Major Dhyan Chand Biography, Birth Anniversary, Achievements

Major Dhyan Chand Biography

Major Dhyan Chand: Dhyan Chand Singh played hockey for India and is regarded as the all-time best player the sport of hockey has ever produced. He was likely the first Indian athlete to ever compete at a level of skill in any sport which led to numerous misconceptions about his hockey playing prowess.

Dhyan Chand Singh was born to Sameshwar Singh and Sharada Singh in Allahabad on August 29, 1905. In India, the anniversary of his birth is honoured as National Sports Day. For the civil services exam, read more about the incredible Indian athlete Dhyan Chand in this edition of This Day in History.

Major Dhyan Chand Birth Anniversary

Major Dhyan Chand was born in Allahabad on August 29, 1905. He goes by the name of Major Dhyan Chand. His mother’s name was Sharda Singh and his father’s name was Sameshwar Dutt Singh; he is also referred to as a hockey wizard. His father served as an army subedar. The oldest of three brothers, Dhyan Chand, was. He had two further brothers, Mool Singh and Roop Singh.

Major Dhyan Chand’s Early Life

He was born to a Bais Rajput family on August 29, 1905, in Prayag (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh. His father played hockey while serving as a Subedar in the Indian Army. When he was younger, he went by the name Dhyan Singh. He had two brothers, Mool Singh and Roop Singh, the latter of whom was a talented hockey player. Dhyan’s family moved around a lot before settling down permanently in Jhansi, thus he was unable to continue his schooling after the sixth grade.

Important Facts Related to Major Dhyan Chand

Famous Indian hockey player Major Dhyan Chand played the game. He continues to be regarded as the greatest hockey player India has ever produced. Following in his father’s footsteps, Dhyan Chand enlisted in the Indian Army at the age of 16. His impressive success in the regimental games and army hockey competitions revealed his untapped talent as a superb hockey player. He was selected without debate for the Indian Army team that will visit New Zealand.

Major Dhyan Chand: Introduction to Hockey

Although he loved wrestling a lot, Dhyan was not a big sports fan when he was little. With his companions, who had previously made hockey sticks out of tree branches and balls out of tattered garments, he began playing the sport. When he was 14 years old, he and his father went to a hockey game when one team was trailing by two goals.

Dhyan scored four goals for the team after insisting that his father play on the losing side and an Army Officer complied. Dhyan was 16 years old in 1922 when he was enlisted as a Sepoy in the Punjab Regiment after the officer was impressed by his abilities and offered him a place in the army.

In the Army, Subedar-Major Bhole Tiwari of the Brahmin Regiment served as Dhyan’s tutor and instructed him in the fundamentals of the sport. Dhyan Singh’s first coach, Pankaj Gupta, foretold that Chand, or the Moon, as it is known in Hindi, will one day shine brightly. As a result, Dhyan Singh later adopted the name Dhyan Chand.

Check here Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Awards List which was earlier known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards.

Major Dhyan Chand Career Life

On August 29, 1922, Dhyanchand Singh enlisted in the British Indian Army. He was enlisted on behalf of the Punjab Regiment, for which Dhyanchand played solely in the Army Hockey Tournament and Regimental Games from 1922 to 1926. He was then chosen for the Indian Army team, which later travelled to New Zealand where they went on a tour and won 18 matches while losing just one. After that, the team won the first of two Test matches against the New Zealand team but lost the second. Gone Dhyanchand was elevated to Lance Nayak in 1927 after returning to India.

The newly created Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was ready to send its strongest squad to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics after successfully advocating for the return of hockey to the Olympic programme. A provincial competition was organised to choose the team players in 1925. United Provinces (UP), Punjab, Bengal, Rajputana, and Central Provinces were among the five teams that participated in the inaugural teams. Dhyanchand was given approval by the Army to participate in the United Provinces team.

The Indian team was positioned in Division A of the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam alongside Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Switzerland. The Indian national hockey team defeated Austria 6-0 in their Olympic debut on May 17 thanks in large part to three goals from Dhyanchand. The following day, India defeated Belgium 9-0, but Dhyanchand managed just one goal. India defeated Denmark 5-0 on May 20, with Dhyanchand scoring three goals. He scored four goals in India’s 6-0 victory over Switzerland two days later. On May 26, India met the Netherlands at home. India was successful in defeating the host side 3-0 (with Singh scoring twice), and the Indian squad won their nation first gold medal at the Olympics.

On May 30th, the Indian team departed for San Francisco, and they arrived on July 6th. Three weeks prior to the Olympics’ July 30 opening ceremony, he arrived in Los Angeles. India defeated Japan 11-1 in their inaugural encounter on August 4, 1932. Dickie Carr scored just once, while Dhyanchand, Roop Singh, and Gurmeet Singh each scored three goals. India took against the host USA in the championship game on August 11. India once more won the gold medal with a score of 24-1, which was a world record at the time (it was surpassed in 2003).

Eight goals were scored by Dhyanchand, ten by Roop Singh, five by Gurmeet Singh, and one by Painegar. In reality, Chand and his brother Roop were responsible for 25 of India’s 35 goals. As a result, they gained the moniker “hockey twins.”

Dhyanchand received his first captaincy in a match against him in December 1934. During the 48 games he participated while serving as captain, India won 40 games, and Dhyanchand scored 201 goals in 23 games. Chand maintained his number while serving in the Indian Army’s post-independence Emergency, which had IEC 3526, but it appears that he was not given a regular commission. He won the first Dhyanchand competition in 1951 at the National Stadium in India, where he gave the crowd accolades.

Major Dhyan Chand & Beginning of Legendary Days

There are numerous instances that highlight the magnificence of Dhyan Chand’s incredible abilities as a fantastic hockey player. In one of them, he scored three goals in the final four minutes of a game when his team was trailing by two goals, giving them the victory. This was the Punjab Infantry Tournament’s championship game in Jhelum. Dhyan Chand was dubbed the “Hockey Wizard” following this game.

In the first Inter-Provincial (National) Hockey competition, which was held in 1925, Dhyan Chand performed brilliantly. The competition featured five teams: Central Provinces, Punjab, Bengal, Rajputana, and United Provinces (UP). He was chosen for the Indian international hockey team based on his performance in the competition.

Awards and Honors of Major Dhyan Chand

In 1956, he received the Padma Bhushan, the nation of India’s highest civilian honour. In 1956, Dhyan Chand received the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to sports. He was born on August 29, 1905, in the United Provinces and British India’s Allahabad. India’s National Sports Day has been proclaimed to fall on his birthday. The Arjuna and Dronacharya Awards are given out on this day as part of the national recognition for excellent athletic achievement. The Indian Olympic Association named Dhyanchand the player of the century.

Achievements

• Won 3 gold medals in Olympic games
• Awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956

Major Dhyan Chand’s Death

His final years were spent in Jhansi, where he was born and raised. It is heartbreaking to learn that this renowned player was entirely overlooked and forgotten by the country for which he played in his final days. By the time it was all through, he was even unable to receive appropriate medical care. On December 3rd, 1979, this honourable Indian citizen quietly departed for heaven.

Major Dhyan Chand UPSC

Dhyan Chand gave his all to hockey even after bidding farewell to the pitch by playing and coaching the future players under his supervision. The Government of India recognised him with the third Indian civilian award, “Padma Bhushan,” for his honest efforts to advance the game of hockey in India after he retired from the Indian Army as a “Major” in 1956.

In fact, many renowned figures as well as up-and-coming stars have looked up to Dhyan Chand as the blazing star of the hockey world. With his legendary stick, he will always control hockey fans’ hearts as he once controlled the pitch.

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