New Delhi: Legendary Hockey player and captain of India’s 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold medal-winning team, Charanjit Singh, passed away on Thursday at his home in Una, Himachal Pradesh after suffering a cardiac arrest that followed prolonged age-related illnesses.
‘Dad was paralysed after suffering a stroke five years back. He used to walk with a stick but since the last couple of months, his health deteriorated and this morning he left us’, his younger son V P Singh said. The former mid-fielder was 90 and would have turned a year older next month. He is survived by two sons and one daughter. ‘His last rites will be performed today after my sister reaches Una from Delhi’, V P Singh added.
The two-time Olympian was a part of India’s glorious days. A charismatic halfback, Charanjit had led the Indian team to a historic gold medal in 1964 Tokyo Olympics, beating Pakistan in the final and also featured in the Indian team that won silver in the 1960 Games in Rome. Besides captaining the Olympic gold-winning team in 1964, he was also a part of the silver-winning side in the 1960 edition of the Games. He was also a part of the 1962 Asian Games silver-winning team.
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He was one of the architects of India’s stunning performance at the 1960 Olympics before an unfortunate injury forced him to sit out of the final against arch-rivals Pakistan, which they lost by a slender 0-1 margin. The 1960 disappointment still fresh in his mind, a Charanjit-led India turned the tables around four years later, defeating Pakistan by the same margin to clinch the gold medal. After his illustrious career in international hockey, he worked as the director of the physical education department in Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla.
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