This is not a game of hockey, but magic. Dhyan Chand is, in fact, the magician of hockey.
The hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand was born on 29th August 1905 in Prayag. Joined the Indian Army as Sepoy at the age of 16 into Punjab Regiment.
His Real name is Dhyan Singh later changed into Dhyan Chand, name CHAND was called by the coach as he would train in the moonlight. He was the Greatest Hockey Player in the world, that India has produced.He leads our Indian Hockey Team & won 3 Olympic Gold medals. He scored a total of 570 Goals in 185 Matches. Here are the some unknown facts about him:
1) Major Dhyan Chand was the leading goal-scorer at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics with 14 goals.
2) In the 1932 Summer Olympics, India beat USA 24-1 and Japan 11-1. Dhyan Chand scored 12 goals while his brother Roop Singh netted 13 out of the 35 goals India scored.
3) Once, when Dhyan Chand was unable to score in a match, he argued with the match referee about the measurement of the goal post. To everybody’s amazement, he was right; the goal post was found to be in contravention of the official minimum width prescribed under international rules.
4) Germany Adolf Hitler was so impressed by Dhyan Chand’s stick work that he offered him German citizenship and the rank of Colonel in his army. But he rejected it.
5) Dhyan Chand’s marvelous gameplay forced the officials in the Netherlands to break his hockey stick to check if there was a magnet inside.
6) He is the only player in the world to score more than 100 goals in the Olympics.
7) In 1956 he retired from the Indian army as Major & in the same year, he was honored with Padma Bushan.
8) His son Ashok Dhyan Chand scored an important goal in the 1975 Kuala Lumpur Hockey World Cup to win the Gold Medal in a match against Pakistan.
9) In Austria, People set up a Dhyan Chand statue with 4 hands & 4 hockey sticks, depicting his mastery of the game.
10) “He scores Goals like Runs”- Don Bradman
