THE GOLDEN GOAL

  

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A chronicle of the life of Indian Field hockey wizard player Major Dhyan Singh (Dhyan Chand) who went through several hardships before audaciously accomplishing her ultimate dream. Chand is most remembered for his goal scoring feats and for his three Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, 1936) in field hockey, while India was dominant in field hockey. He joined Indian Army in 1922 and came to prominence when he toured New Zealand with the Army team in 1926.

                            

                         SYNOPSIS

In between the waves of oscillating crowd & wavering will, the final match is kicked of in Netherlands, vs. the home team on 26th may, 1928. Even with a skeletal side, Dhyan's India disconsolately defeates the home team 3-0(Chand scoring 2), earning India it’s first Olympic gold medal. A newspaper report about India's triumph venerates : "This is not a game of hockey, but magic. Dhyan Chand is in fact the magician of hockey".

Thereafter his magic wand(hockey stick) gets broken into pieces by the local authorities, anticipating misconduct of spurious nature from Dhyan. To make the scene more riveting, an old lady asks him to play with her walking cane. Armed with an amiable smile Dhyan kept on scoring goals in a snappy fashion. 

Upon their revert in motherland, thousands of enthusiasts gather to greet them in stark contrast to only 3, who came to see them off marking a major milestone of this legendary tale.

The dawn of this epic journey breaks in Prayagraj on 29th august, 1905, where Dhyan was born in the residence of Sameshwar & Sraddha Singh(Rajput), blessed with 2 more brothers Mool & Roop Singh. Initially they had to shift around many places due to professional reasons resulting in cessation of Dhyan's education after only 6 years of schooling. After a while and a few transfers they finally manage to settle down in Jhansi, with the help of the land received from British India for the service Sameshwar had offered. Dhyan's brother is also a budding hockey star who later on joined him to the ultimate race for the gold.

After the reintroduction of field hockey in the Olympics, IHF begins their preparation to congregate an omnipotent team for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics through provincial tournament. Later on, Chand aquires permission from Army to play for the United Province team as well.

Chand manages to woo the audience in the first match itself with his unique stick-work. As he proves his abilities in the battle with utmost precision, it becomes evident that he is predestined to play in the forthcoming Olympics. His audacious goal within 3 minutes of the pug drop manages to expand the exuberance of the enthusiasts. At the entr'acte, UP led by 3 goals to nil. At the denouement of the match Chand's team wins the Interprovincial trail match with flying colours.

On his 17th birthday(29th august 1922) Chand becomes initiated in the 1st brahmin regiment of British India Army as a sepoy. Soon, due to the reorganization of army, 1st Brahmans becomes the 1/1st Punjab Regiment. Between 1922 and 1926,Chand exclusively plays army hockey tournaments and regimental games. Chand ultimately gets selected for the Indian Army team which is set to tour New Zealand to win 18 matches, whereas they lost 1 and drew 2 . In 1927, upon returning to India he gets promoted as "Lance Naik". Chand used to study in Aligarh Muslim University & graduates from Gwalior Victoria College in 1932.

In december 1934,like an arrow left blazing from the bow, IHF becomes highly optimistic about sending a team to New Zealand. Soon after, Chand & Roop join in for the cause with the confirming nod from the decision makers above. However, as Moinuddin Khanji, nawab of Manavadar declines to play, coronation of Chand is decreed as the new captain swiftly . The team plays 48 matches during this elaborate jaunt, 28 in New Zealand & the remainder in India, Ceylon & Australia. India wins every match during that stint, scoring 584 goals & conceding only 40. Out of these 48 matches, Chand plays in 23 & scores 201 goals in total.

Miraculously, this time they win all the matches. It is alleged that England eschewed from 1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics after such defeat from the Indian team.

24th April, 1928

Team India reaches Amsterdam. Initially facing the local Dutch, German & Belgian teams in the pre Olympic matches, decimating them & winning by a large margin.

17th may, 1928

The Indian Hockey team makes their debut in the summer Olympics against Australia and wins like a breeze(6-0) with Dhyan scoring 3 goals. Then Belgium gets crushed (9-0), then on 20th may Denmark loses to India by 5-0(Dhyan scored 3 goals). 2 days later, Switzerland loses to India(6-0) with 4 goals pocketed by Dhyan himself.

As the clock keeps ticking on towards the puck drop of the final match , the entire team feels the unmistakable heat of raw fear everywhere around them, Germany defeated them in the previous match. The entire team reverently salutes a congress tricolour produced by Pankaj Gupta and begin their march to the warzone. Up until the interval, Germany manages to maintain the leading position with 1 goal. But then something amazing happens. After the interval, Team India launches an all-out attack, authoritatively defeating Germany(8–1), incidentally the only goal scored against India in that Olympic tournament.

Adolf Hitler, the living terror roams around clear & present at this time, just like a personification of a violent fireball, predestined to damnation. At a time like this, Dhyan manages to attract his attention with an unmistakable radiance of talent. He is one of the very few Indians who stands in front of this monster and survives to tell a story about it. Not many receive offers of complimentary citizenship in Germany and a position of Colonel in the German army. But it is clearly the iron will of an Indian(Dhyan) who rejects the offer gracefully to serve the nation like a true son of Indian soil, who worships his mother & motherland alike.

Team India reaches Mombasa on 15th december,1947 & storms through 9 matches in British East Africa, winning all. 22 matches… all it took to score 61 goals for Chand, who is in his forties now. Upon returning in early 1948, Chand finally decides to slow down. He starts showing up in exhibition matches, leading a Rest of India team against state teams along with the 1948 Olympic team which defeats Chand's side 2–1. However, being the only one who scores from the losing team Chand keeps gleaming like an eternal shine. The last match, which marks the end of the wizard show brings Chand, leading Rest of India team against Bengal, resulting in a draw. Afterwards, the Bengal Hockey Association organises a public ceremony to honor Major Dhyan Chand's services towards Indian hockey.

All that glitter & glory, it meant a lot for a few yet nothing to the larger nation & the world, because the world had changed a lot since, they don't quite remember that golden run, they cannot imagine the glory of Major Dhyan Chand.

4th august, 1932

Team India plays its first match of the summer Olympics, beating Japan by 11-1. Chand, Roop & Gurmit Singh each score 3 goals, leaving 1 for dickie Carr. 

11th august

India plays against the host(USA) & wins by 24-1, which is revered as a world record in the future years up until 2003. On that golden day, Chand scored 8 goals, Roop 10, Gurmit scored 5 & Pininger scored 1 goal. Chand & Roop contributed a total of 18 goals in 1 match, earning them the mythical title "Hockey Twins".

One Los Angeles newspaper writes, "The All-India field hockey team which G. D. Sondhi brought to Los Angeles to defend their 1928 Olympic title, was like a typhoon out of the east. They trampled under their feet and all but shoved out of the Olympic stadium the eleven players representing the United States."

20th august

History repeats itself as India beats United States XI, almost the same team again by 24-1, Even after loaning their second keeper Arthur Hind for a half.

After setting sail from New York, the team arrives in England. They then embark on a hectic tour, playing nine matches in various countries in a fortnight, commencing on 2 September. They played four internationals-against the Netherlands, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The team then reached Sri Lanka and India, playing a number of matches to pay for their expenses. At the end of the tour, India plays 37 matches, winning 34, drawing 2, with one abandoned. Chand scores 133 of the 338 Indian goals.

In India he is often revered as "Hockey ka Jaadugar", which translates to "Magician of the game of Hockey".