As Indian hockey captain Manpreet Singh was running down the centre of the Oi Hockey Stadium turf in Tokyo to celebrate the 5-4 bronze medal win over Germany on Thursday, tears were running down the cheeks of his wife Illi in faraway Kuala Lumpur.

The couple, who tied the knot in December last year after dating for over eight years, haven’t spent too much time together as Manpreet, 29, has been away on hockey duty while Illi, 28, is employed with a private university back home in Malaysia.