Charanjit Singh was an Indian field hockey player. Singh captained the Indian hockey team that won the gold medal in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞
Singh was born in Mairi, Himachal Pradesh (then Punjab, British Raj). 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. 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 the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, beating Pakistan in the final and also featured in the Indian team that won silver in the 1960 Games in Rome.
Charanjit was an alumnus of Col Brown Cambridge School, Dehradun, and Panjab University. After his illustrious career in international hockey, he worked as the director of the physical education department at Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla. 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.
Recollecting the fond memory in the lead-up to last year's Tokyo Olympics, Charanjit had told Hockey India Flashback Series: "Both the teams were regarded among the strongest teams during that time, and we had a very challenging outing against them (Pakistan).
Death
He died from a heart attack at his home in Una on 27 January 2022, at the age of 90
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