Dhyan Chand

@Hockey Players, Career and Family ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Considered to the greatest ever field hockey player, Dhyan Chand helped India win three Olympic gold medals Indian Sportspersons Hockey Players Virgo Celebrities The winner of three Olympic gold medals in field hockey, Indian hockey player Dhyan Chand was undoubtedly one of the best sportsmen ever to have graced the game. He was a part of the highly talented Indian hockey team during the era when India dominated the world hockey. A sportsman beyond compare, his goal-scoring feats were simply out of the world. So much so that he was called “The Wizard” for his uncanny hockey talents! He exercised tremendous control over the ball and was an expert at dribbling. In fact his dribbling skills were so unbelievable that his fans fondly called him a magician with a stick. Opposition teams often broke open his stick to check if there was something special inside it. So much was the world in awe of this hockey player that it is rumoured that Adolf Hitler offered him German citizenship and the post of Colonel in the German Army following his splendid performance in the 1936 Berlin Olympics! His love affair with hockey began when he joined the army as a teenager. Initially he played for the Army teams where he made a name for himself. He was captain of Indian hockey team that went on to win gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and was part of the earlier two Olympic Gold medal winning hockey teams, i.e., 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

Personal Details

Birthday: August 29, 1905 Died on: December 3, 1979 Nationality: Indian Famous: Sportspersons, Hockey Players Spouses: Janaki Devi Siblings: and Roop Singh, Mool Singh Birth Place: Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Information Detail Birthday August 29, 1905 Died on December 3, 1979 Nationality Indian Famous Sportspersons, Hockey Players Spouses Janaki Devi Siblings and Roop Singh, Mool Singh Birth Place Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Gender Male Father Sameshwar Dutt Singh Sun Sign Virgo Born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Died at Age 74

Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Dhyan Chand born at Unsplash Birth Place

He married Janaki Devi in 1936 and had seven sons with her. Unsplash Personal Life

The last years of this sporting legend were unfortunately spent in misery. Largely forgotten and short of money, he became very disillusioned with life. He suffered from liver cancer and died in 1979 at the age of 74. Unsplash Personal Life

India’s highest award for lifetime achievement in sports, The Dhyan Chand Award, is named after him. Unsplash Personal Life

Dhyan Chand was born in Allahabad to Sameshwar Dutt Singh. He had two brothers. His father worked in the British Indian Army where he played hockey. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He could get only six years of schooling as his family had to move from one city to another continually because of the transferable nature of his father's job. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He loved to wrestle as a youngster though he was not much inclined towards other sports. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He joined the Indian Army when he was just 16. He started playing hockey seriously during his army stint, often practicing late in the night after duty hours. Unsplash Career

He was a good player and from 1922 started playing in army hockey tournaments. Due to his skills he was selected to play in the Indian Army Team which was to tour New Zealand in 1926. Unsplash Career

His team won 18 matches out of 21 in the tournament and Dhyan Chand was greatly appreciated for his performances. He was promoted to Lance Naik upon his return to India. Unsplash Career

Field hockey was reintroduced in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) wanted to send its best team for the event. Dhyan Chand with his great performance in the inaugural nationals secured a place in the team. Unsplash Career

The Indian team went to Amsterdam and beat the Dutch, German and Belgian teams in the pre-Olympic matches by huge margins. Chand scored three goals in India's debut Olympic match against Austria, winning 6-0. Unsplash Career

He was part of the Indian hockey teams that won three Olympic gold medals in field hockey in 1928, 1932 and 1936. Over his sporting career he had scored more than 1,000 goals out of which 400 were international ones. Unsplash Awards & Achievements

He was honored with the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 1956 for his contributions to the field of sports. Unsplash Awards & Achievements

Information	Detail
Birthday	August 29, 1905
Died on	December 3, 1979
Nationality	Indian
Famous	Sportspersons, Hockey Players
Spouses	Janaki Devi
Siblings	and Roop Singh, Mool Singh
Birth Place	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Gender	Male
Father	Sameshwar Dutt Singh
Sun Sign	Virgo
Born in	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died at Age	74

Dhyan Chand

Indian

Aug 29, 1905

Biography

Personal Details

Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India