Born on January 16, 1951 at Marar near Gurdaspur, Harcharan Singh was one of the stars of Indian hockey in the 70s. A winger with exceptional speed and ball control, he dazzled for a decade. Harcharan  had his early education at Khalsa High School, Sheikhupura, where he first picked up the hockey stick and soon made it to the Jalandhar Division team at the Schools Games in 1965. Joining the College of Sports, Jalandhar, Harcharan was a member of the college XI and also represented Punjab University in the inter-University championships in 1969. His performance helped him book a place in the Punjab state team at the National Championships from 1969 to 1972. Test matches against Kenya in 1969 were his first brush with the national team before establishing himself during the International Hockey Tournament at Bombay in 1970. He also participated in the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1970 before making his Olympic mark in 1972. His best performance according to himself was against Malaysia in the semi-final of the 1975 World Cup, scoring the winning goal in extra time. On 1st January 1973, he joined Indian Army and played for them till 1981, captaining the side. Post his playing days, he managed and coached the Army and Army Services Core teams. He was honoured with the Arjun Award in 1977 and awarded the Vishisht Sewa Medal in 1981. He lives in Amritsar nowadays