Hockey wizard Dhyan Chand’s legacy lives on in Visakhapatnam

Under-14, Under-17 and Under-18 hockey players train under the guidance of national player and coach Peter Das at Government High School, Railway New Colony, Visakhapatnam. | Photo credit: IN PARADISE

As India celebrates National Sports Day on Saturday, marking the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, hockey figures in Visakhapatnam recalled his lasting influence on the sport and on generations of players from the region.

June Gallyot, the district’s sports director for development, said she has a personal connection with the Dhyan Chand family. “Being the first girl from Andhra Pradesh to represent the country in hockey and later become a professional hockey coach, I had the privilege of playing alongside Dhyana Chanda’s granddaughter Nidhi,” she said, adding that his son Ashok Kumar was also a famous player. “The whole family is into hockey,” she said.

Peter Das, a national hockey player and coach from Visakhapatnam, said watching Dhyan Chand-era weeklies at school shaped his own decision to take up the game. “We used to watch documentaries in school about these matches. They showed how India went abroad and won gold medals. That’s how we saw Dhyan Chand playing hockey so skillfully. These documentaries had a big impact on us and all the boys wanted to go to school and play hockey,” said Mr. Das, who recalled watching the documentaries in 1976-77 at the age of 13.

Noel Treasure, hockey player and president of the Friends Hockey Association, described Dhyan Chand as a transformative figure. “He was a quiet, unassuming man whose unique, almost magical skills with the ball earned him the title ‘Wizard,'” said Mr. Treasure: “His natural talent and dominance on the field helped elevate hockey from a British import to a globally recognized sport.”

S. Ravi Shankar, former president and patron of the Friends Hockey Association, recalled the status of hockey when he played the sport as a boy in the 1970s. “Hockey was a very popular game. India was known as a country all over the world because of hockey,” he said, crediting Dhyan Chand’s dominance for that reputation. “The Indians were magicians with the stick; the ball stuck to the stick. They just moved and were able to fool four or five guys and score goals.” He also recalled the account of Adolf Hitler offering Dhyan Chand a commission in the German Army after India’s 8-1 victory over Germany in the 1936 Berlin Olympics final, an offer he rejected out of loyalty to his country.

Dhyan Chand led India to Olympic gold in 1928, 1932 and 1936 and remains hockey’s most decorated figure. Ms Gallyot said National Sports Day should serve as a reminder of what the sport once meant to the city. “As we celebrate National Sports Day, I think it is a resolution that we have to make and bring back the great glory of the national hockey game in Visakhapatnam,” she said.

Published – 28 Aug 2026 21:17 IST