National Sports Day is celebrated in India on 29th of August every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand. Major Dhyan Chand is being honored as a hockey player popularly known as the “magician of hockey” or “the wizard of hockey.” The government of India marked 29th August as national sports day since 1995, it is being celebrated to mark the importance of sports for the youth as well as the people of India. It also states the importance of sports and physical activities in our daily lives.
About Major Dhyan Chand
Chand was born in Allahabad (now Prayagraj )on 29 August 1905 in a Rajput family to Sharadha Singh and Sameshwar Singh. Chand’s father was enlisted in the British Indian army , where he played hockey for the army. He had two brothers – Mool Singh and Roop Singh, the latter was also a hockey player. Chand studied at the Aligarh muslim university, Aligarh and finally graduated from Victoria college, Gwalior in 1932. He stated that he did not remember when is started playing Hockey before joining Army. Chand exclusively played army hockey tournaments and regimental games and was ultimately selected for Indian Army.
After successfully lobbying for reintroducing field of Hockey in Olympics the newly formed Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) made preparations to send its best possible team for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. In 1928, an Inter-Provincial Tournament was held to select the team members. Five teams participated in the inaugural nationals –United Provinces (UP), Punjab, Bengal, Rajputana and Central Provinces Chand got permission from the Army to play for the United Provinces team.
In its first game in the tournament, Dhyan Chand as the Centre-forward and Marthins, their inside-right, performed very well together. Chand attracted much attention with his clever stick-work. His penetrating runs and judicious passes seemed to assure him a position in the team that was to take part in the Olympic Games.
Olympic Career of Major Dhyan Chand
Dhyan Chand won three gold medals as a center-forward for India and is considered the greatest hockey player ever. He learned the game from British army officers and had his first international competition in 1926 on a tour of Australia and New Zealand. He led India to gold medals in 1928, 1932, and 1936. In 1936 Olympics Chand was the captain of Indian Hockey team in Berlin Olympics. In 1947-48 he was still the star of the Indian team but declined selection to the 1948 team, which prevented him from being the only hockey player to have won four gold medals. At the Olympics Chand has two of the highest scoring individual performances ever. In 1932, against the United States, he scored eight goals in leading India to a 24-1 win, while in 1936 he scored three goals against Germany, as India won in the final, 8-1. His younger brother, Roop Singh, played on the 1932 and 1936 Olympic teams and his son, Ashok Kumar, won an Olympic bronze medal in 1972. In 1956, Dhyan Chand concluded his army service at the rank of Major serving the country for 34 years. He died on 3rd December 1979 at the age of 74. He made a remarkable achievements are still being remembered by the country for which he has been awarded by various title and awards.
Awards and Honours
Major Dyan Chand was awarded by the following honours –
- Padma Bhushan(1956)
- The Gem of India – award by Union Ministry
- Dhyan Chand – a lifetime achievement award named after Dhyanchand
- For his outstanding achievements the in the feild of sports Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award is named after him to honour his contribution to Indian sports by the Government of India. The Union Sports Ministry gives this award annually to India’s best performer in international level championships.
- In 1995, Chand’s nine-foot statue was unveiled in the National Stadium, Delhi on the occasion of his 90th birth anniversary.The stadium was renamed Dhyan Chand National Stadium in 2002 in his honour.
- Dhyan Chand statue at Sipri hill, Jhansi.
- Dhyan Chand on a 1980 stamp of India.
