The captain of India’s 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold medal-winning hockey team, Charanjit Singh took his last breath on Thursday at his home in Una, Himachal Pradesh after the legend suffered a cardiac arrest following prolonged age-related illnesses.
He was 90 years old and would have turned 91 in the coming month.
देवभूमि हिमाचल के ऊना में जन्मे पूर्व भारतीय हाकी खिलाड़ी व कप्तान श्री चरणजीत सिंह जी का देवलोकगमन दुखदाई है। आपका देहावसान खेल जगत की एक बहुत बड़ी क्षति है।
चरणजीत जी के नेतृत्व में ही भारतीय टीम ने 1964 में टोक्यो ओलंपिक में स्वर्ण पदक जीता था।खेल में उन्हें असाधारण प्रतिभा.. pic.twitter.com/oCowoRjSWl
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) January 27, 2022
Five years ago, the legend had suffered a stroke and has been paralyzed since then. Charanjit Singh’s son, VP Singh said to PTI, “Dad was paralyzed 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.”
Apart from leading the Olympic Gold winning team in 1964, he was also a part of the team which won the silver medal at the Rome Olympics. He was also a part of the silver winning team in the 1962 Asian Games.
Charanjit Singh has been awarded the Arjuna Award for Hockey and was also employed with Punjab police.
VP Singh said that his last rites will be performed today after his sister arrives in Una from Delhi. Charanjit Singh’s wife passed away twelve years back. His elder son is a doctor based in Canada, his younger son was next to him when he breathed his last breath and his only daughter is married and lives in Delhi. His last rites are to be performed this evening in Una.
