Major Dhyan Chand was an Indian field hockey player, widely regarded as one of the greatest field hockey players in history. He was known for his extraordinary ball control and goal-scoring feats, in addition to earning three Olympic gold medals, in 1928, 1932 and 1936, during an era where India dominated field hockey. His influence extended beyond these victories, as India won the field hockey event in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964.
Kalayathumkuzhi Mathews Beenamol, popularly known as K. M. Beenamol, from Kombidinjal, Idukki district, Kerala is an international athlete from India.
Kunwar Digvijay Singh, popularly known as "Babu", was an Indian field hockey player. He was born in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. He is widely known for his mesmerising passing ability and is considered by many to be the greatest dribbler of the game comparable only to Dhyan Chand.
Keshav Chandra Dutt, also spelt as Keshav Datt, was an Indian field hockey player and played as a halfback. He was a part of the team that won gold medals at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. He made 22 international appearances for India and scored two goals in his career. Keshav was the last surviving member of the Indian hockey team which participated at the 1948 London Olympic Games. He was regarded as one of the finest Indian hockey centre half-backs.
Muniswamy Rajgopal was an Indian field hockey player. He was a member of the India national team that won gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He was from his home State of Mysore to win an Olympic medal.
Honorary Captain Shankar Lakshman was an Indian hockey player. He was goalkeeper of the Indian team in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics, that won two gold medals and one silver medal. He was the first goalkeeper to become captain of an international hockey team and was awarded the Arjuna award and the Padma Shri by the Indian government. He was captain of the Indian team which won the gold in the 1966 Asian Games. After missing the selection for the 1968 Olympics, Lakshman quit hockey. He remained with the Army, retiring in 1979 as a captain of the Maratha Light Infantry. He died in 2006 after suffering gangrene in one leg in Mhow.
Ranganathan Francis, also known as Aranganathan, was an Indian field hockey player who played as a goalkeeper. He was member of the Indian team that won gold medals at three consecutive Olympic games: 1948, 1952, and 1956.
Ashok Kumar is an Indian former professional field hockey player. He is the son of the Indian hockey player Dhyan Chand. Kumar was known for his exceptional skills and ball control. He was a member of the Indian team that won the 1975 World Cup.
Bobby Aloysius is an Indian athlete from Kerala, who competes in the high jump event. Currently, she is residing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She held the Indian and South Asian records in high jump between 1995 and 2012 of 1.91m. Bobby participated in the 2004 Athens Olympics, won silver in 2002 Busan Asian Games and won gold in the Jakarta Asian Championships.
Many sports are played by the people in Kerala including both traditional sports and sports from other countries. Association football is the most popular sport in Kerala, followed by cricket. Kerala Blasters are the most supported football club in the whole state and participates in the Indian super league the top tier of Indian football. Whereas Gokulam Kerala FC a club which plays in the I-league derives most of its support from the Malabar region. However, larger numbers of Keralites also follow sports such as volleyball, hockey, badminton, and kabaddi. There are many large stadiums in Kerala across different cities. Trivandrum city has various sports venues such as Trivandrum International Stadium, Jimmy George Indoor Stadium, University Stadium (Thiruvananthapuram), Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium and Central Stadium whereas Kochi city has stadiums such as Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium (Kochi) and Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium. An international astro turf hockey stadium is located at Kollam city. Other major stadiums are EMS Stadium in Kozhikode, Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium in Manjeri, Kannur Indoor Stadium in Kannur, Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Kollam and many more. All these stadiums attest to the mass appeal of such sports among Keralites.
Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh is an Indian professional field hockey player who plays as a goalkeeper and former captain of the Indian national team. He plays in the Hockey India League for Uttar Pradesh Wizards. Sreejesh played a vital role in the Indian national team's bronze medal win at the 2020 Summer Olympics men's field hockey tournament. He won FIH Player of the Year Awards (2020–21) for best male goalkeeper.
Mukhbain Singh is an Indian field hockey player. He won the bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
National Sports Day is a public holiday celebrated in various countries to honour the national sports teams and sports traditions of those countries. On this day people from different age groups take a part in sports like kabaddi, marathon, basketball, hockey etc.
Romeo James is an Indian field hockey player. He competed at the 1982 Delhi Asian Games, winning a silver medal with the Indian team. He competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where the Indian team placed fifth.
Lekha K. C. represented Indian Women's Amateur boxing at 75 kg category and won Gold medal in 2006 Women's World Amateur Boxing Championships.
Deep Grace Ekka is an Indian female field hockey player. She plays for the Indian Women's Hockey Team. She has been selected for Arjun award in 2022.
Mary D'Souza Sequeira is an Indian female Olympian who competed internationally in track and field and field hockey. She competed in the women's 100 and 200 metres at the 1952 Summer Olympics. D'Souza won a bronze medal in the 200 metres and a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1951 Asian Games with Pat Mendonca, Banoo Gulzar and Roshan Mistry.
Balbir Singh Dosanjh was an Indian hockey player and coach. He was a three-time Olympic gold medallist, having played a key role in India's wins in London (1948), Helsinki (1952), and Melbourne (1956) Olympics. He is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time, a modern-day Dhyan Chand, a legend of the sport, and is widely regarded as the sport's greatest ever centre-forward. His Olympic record for most goals scored by an individual in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten. Singh set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6–1 victory over the Netherlands in the gold medal game of the 1952 Olympic Games. He was often called Balbir Singh Senior to distinguish him from other Indian hockey players named Balbir Singh. Singh scored 246 goals from just 61 international caps
T. P. Padmanabhan Nair also known as T. P. P. Nair was a volleyball player, former captain and coach of Indian National Volleyball Team. He was the first Malayali to become the captain of the national volleyball team. In 2015, he received Dhyan Chand Award the highest sports award in the country. He is the only Indian volleyball player to have won two Asian Games medals.
