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anilsinghd
July 25th, 2008, 04:21 PM
Not Sure on whether this has been produced on the forums previously or not , if yes , i apologise for bringing it in duplicacy again.

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Berlin Olympics 1936
In their first match on August 5, India played Hungary and won 4-0. The Hungarian defense and their goalkeper kept the score down. Handicapped in their movements because it had started to rain after the opening whistle, the Indian forwards found the ground soggy.
On August 7, in good weather and ground conditions, India played USA and beat them 7-0. India then played Japan on August 10, and beat them 9-0. The same evening, the much awaited A. I. S. Dara flew into Berlin, and there was jubilation in the Indian camp. Fielding Dara, India played France in the semi-finals on August 12, and won by 10 goals. Dara scored 2 goals, Dhyan Chand scored 4 goals, and Roop Singh hit in 2 goals.
Meanwhile, Germany had whipped Denmark 6-0, beat Afghanistan 4-1 and in the play-offs, beat Holland 3-0.
Thus India and Germany were to clash in the 1936 Berlin Olympics hockey final. The hockey world was about to see Dhyan Chand in one of his most memorable and mesmerising displays on the hockey field.
A crowd of 40,000 that included the Maharaja of Baroda and a large number of Indians who had travelled from all over the Continent and England had turned out to see the final battle. The audience included Adolf Hitler, and top Nazi officials like Hermann Goering, Joseph Goebells, Joachim Ribbentrop and others.The vast crowd cheered both the teams as they entered the field. In contrast to our despondency, the Germans appeared to feel that they were playing against a very inferior Indian side. According to a newspaper, the nervousness of the Indian players increased because the burden of India's honour was on their shoulders. In a patriotic note, they raised the Indian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India) tricolour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricolour) in the dressing room and sang Vande Mataram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vande_Mataram) an Indian nationalist song, rather than the British national anthem, which they were obliged to sing.
Packed with thrilling incidents, the final had the vast crowd at the edge of their seats. The Germans undercut and lifted the ball in a game played at a very fast pace. Twice India's Dara tried to score but was off-side on both occasions. Germany had been successful at stopping the Indian forwards and it was becoming very difficult for the Indians to score.
It was clear that the first goal scored would be important. In the 32nd minute, Roop Singh scored from a difficult angle after getting a pass from Jafar. This was the only goal India scored till half-time.
During the break, Dhyan Chand huddled his team together and congratulated them on their play so far. He cautioned them that the one goal lead was very small, and that Germany could equalise anytime.
The Indian team got into their rhythm in the second half. Dhyan Chand scored in the opening minutes of the half. India then scored a barrage of goals - four in five minutes to seal the fate of the match.
As the ground was still slippery due to the rain, Dhyan Chand discarded his spiked shoes and stockings and played with his bare feet and rubber soles. It was the incredible stickwork of Dhyan Chand that had the crowd gasping. The way he moved with the ball, as if it was stuck to his hockey stick, puzzled all those who were present.
A newspaper described Dhyan Chand's game as "a flick of the wrist, a quick glance of his eyes, a sharp turn and then another turn, and Dhyan Chand was through."
After India had scored four goals, Germany finally opened its account off a rebound from goalkeeper Richard Allen. This was the first goal conceded by India in the Olympic tournament. It would be the only goal they would concede.
After the sixth goal scored by India, the Germans decided to go after the Indian captain. The German players started to play aggressively and go for rough tackles on Dhyan Chand. The German goalkeeper even broke one of Dhyan Chand's teeth in a clash.
After receiving first aid, Dhyan Chand came back to the field and instructed his team not to score any more goals. "We must teach them a lesson in ball control," he told his team.
The Indian team would take the ball to the German 'D', then back pass among themselves, then take it again to the goalmouth but not score. This strategy baffled the Germans. Dara and Dhyan Chand rounded off the tally in the last few minutes of the game to make the final score India 8 - Germany 1.
Impressed by his performance, Adolf Hitler supposedly offered to make Dhyan Chand a Field Marshal in the German army, but the latter refusedChand scored 59 of India's 175 goals in the pre-Olympic matches and 11 of 38 in the Olympics.

Don Bradman and Dhyan Chand
During a 1935 tour of New Zealand and Australia, he scored 201 goals out of the team's tally of 584 in 43 matches. Don Bradman and Dhyan Chand once came face to face at Adelaide in 1935, when the Indian hockey team was in Australia. After watching Dhyan Chand in action, Don Bradman remarked "He scores goals like runs in Cricket".

mkm_jat
July 25th, 2008, 11:26 PM
Thanks Anilji for the article... :)
Its really nice to read about the legendary sports person of India. He was really a gem of our national game. But pity is people now India is seeing any other game, because we are mad behind CRICKET which famous as game of 22 fools and another 22,00,000 fools around it. I am not against cricket but we are neglecting other games for the sake of cricket thats not good.

People who making nation proud in other games are not getting proper recognition whether it is Vijender Singh in Boxing or Dileep Tirkey in Hockey...

Thanks again
Manoj

dkumars
July 26th, 2008, 12:50 AM
I really enjoyed the article Anil.
I heard a lot abt Dhyanchand from my grandpa. He used to say, Dhaynchand was such a great playr who used to score a goal just in a blink of eye. But the most unfortunate thing is that Dhayanchand died few yrs back only and that coz of some disease(cancer or TB, m not sure although) and in his last days he sold tea/coffee at a stall in Nizzamuddin railway station, Delhi. This is what i heard/read in newspaper. Anyway, whatevr it was but m sure he was not treated well in his last days. I heard a lot from my grandpa.

One more personality which my grandpa used to discuss was Lala Hardayal. He(lala) was a brain that he used to compare with Einstein. I dont know how many of us know abt him but according to my granda Lala had 3 brains.
He could tell u with exact count/information if a guy is reading a news paper, a juggler juggles balls, and any kinda sound all simoultanously that what the guy read and how many times the juggler threw balls in air and the no of times sound ticked/produced by some object. I am really a fan of this guy also. Share some article if u come across.

anilsinghd
July 26th, 2008, 02:10 AM
Hi All , nice that you appreciated the article. though DK , dont want to fire any controversy but i am pretty sure that Major Dhyaanchand would not have lived this miserable a life , probably rumours. !

Will share anything that i find worth a read !:)

ygulia
July 26th, 2008, 04:33 AM
Dhyanchand retired as Major from Indian Army, I think DK those are rumours about him.

sumeetmalik
July 26th, 2008, 08:34 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhyan_Chand