The country on Saturday marked National Sports Day, to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand Singh. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the celebrations will be limited this year, and will mostly happen virtually.

President Ram Nath Kovind will virtually confer the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2020 in the presence of Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju, President of the Indian Olympic Association Narendra Dhruv Batra and several other dignitaries from Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.  Several awardees will be attending the event from across the country. 

The Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams will be engaging with fans through skill challenges to celebrate National Sports Day.

Hockey India will be posting various players challenging fans to perform hockey skills on its social media pages. Midfielder Rajkumar Pal told TOI, “The National Sports Day is a very important day for us and we are extremely excited to be celebrating the day with hockey fans.

Born on August 29, 1905, Dhyan Chand started his career in Hockey with the regimental team of the British Indian Army and later helped the Indian team win gold medals consecutively in three Olympics – 1928, 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics. Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju paid floral tribute to at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, on Saturday.