanpreet’s elder daughter Ruhanat slept during the first few minutes of the match before waking up when the crowd erupted on her father scoring the opener for India. He would score another, while Mandeep helped himself to three goals. Hardik would score two goals as did Dilpreet Singh. Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek Nain, Jugraj Singh and Nilakanta Sharma also found the target. “Ruhanat understands that when her father hits the ball with power, it’s a goal most of the time,” says Harmanpreet’s wife Amandeep Kaur.