Captain Courageous Charanjit Singh, who lead Indian hockey men’s team to clinch the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics defeating arch rivals Pakistan 1-0, was felicitated here at Dhyan Chand National stadium on Wednesday along with other surviving members of the squad to celebrate the Golden jubilee of the historic win.
An exhibition match was also played between senior men’s hockey team and the juniors in honour of the ‘Heroes of 64’.Charanjit was an extremely renowned midfielder and was badly missed when India lost 1960 Rome Olympics final to Pakistan.
Remembering that experience, the former captain said, “We lost that match to our arch rivals and it was very painful, not because we didn’t win, it was just that we put in a lot of effort and hard work. We had some chances in that match but our centre-forward missed some sitters that eventually cost us the match.”
“I missed that match because I fractured my fibula in the semi-final against Great Britain which we won 1-0. All of a sudden a new player was playing at my position and he couldn’t handle the pressure and the intensity of the game.”
In the next Olympics, India again met Pakistan in the final and Charanjit was determined this time to make amends for previous edition’s mistakes. India beat Pakistan 1-0 and clinch the gold medal.
“It was a very prestigious match as we all know that with Pakistan it is always a high intensity and thrilling match, take any sport for example. It was considered more than a game,” Charanjit said.
Talking about the current men’s hockey team and the status of the sport in the Country, the 83-year-old said, “I met the players today and I told them that they should not think of the World Cup and the Asian games, they should try to have a goal in the Olympics. Until and unless they don’t have gold in Olympics, they will not be called champions.”
“People worship the champions, not the runners-up. Indian hockey should rise and it must because it’s the national game. I think the national game has come down to a level where we are fighting for qualification in Olympics.
“When I used to play, we had uneven surfaces where we had to dribble the ball and then run with it. These days it’s all tailor- made hockey. Even though you don’t know how to dribble, you should have good speed. If you keep on dribbling then you are wasting your own energy and other team players’ too.
“We had so many rules like stick rule, off-side rule and obstruction rule but if you see today, its free hockey without any rules.” he concluded.Each of the players of the 1964 heroic squad was given a cash prize of Rs7.5 lakhs each.