August 29, 2003
Days of Genius
Dhyan Chand won gold medals at Amsterdam (1928), Los Angeles (1932) and, as captain, in Berlin in 1936. As a centre-forward, he scored 36 goals in 12 Olympic matches.
His incredible mastery led opponents to think there was mischief at work. The Dutch broke his stick to check if there was a magnet inside; the Japanese decided it was glue; Adolf Hitler wanted to buy it.
The secret behind his great ball control? He bent very low over the stick. Even while running at full steam, his back remained bent, unlike today's players who run with a straight-up stance.
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