Dhyan Chand is considered the greatest player in the history of hockey. He is also called the ‘Magician of Hockey’. In December 1934, Dhyan Chand was appointed as the captain of the team. Dhyan Chand has won 3 Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, 1936) for his country.
Dhyan Chand was an Indian hockey player. He was born on 29 August 1905 in Allahabad, United Province, British India. He died on 3 December 1979 in Delhi. He discontinued his studies after completing class 6th.
His father’s name was Sameshvar Dutt Singh. He was a Subedar in Indian Army. His mother’s name was Sharda Singh. He had two brothers, Mool Singh, who was a police constable, and Roop Singh, who was also a hockey player.
He was married to Janki Devi in the year 1936. The names of his children are Brij Mohan, Sohan Singh, Raj Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Umesh Kumar, Devendar Singh and Virendar Singh.
Dhyan Chand’s favourites
His hobbies were cooking food, fishing, photography, playing cricket and carrom.
He liked to eat mutton, fish, and halwa. He was also very fond of drinking milk.
Interesting facts about Dhyan Chand
Dhyan Chand is considered the greatest player in the history of hockey. He is also called the ‘Magician of Hockey’.
Dhyan Chand was part of Indian Army and had no interest in playing sports initially.
Once when Dhyan Chand was 14 years old, he went with his father to watch a hockey match. One of the teams was losing by two goals, and observing this, Dhyan Chand requested his father if he could play for the losing team. His father encouraged him and as a result, Dhyan Chand scored 4 goals in that match. The army officers were massively impressed by his agility and offered him to join the army.
In the year 1921, he joined the British Indian Army as a soldier at the age of 16.
Dhyan Chand's real name was Dhyan Singh. The name ‘Chand’, meaning ‘moon’, was given to him by his coach Pankaj Gupta because he used to practice in the nights.
Dhyan Chand’s debut match
In the year 1925, he played his first national match and then he was selected for the Indian national team.
He scored a hat-trick of goals in his international debut match.
In the year 1928, Amsterdam Summer Olympics, he scored 14 goals in 5 matches and became the highest scorer in the tournament.
In 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, India won the crown again.
Leading as a captain
In December 1934, Dhyan Chand was appointed as the captain of the team.
In the year 1935, the cricket legend Don Bradman watched Dhyan Chand’s hockey match and was so impressed with his performance that he praised Dhyan Chand by saying, ‘You score goals like runs’.
At the Berlin Olympics in 1936, Dhyan Chand again became the leading goal scorer and India won the gold medal under his leadership.
Dhyan Chand’s retirement
In the year 1948, Dhyan Chand played his last international match.
In the year 1956, at the age of 51, Dhyan Chand retired from the army with the rank of Major.
Dhyan Chand was not able to score a goal against the opposition team in a match. He raised objections regarding the measurement of the goal. Later, it was found that the official width of the goal did not follow international rules.
Dhyan Chand scored around 400 goals in his international career from 1926 to 1948. Dhyan Chand retired from first-class hockey in the year 1994.
Honouring a legend
An Indian postage stamp was issued, honouring Dhyan Chand for his significant contribution to Indian hockey.
Since 2002, ‘Dhyan Chand Award’ is awarded by the Indian Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to recognize the lifelong work of a sportsperson.
Dhyan Chand's birthday is celebrated every year as Indian National Sports Day.
Records and achievements
Dhyan Chand scored almost 1000 goals in his hockey career, out of which 400 were in international matches.
Dhyan Chand has won 3 Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, 1936) for his country.
In the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, he scored the highest number of 14 goals and also scored the highest number of goals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
In the year 1935, on the tour of New Zealand and Australia, Dhyan Chand made the world record of scoring 201 goals in 43 matches.
In the year 1955, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan.
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