Major Dhyan Chand has a special place in India's sporting folklore. His unparalleled achievements in hockey are still unmatched as the man played a massive role in India winning gold medals at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympic Games in hockey. Moreover, the Indian team remained unbeaten on their way to winning the gold medal in all of these three Games.
As a mark of respect and tribute to him, National Sports Day is celebrated in India on his birth anniversary (August 29). Dhyan Chand's mastery of the game and his ball control was dazzling and for the same reason, he earned epithets like 'Hockey Wizard' and 'The Magician'.
At the tender age of 23, Dhyan Chand made it to the Indian Hockey team for the 1928 Olympic Games after impressing in the trials. On the back of his 14 goals in five matches, India secured the gold medal beating the Netherlands in the final. Dhyan Chand scored almost half of the goals (29 goals scored overall by India) and India didn't concede a single goal.
Come the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Dhyan Chand was obviously an automatic choice in the team. With only three teams - India, Japan and hosts USA - participating, India won the gold medal easily with two wins smashing a total of 35 goals including a stunning 24-1 win over the USA. In that encounter, India's magician with the hockey stick scored a stunning eight goals tallying overall 12 goals at the Games.
At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Dhyan Chand was named India's captain and he led the country to its third consecutive gold medal. The skipper led from the front finding the nets 11 times in five outings including a hat-trick against the hosts Germany in the gold medal match. Thanks to his effort, India won the final against Germany 8-1.
World War II broke out soon after and by the time, independent India's hockey team took part in the 1948 Olympic Games, Dhyan Chand was in his 40s and wasn't a part of the squad. But in his Olympic career, he ended up winning three gold medals scoring a staggering 37 goals in 12 matches.
