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National Sports Day 2020: Tributes pour in on Major Dhyan Chand’s 115th birth anniversary

Major Dhyan Chand Singh came to be known as ‘Wizard of Hockey’, worldwide. He was born on August 29, 1905, at Allahabad (now Prayagraj) in Uttar Pradesh. He joined the Indian army as a soldier in 1922.

National Sports Day 2020: Tributes pour in on Major Dhyan Chand’s 115th birth anniversary

New Delhi: National Sports Day is celebrated on August 29 every year to honour the hockey legend, Major Dhyan Chand. The Government of India has decided to celebrate his birthday as the National Sports Day since 2012.

Dhyan Chand, who had joined the army at the of 16, was instrumental in India’s hat-trick of gold medals in the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics. Known for his unmatchable goal-scoring abilities, Dhyan Chand is renowned as ‘the magician or the wizard of hockey’, mainly because of his skills with the hockey stick.

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju will pay tribute to Major Dhyan Chand at Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi on his birth anniversary.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to twitter to pay his tribute to the great hockey player.

Major Dhyan Chand hockey achievements

Major Dhyan Chand, the greatest hockey player of India won three Olympic gold medals. At the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936, Dhyan Chand was appointed as the captain of the Indian Hockey team. Dhyan Chand had scored more than 400 international goals in his international career from 1926 to 1948. He was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in the year 1956 by Government of India.