27th of January Charanjit Singh, the captain of India's gold-medal-winning hockey team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, died on Thursday at his residence in Una, Himachal Pradesh, after suffering a heart arrest as a result of age-related ailments.
The former midfielder was 90 years old and would have celebrated his birthday next month. He leaves behind two kids and a daughter.Charanjit had a stroke five years ago and has been paralysed ever since.
"Five years ago, Dad had a stroke and became paralysed. He used to walk with a stick, but his health had deteriorated in recent months, and he passed away this morning," his younger son V P Singh told PTI.
He was a member of the silver-winning squad in the 1960 Olympics, in addition to captaining the gold-winning team in 1964. He was also a member of the silver-winning Asian Games squad in 1962.
"After my sister arrives in Una from Delhi, his last rites will be done today," V P Singh said.
His wife had passed away 12 years before. His elder son is a doctor in Canada, and his younger son was by his side when he died. His lone daughter, who is married and lives in New Delhi, is his only child.
In Una, his final rites will be performed this evening.
India's glory days were witnessed by the two-time Olympian. Charanjit, a dynamic halfback, led India to a historic gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, defeating Pakistan in the final, and was also a member of the Indian squad that won silver in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Charanjit attended Dehradun's Col Brown Cambridge School and Punjab University. He worked as the director of the physical education department at Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla after his illustrious career in international hockey.
He was a key figure in India's remarkable performance in the 1960 Olympics, but an injury forced him to miss the final against arch-rivals Pakistan, which India lost by a razor-thin 1-0 margin.
With the memory of the 1960 defeat fresh in his mind, a Charanjit-led India turned the tables four years later, defeating Pakistan by the same score to win the gold medal.
"Both the teams were regarded among the strongest teams at that time, and we had a very hard outing against them," Charanjit told Hockey India Flashback Series in the run-up to last year's Tokyo Olympics (Pakistan).
"Moreover, you know how intense it is to play against Pakistan, especially in the Olympics final." The game was also briefly halted to allow both teams' tempers to cool down.
"Instead of wasting time chatting to them, I told my troops to concentrate on the game." We were put to the test, but we rose to the occasion and won the match by a razor-thin 1-0 margin to take home the historic gold medal." "Winning two medals for the country has been a time of pride and honour for me," Charanjit had stated of his Olympic successes. After winning the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, we were greeted with a warm welcome at the airport, where a large crowd had gathered, and it was a very memorable feeling for each of us." "In India, hockey was an extremely popular sport. Because of the,It was given more weight because of its long history, and our country had previously dominated this sport. The fact that we had won so many gold medals in such a major event as the Olympics was one of the main factors." Hockey India expressed its condolences on Charanjit's death, stating that the country has lost a sporting legend.
"For the hockey community, today is a sad day. Even at his advanced age, he would light up whenever there was a discussion about hockey, and he could vividly recollect every fantastic occasion he experienced during India's golden hockey days.
"He was a legendary halfback who influenced a generation of football players." He was a calm leader who will be remembered for his amazing skills on the field as well as his humility off it, according to HI president Gyanendro Nigombam.
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