Dihan Chand - a Great Hockey Player from India

Dihan Chand

Dihan Chand got the name Chand from his hockey coach. His first coach was so impressed by the talent of this young player that he knew he would one day shine like the moon and so he gave him the name Chand.

Major Dihan Chand was born on the 29th of August in the year 1905. He was born in Uttar Pradesh in India in an army subedars house. At the age of 16 he too followed his father’s foot steps and joined the army. This was the time when Subedar major Bhole Tiwari who was his senior noticed his easy and excellent dribbling skills and gave him a chance. They very soon found out that he could score goals with a lot of ease and was lightening fast too.

He was taken to play against English team. There in the ten matches played India scored 72 goals. Exactly half the goals were scored by Dihan Chand. These 36 goals got him his seat in the national team. The year was 1928 when Dihan Chand made his debut in international hockey. In his very first year he was instrumental in carving out a Gold medal win in the Amsterdam Olympics. The final was played against India and Netherlands. India won the match by scoring 3 goals to their none. Out of the three Dihan Chand had scored two goals.

Dihan Chand was a centre forward player. In the year 1932 he helped India defend their title against the United States hockey team. Dihan Chand scored eight goals and India cruised to a victory of 23-1. In that calendar year India scored a total of 338 goals of which Dihan Chand’s contribution was 133 goals.

The number of goals he scored in each and every series made him the world number one with ease. In the year 1935 Sir Don Bradman got a chance to watch Dihan Chand. He was amazed at the way this hockey player scored goals like runs. It was about this time that hockey lovers started calling Dihan Chand the Bradman of hockey.

The 1936 summer Olympics is where his sheer love for the game was made visible to the world. He was not given permission by the army but he requested again and then reached Berlin.

There during the match the ground was so wet that it was hard to play. Dihan Chand played that match barefooted with all his rivals in spiked shoes; nothing deterred him. The game got very rough and ugly and still India won the match 8-1. Dihan Chand’s contribution was six among the 8 goals scored.

Form the year 1928 this player continued to play with same zest and zeal till the year 1948. He retired from professional hockey and took up coaching hockey. Somehow his ardent love for the game wouldn’t let him become a very good coach. He retired from the Army as a major in the year 1951. The government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan.

This honored players statues have been erected in many places in India and in Vienna, Austria. However, this legendary player was forgotten soon and he died in a hospital with a pension which was too little to save his life. People in India still talk about Dihan Chand and his spirit but after his time, there has been no other player who has been able to match up to his stature.

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