Dhyan Chand the great Indian hockey legend- Life story
Major Dhyan Chand popularly known as the hockey legend or the magician of hockey. He is one of the most extraordinary men and the person who created history in hockey. A wizard who was known for his super ball control and has scored more than 400 goals in his career. Dhyan Chand was the man who was responsible for earning three gold medals.
Early Life
He was born into a Rajput family on 29 August 1905 in Allahabad Uttar Pradesh India. He was born to Sharadha Singh and Sameshwar Singh who worked in the British Indian Army. His father was often transferred so the family travelled from one city to different cities. This made it difficult that he could not continue his education for long. So he stopped his education approximately after 6 years of schooling. His family was then settled in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. His father’s Rameshwar Singh got a small piece of land for his services. Dhyanchand had two brothers Roop Singh who was also a player and another brother Mool Singh.
First Step To His Career
It was quite interesting to know that Dhyan Chand was not at all interested in sports. According to the reports he loved wrestling. It was at the age of 16 that he joined the Indian Army. He used to practice at that time after the duty at night. He waited for the moon so that the Field would light up which increased visibility. It was also believed that he was named Chand due to this as it literally means moon by his fellow players.
It was during 1922 to 1926 that he played hockey tournaments and regimental games in the Army. It was then he was selected in the team that was to go to New Zealand. The Indian Army team won 18 matches, drew to two and lost only one.When Dhyan Chand returned he was promoted to Lance Naik.
The newly formed hockey federation was making a team for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. In 1925 an Inter provisional tournament was held to select India’s national team for hockey. Dhyan Chand was happy to have the permission from the Army to play for the united provinces team as he was immediately noted for his skills and was on the team for Olympics.
The final match in the Olympics took place on 26th May with India facing the Netherlands. It was not an easy match as the top players were not well including Dhyan Chand. But keeping aside all the odds India has won its first Olympic gold medal and Dhyan Chand became the top scorer of the tournament. He scored a total of 14 goals and 5 matches. One of the newspaper report about India’s triumph said: This is not a game of hockey, but magic. Dhyan Chand is in fact the magician of hockey. He was then automatically selected for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics India’s first match in the 1932 Olympics was with Japan which it won on the score of 11-1. The team kept moving ahead and once again took victory in the golden finals.
After the Olympics the team went on to an international tour covering the United States, England and several other countries. By the end India had played 37 matches where they won 34 matches. Dhyan Chand became the captain of the Indian team in 1934. In 1936, he headed the team to the Berlin Olympics. Dhyan Chand’s magic again got a gold medal for India.
Dhyan Chand got married to Janki Devi in 1936 and had seven sons from his marriage. In 1956 at the age of 51 he retired from the Army with the rank of a major. After his retirement he coached for a while and then settled in Jhansi. As per the records it is said that this legend has spent his last time of life in poverty and was unfortunate that he was forgotten. He suffered from liver cancer and died at the age of 74 on 3rd December 1979.
Some Of His Achievements
- India’s highest award for lifetime achievement in sports is named after him, The Dhyan Chand Award
- A statue of this hockey star with four hands and four sticks was an attraction in Vienna showcasing his master control over the ball
- 29th August his birthday is celebrated as National Sports day in India.
- He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956 by the Indian government. The 20th National Award 2012 was awarded by the Union Minister of India namely ‘The Gem of India’ to the magician of Hockey Major Dhyan Chand Which was received by his son Ashok Dhyan Chand, who was a hockey Olympian himself.
- The national stadium in Delhi was renamed Dhyan Chand National stadium in 2002 in his honor.
- The Khel Ratna Award once known as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has also been renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
