Santokh Singh Matharu, popularly known as "Tokhi" was born on 8 March 1942 in Dhadda Daultpur, dist Jullundhar, Punjab, India. His family emigrated to Kenya.
He was educated at Technical High School, Nairobi where he learnt his hockey.
He played for the Combined Schools and Colleges team against Pakistan in 1960.
He played for Railway Gymkhana Club, Nairobi.
At the age of 18, he was selected for Kenya team that toured Rhodesia for the international hockey festival in Bulawayo.
He earned his first international cap for Kenya when he played against Pakistan on 6 August 1962 in Nairobi, Kenya. Later that year he was a member of the Kenya team that toured Pakistan and played in all the five test matches there.
He played in the 5 match series against India in Kenya in 1963 and all the eight test matches against India in India in 1964.
He represented Kenya at Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games where Kenya finished sixth, her best position at Olympic Games.
He played in the Test series against Pakistan in Kenya in 1965 and toured with the Kenya team on the tour of Europe which included the Hamburg International tournament in May 1966. He played in the six test match series against Pakistan in December 1966.
He represented Kenya at the Pre-Olympic tournament in Lahore, Pakistan in January 1968, the four nations tournament in Nairobi in March and in October the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games.
He represented Kenya at the 1st World Cup in Barcelona in 1971 where Kenya finished fourth.
He died on 21 July 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya at the age of 69.