"August 29 marks a significant day in the history of sports in India. The legendary hockey player, Major Dhyan Chand was born on this day, 109 years back. He redefined Indian Sports in Hockey at the global level. To commemorate his invaluable contributions, we celebrate his birthday as National Sports Day every year," the Minister said.
"He is inspiration personified. He became synonymous with hockey. He became the parameter of hockey by which other player's calibre is measured. It is surprising to know that Dhyan Chand, who came to be known as Hockey Magician, started playing hockey only after joining the Army at the age of 16. It was from there that he started playing hockey," said the Minister.
"After that, Dhyan Chand rose in the hockey field like a meteor. We should imbibe a lesson from the life history of Major Dhyan Chand. Many of our young players are talented. No doubt, but do they have the determination to succeed the way Major Dhyan Chand did?" he added.
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"It's time that we do some kind of heart searching. Mind you, there are tens and thousands of children playing hockey in the country. We have more than 100 synthetic surfaces for field hockey in India," he said.
"Compare this with a small country like Belgium which has only 16 surfaces. The best way to pay tribute to Major Dhyan Chand is to inculcate his qualities of discipline, hard-work and determination in our hockey players and also in other sportspersons," he added.