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One of the most read and elegantly written profiles of Dhyan Chand by journalist Rohit Brijnath
http://www.bharatiyahockey.org/dhyanchand/brijnath.htm
Dhayn Chand earned the nickname hockey wizard as he had the world on his stick
Born on August 29, 1905, in Allahabad to Sharadha Singh and Sameshwar Singh - a soldier in the British Indian Army, Dhyan Singh.
His progress through the ranks saw him make the Indian Army team for a tour to New Zealand in 1926.
Leading the charge for India in the 1928 Olympics 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.
While the previous two editions saw Dhyan lead the Indian hockey team with his emphatic performances on the field, at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, he was named the captain of the side.
The added responsibility only spurred him to greater exploits. The Indian hockey team scored a total of 38 goals in the competition as they bagged another Olympic gold, conceding just once in the final.
India won three successive Olympic gold medals thus completing their first hat-trick at the Games.
After the glory in Berlin, Dhyan 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. Dhyan Chand died on December 3 in 1979 aged 74