E-Paper
Sportspersons pay tribute to Dhyan Chand on his 38th death anniversary
Rajyavardhan Rathore, Sudarsan Pattnaik among those who paid homage to the hockey wizard Dhyan Chand on Twitter
Major Dhyan Chand was to hockey what Pele was to football. No player caught the imagination of the world with a stick in his hand the way this hockey wizard from Jhansi did during his 22-year long international career that saw him win three Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, 1936).
It is said that after the final of 1936 Berlin Olympics, Adolf Hitler had met and offered Dhyan Chand the post of Field Marshal in his army. Chand had refused it saying he would like to serve only his country of birth. To honour his memory, his birth anniversary (August 29) is celebrated as the National Sports Day in India.
Sunday marked the 38th death anniversary of the hockey stalwart as it was on December 3, 1979, that he breathed his last. On the occasion, netizens remembered and hailed his contributions with some of them asking the government to confer Bharat Ratna on the hockey wizard.
Union Sports Minister, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was among the first to pay his tribute to the hockey legend. Describing him as the greatest field hockey player the world has ever seen, the Athens Olympic silver medallist highlighted the role Dhyan Chand played in helping India bag seven out of eight hockey gold medals between 1928 and 1964.
Footballer Sandesh Jhingan also paid homage to the legend, dubbing him ‘India’s pride and the greatest hockey player ever’.
A unique tribute for Dhyan Chand came from renowned sand artist, Sudarsan Pattnaik, who posted a picture of one of his sand arts featuring Chand’s face.
