The greatest hockey player of India, ‘Major Dhyanchand Singh’, worldwide known as ‘Hockey Wizard’, was born on 29 August 1905 in the Prayagraj, formerly Allahabad.
His splendid performance at the inter-provincial tournament as the centre-forward and his partnership with George Marthins, the inside-right, meant Dhyan Chand was in India’s first-ever hockey squad for the Olympic Games. Though they had to face some financial troubles before reaching Amsterdam, once in the Dutch city, the Indian field hockey team was in their groove as they made the competition their own with some fantastic hockey.
Leading the charge was their centre-forward hockey player, Dhyan Chand, who top-scored with 14 goals in 5 matches en route to a gold medal in their debut appearance.The coming years would see Dhyan Chand’s legend grow manifold as the man from Allahabad took his game a notch higher and helped India defend their Olympic gold at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. This time though, the win was a little more special as Dhyan had his brother Roop Singh along in the team that took the gold in LA.
Dhyan Chand brought glory to nation by winning three Olympics gold medals. He is one of the greatest sportspersons our country has ever produced. He was the man who mesmerised everyone with his silky stick-work earning him the nickname ‘hockey wizard.’
Returning from their triumph in Berlin, Chand joined his regiment and confined himself to army hockey. Though the sport in India continued to scale greater heights with the likes of Balbir Singh Sr leading the charge as India went on an all-conquering era, Dhyan Chand’s contribution remains unparalleled. He retired from his army service in 1956 as Major Dhyan Chand and was conferred the Padma Bhushan – the third-highest civilian award in India – the same year. He would take up coaching soon and was later named the chief coach of the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala. He died late in 1979, at the age of 74, but the legend lives on in India.
On 29 August 1995, the government of India had decided to celebrate the date of birth of Dhyan Chand as the National sports day in India to pay tribute and respect this legendary hockey player. As a tribute to him, the National Stadium of Delhi was also renamed Major Dhyan Chand stadium, Delhi.
The nation celebrates its National Sports Day on Dhyan Chand’s birthday (August 29), and he is the only hockey player to have a commemorative postage stamp and the First-Day Cover in his honour. The Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports is a national sporting honour named after the hockey legend. The national stadium in New Delhi is also named after him and the legend of Dhyan Chand continues to serve as an inspiration to many hockey players.
National Sports Day is also celebrated extensively at the national level. It is organized every year in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the President of the country gives National Sports Awards to the respective winners who have enhanced the value of the tricolor flag all over the world.
Under the National Sports Award, players and former players are honored with many other awards like Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, and Dronacharya Award. Along with all these honors, “Dhyanchand Award” is also given on this day.
