Even his name is part-myth. Dhyan was born Dhyan Singh. ‘Chand’ actually means ‘moon’ in Hindi, and Dhyan picked up the name not long after he started playing hockey for the Indian army. It was either because it was thought he would ‘shine like the moon’ because of his prowess, or because he practised by moonlight.
Apparently, the Dutch were convinced that Dhyan simply couldn’t be that good. So they broke open his stick in search of a magnet. They didn’t find one.
The Japanese thought his stick might contain glue. That wasn’t it either.
He was, simply, ‘The Hockey Wizard’, scoring over 400 goals in his international career. He was just that good.
As far as I can tell, that’s about 100 more than any player before or since. (As far as I can tell from the International Hockey Federation, FIH, website, the closest was 300ish by Argentinian Jorge Lombi. If anyone can find anything else, please share!) And if there is someone closer it still puts him at the very, very tippy top.
Apparently, he was also quite the crowd pleaser. After games he would periodically be swarmed by adoring female fans. Of course he was polite, but requests for kisses were turned down. After all, he said, ‘I am a married man!’
After the end of his career, Dhyan seems to have fallen into relative obscurity. Perhaps the lack of continuity is what has contributed to so much of the speculation and myth-building.
In recent years, though, his fame has made a bit of a resurgence – in India and internationally. On August 29th every year, India celebrates National Sports Day to commemorate his birthday. This weekend is this year’s English County Championships. I couldn’t wait ‘til August to commemorate him.
I’ve no idea how many of the above are true. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter.
If you take a look at any bits of his autobiography or the few biographies that are out there, they all seem entirely plausible. He seems to have been honest, hard-working, and well-liked. He earned it.
And so I choose to believe the myths.
Do you?
