National stadium named after
hockey legend Dhyan Chand

India honoured the memory of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand by renaming the National stadium in Delhi after him.

At a simple function, in Delhi, Home Minister L K Advani unveiled a plaque naming the stadium after the legend, who was part of three gold medal-winning Indian teams at the Olympics -- in Amsterdam (1928), Los Angeles (1932) and Berlin, where he was the captain.

In his brief address, as he had to rush to parliament, Advani rued India's inability to win laurels in sports internationally except in cricket.

Hinting at a lack of ambition among Indian sports persons, he recalled a Hindi poet's words during an Olympic Games: "Kuch ko sona chaiye, kuch ko chandi, our kuch to kansya; Hum Bharatvasi hain, hum ko kuch nahin chaiye (Some want gold, some want silver, some want bronze; we are Indians we don't want anything)," he said.

He recalled the stirring deeds of Dhyan Chand and expressed hope that the country's youth would be inspired by them.

Sports Minister Uma Bharti said it occurred to her to rename the stadium when she first saw Dhyan Chand's statue at its entrance.

This is the second time the stadium has been renamed. Originally known as the Irwin Amphitheatre, the stadium was built in 1933 by A S (Anthony) DeMello, who also bequeathed to the nation Mumbai's Brabourne stadium.

Originally a multipurpose venue, competition in all disciplines in the inaugural Asian Games in 1951 were held at the National stadium. It was converted into a hockey stadium in 1982, for the ninth Asian Games and the first astro-turf in the country was laid.

The function was also attended by Dhyan Chand's family members. Also present were Olympians Nandi Singh, R S Bhola Harmeek Singh, M P Ganesh, M K Kaushik, Ashok Dewan and Zafar Iqbal besides the legend's son Ashok Kumar. Ace athlete of yore, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa too was present.

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